February 2nd: Drive from Puerto Escondido to Salina Cruz. I decided to cross Mexico here and head for the Yucatan, then drop down into Belize. This section of road from Puerto Escondido o Salina Cruz is very windy and also super hot. This was one of the hottest places I was in on my trip. I get off the Mex200 and onto the Mex185 and then head north. It is so windy I have to tie down my kayak several times. I pass a Toyota dealership in Juchitan so decide to stop and see about a throttle body. No such luck so I move on. I get to the Mex180 and head west. It was nice to get off the Mex200 as it is really slow going on that road. The climate also changes from super hot and dry to cooler and very humid. I head west on toll roads for the Yucatan. It is late in the day and now raining pretty hard. I wanted to camp at Agua Dulce but decided against it since it was raining so hard and really wet out. I pushed to Villahermosa and made it in about 730pm. I got a hotel right on the HWY and rested up for the evening, even got one last hot shower in!
February 3rd: Up early and head out of Villahermosa, no dramas. Head across the Yucatan on the Mex186. It is a good road but had some construction going so was fast then slow, fast then slow. I was disappointed to see it was almost all farm land and clear cut. I stop in Escarcega and make some phone calls to the USA. I order up a new throttle body and have it shipped to Jaime in Belize. I get to Chetumal about 430pm and decide to try and cross the border today. I head for the border crossing into Belize at Corozal. Exiting Mexico is easy and I keep my vehicle permit. I should have got my tourist card put on hold but instead have it canceled. Entering Belize is going well. I get across the bridge and get insurance for my truck. I decide to hire a local porter. He will help me through the process with the truck and dog. All goes well until I walk up to the counter to clear customs. I end up getting the one guy I should not have got. He starts giving me a hard time about my passport and no re-entry stamps into the USA since 2004. I really am a bit ignorant about this at this time so play the ignorant part. It gets me nowhere to play dumb which I really am dumb and can’t say why I don’t have re-entry stamps other than they never stamped it! I should have told him they don’t stamp anymore entering the USA if you are a citizen but I didn’t know that at the time. He tells me to get my dog and bring it inside and clear it with agriculture. I think that this is a good thing because if they clear the dog and take my money they will clear me. Get my dog and bring him in and clear him although it costs me over $50! I then see the customs officer again and he continues to give a hard time, he even says to me if you are lying to me you are not getting in the country, he even asks me if I have two passports and then he tells me to go empty my truck he is going to search it. No problem I expected to be searched! So I go empty the truck and he eventually comes out. He kind of looks around and then asks me if I have any diving gear, nothing other than a mask and fins I tell him. He asks me about electronics, if I have a laptop and these items. I tell him no laptop but I have an ipod, a cell phone and my truck stereo. He then wants to see my cell phone, it is a Blackberry Storm. I also show him a business card so he knows I am who I say I am and not lying to him. He then asks me how much cash I have on me, I tell him only about $300 which is true. I say I don’t carry much cash now because that way they can’t rob me of all of it! He pokes around the truck some more than pulls me aside and says, if you don’t give me your cell phone I am not letting you in the country! I am like great, here we go again! He tells the porter to get the cell phone from me or that I should leave. I decide screw it, I have insurance on the phone. So I pull out the memory card and hand over the phone. I had just ordered up a new throttle body. I also needed to get to Belize, my truck needed repairs and Jaime was expecting me, I had made it this far!! Now that I have more experience I would handle the situation differently, may have also left. Although as I later learned once stamped out of one country you typically can’t get back in for 3 days! So I may have been stuck in the free zone for 3 days! The porter takes the cell and goes inside and gives it to the customers officer. I then go inside and he stamps my passport and clears me into the country. He then pulls me aside into a room and closes the doors and tells me to be safe, I then get my passport back! I get in the country and drop off the porter (no he wasn’t in on this scam) off in town. I then find a place to camp in Corozal, it is now late like 930pm. The mosquitoes were out in full force and it was hot and humid. I drink some beers and go to bed, I don't sleep to well. Camping costs me $8/night at the Caribbean Village which is just a field across from the bay. It has RV hook ups but they look like they have not worked in a long time.
Searched at the Mexico- Belize border
