Chetumal to Belize and back to Chetumal

Can we park any closer to the ocean - "Tinker Belle" (our truck) thinks not.



View of the "campground" from the ocean.



A beautiful pool for a camper park, complete with water that cascades from the arches.



Marge with the dogs against the Carribean Sea in the morning - just like she wanted for the winter.

By morning I was feeling slightly more human – probably about how Tom felt the morning before. We ate and showered and walked the dogs, packed up the rig, and headed for the Belize border. The only problem with this whole unemployed and homeless thing is that you lose track of the days of the week, and weekends become a whole lot less significant than they are when you’re working. We made our way back through Chetumal, turned in our Mexican tourist visas, and drove over the bridge into Belize. We were waved over to have the undersides of our truck and trailer sprayed, and we met Javier, who told us that the spraying was $15USD, and he wouldn’t mind a little extra so he could get himself a Coke. We gave him a $20 since we didn’t have exact change anyway, and asked him which way to the customs brokers. He informed us that they weren’t open on Sunday, and that immigration wasn’t open, but that we could pull up behind the buildings until 9:00 Monday morning – which was 20-some hours away. We decided to turn around and go back to the campground in Calderitas, and he told us that Mexico would charge us for new tourist visas unless he went with us to explain what we were doing. So, I scooched over onto the dog pillow on the console, and Javier jumped into my seat in the truck. He had us pull over at the Mexican border, and he and I took our passports into the Mexican immigration building. He explained (fairly accurately, from what I could tell with my limited Spanish), and we were told to get in the military inspection line to be searched. Tom pulled up with the rig, Javier and I went and retrieved the tourist visas that Tom had turned in not too long before, the trailer was searched, and then we were sent on our way. Javier told Tom that his service was worth $75USD, which was bunk, because new tourist visas would have been a lot less than that. Tom gave him another $20, and Javier said to find him in the morning so he could “help” us again. Our plan in the morning – provided that we aren’t detained in Mexico because of the now screwy passport stamps – is to show the receipt that says our vehicle was just sprayed so we don’t have to pay for that again, tell Javier that we don’t need any more “help,” and find the customs agent we’ve been talking to via email to get us, the dogs, and our stuff into Belize.

We spent a very enjoyable afternoon at the campground, swimming in the pool and walking the dogs along the beach. The beach in this little town is lined with open air cafes, and it looks like a typical Sunday for the people who live around here is to load the whole family in the car, and then the adults sit in one of the cafes and eat and drink and laugh, and the kids play in the water. As we walked by with the dogs, the kids would run out of the water and through the cafes to see Mel, el grande perrro. We felt like we were walking some sort of exotic animal, which I guess he is in a way, although he’s just a dog to us. They would all ask if he bites, and when we’d say no, he’d be petted and patted and generally admired. Lou and Nock get their share of attention, but most of it is after Mel has drawn the crowd. We’re just glad he lived through Mexico and we didn’t have to strap his carcass to the roof of the truck cap! He only needs to last one more night, and he’ll have made it to Belize.

This is about to be the first almost live updated blog. Without internet access, I’ve been writing in Word and then uploading with correct dates when we’ve had access. Here, I’m just finishing writing this, sitting outside the camper about 20 feet from the Caribbean with a beautiful breeze keeping the bugs away, listening to singing from the tail end of a birthday party for the 13 year old daughter of the campground owner. It’s a little after 7:00 now, and about a half hour ago we watched the light fade over the Caribbean. I’ll post the next update ASAP, hopefully from Belize.