Northern Hwy Belize, one of 3 main hwys.Bruce posting:
The one thing that strikes you upon crossing the border from Chetumal to Belize is the lack of urgency in the people...more like apathy or maybe depression. They don’t seem to be very industrious or happy like the Mexicans. Also the Belizean border is very disorganized and filthy. We didn’t feel very welcomed by the immigration lady who checked us in. We could tell she was suspicious of us, which is laughable since we look like two of the most harmless travelers you would ever meet. In fact she only cleared us for a week stay even though 30 days is the norm. Well our intent was to go from eastern Mexico to Guatemala and through Belize was the closest route so we gladly were on our way.
The border crossing from Mexico to Belize was made much easier by following the advice from our friends at Bumfuzzle.com. They list exactly the steps needed to get across the border. The one thing we ran into that they didn’t is that when we left the immigration parking lot some government employee (well we think it was a government employee) tried to charge us a parking fee. He said we had been there over 30 minutes, which we hadn’t. Pat and I disputed his claim and left. Afterwards we both felt terrible and hope we didn’t get him in trouble, it appears as an obvious scam whether supported by the government or not is unknown.
Once again the internet stories will put a scare into you about driving in foreign countries but the roads in Belize were very nice and in less than 4 hours we were in San Ignacio on the western border with Guatemala. We purposely avoided Belize City. I had been through there back in the ‘80s and had seen enough to last a lifetime. They recently had massive floods here and signs of it were everywhere. One person told us that the low bridge in town had been under 40’ of water as the river rose and stated he was trapped in town with his RV and couldn’t get out.
Let me briefly explain why I’m lucky to be here and how I suddenly remembered the show Hee Haw. I went to check out a camping spot at this farm near the river while Pat waited in the van. I had been gone quite a while so I thought I’d take a short cut through the orange grove back to the van. I step out from behind this orange tree to be confronted by this huge mule. I must have scared him because he farted then started lunging for me with these huge buck teeth…I think it was the mule that farted. Lucky for me he was strongly tethered to an orange tree because he would have caught up with me in about 15 feet. I’m surprised the tether held because he was going nuts. Well anyway if you remember the opening to HeeHaw, and who doesn’t, it had this dumb looking cartoon mule with huge teeth saying “Hee haw” and that is the first thing I thought of as my life was near an end.
The culprit mule tide up safely under a palapa the next day.It was a pleasure camping in the Inglewood Camping Ground just west of San Ignacio. Greg, the owner, was very cordial. He told us that he used to be very busy until September 11th, but since his business has really fallen off. In fact we were his only campers other than the stranded Rv’er, Hugh, from California. We also found out that the "Fuzzles" had stayed there also.
We’d read about excellent hiking and ruins in the adjacent jungle but unfortunately the roads to get there are very rough or it’s recommended you take a tour from one of the tour operators. We attempted to get to Rio Frio but after 8 miles of rough gravel in and 15 more to go we decided to turn around, have some breakfast, and then head over to Guatemala.
Two girls driving cattle down dirt road on way to Rio Frio.Border crossings are always a challenge and again the Bums made it easy for us. The only monkey wrench in the whole crossing was Oscar, the copier storeowner, was off doing who knows what so we couldn’t have copies made. The entire customs process wheels ground to a screeching halt because of Oscar. Luckily the car import officer just stepped inside his office and made the necessary copies.
The Guatemalan border from West Belize.They also charged us $150 quetzals for the toll road (7.5 quetzals=$1 USD). The toll lady was convinced we were this huge RV or bus. She kept tearing off receipts from her book, handing them to me and all the time gibbering in some extinct Mayan dialect why she was bending me over. We argued with her until there was a line of cars behind us that went back across the river bridge all the way to the Belizean border….honking. And a toll for what? The next 15 miles was a totally rough, dusty and gravel road and then when we hit pavement I was wishing to be back on the gravel. Mostly the road was straight but never the less Pat got seasick from me dodging all the potholes. We noticed that even the topes had potholes. I was loving those overpriced Canadian tires we had bought earlier in the trip.
Did I say above that the Belizean border was filthy? Well the Guat border made Belize look like Boca Raton. Sadly, what a miserable place. The people don’t look much better off than the mongrel dogs who roamed the dusty streets. I expected to see a gunfight in main dirt street before we thankfully and literally left the border in our dust. I shouldn’t be so harsh but why would a government present their borders to visitors in this way. It makes no sense. A bucket of paint and an efficiency expert with a quarter of a brain would do wonders for these borders.
Sorry for the rants and raves but patience has never been my strong suite.
Eventually the road improved and we made our way to Tikal ruins to camp for the night.
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