10/8/11 Day 7, Villahermosa, Mexico to Corozal Belize, 424miles

J likes his eggs too!

AJ breakfast

We rolled out of bed at 7:30am had a great breakfast of scrambled eggs, refried beans, chips, salsa, orange juice, milk, and Starbucks Frappachino (which I was really excited about!). Breakfast + tip was 210P, ($15.56US). Next to the restaurant was a bathroom and it cost is 3pesos to use the bathroom! I was shocked but Kris said it’s very common to have to pay to use the bathroom. This bathroom was nasty too! No doors on the stalls, water all over the floor, no soap for washing hands… the boys went potty and we paid the gal and then we went to the car and de-germed with some Purell. By 9:30am we were on the road. Mariano said that the drive to Belize should be about 7-8 hrs. 

J doing puzzles

AJ using Imaginex

In about 30min we entered the town of Villahermosa, it is called “El Esmeralda de Sureste” or “The Emerald of the Southeast”. Villahermosa was a pretty city and we saw familiar places like Office Depot, WalMart, more McDonald’s, and a John Deere tractor shop. Then we sat in road construction for 20 minutes and prayed the rest of the day we’d be moving quicker. Soon after we got on a toll road 19p, $1.41US and things picked up speed. I did a double take when I saw a man riding his horse along the freeway! Kris wondered if the horseback rider had to pay the toll fees. :o). Between Villahermosa and Escarcega, the landscape changed dramatically. It became water-logged like a big marsh. We even saw some houses in the water. I wasn’t sure if they were flooded in the water or floating on the water. The area was very lush and green and very very wet. 

Fun purple house we saw!

stone statue

We paid another 19p (US1.41) toll and soon came upon a Policia checkpoint. The policeman asked us where we were going and we said Belize (they say Belice –buhleece-ay in Mexico). Then we were asked to pull aside. He did speak some English and looked at Kris’ papers. He thought Kris’ name was Jack Michelle (his middle name is Michael, but it is pronounced Michelle here). We didn’t correct him though. He asked the kids’ names and said hello to them. Aaron showed him his lunchbox and the officer said, “Oh Lightning McQueen!!” (so apparently Disney’s reach extends into the depths of Mexico too!). He bid us farewell and we were on our way again. 

sky reflection in my mirror

Fast forward a couple hours and we noticed a truck in front of us with Arkansas plates. In the next small town he flagged us down. He wanted to know if we were going to Belize. His name was George and he’s retired and been living in Belize since his social security is only about $1000 a month and he can’t live on that in the US, but he can live comfortably in Belize. He had to return to the US to have a pacemaker put in (he could have had it done in BZ or Mexico but he’s a Veteran so he could get it done for free in the US). He’d been in the US for 6months for his surgery and post op stuff. He lives in San Ignacio Belize and was bringing a popcorn machine back and planned on selling popcorn and candied apples at the local open markets. He’d also lived in Costa Rica and enjoyed that country too, but grew tired of trying to learn Spanish. George also said the Belizean border closed at 7pm. Since it was 2pmish at that time we pressed on. We only made one quick stop to make sandwiches and then kept going.

Welcome to Belize!!

We passed through Escarcega uneventfully and saw signs along the freeway warning of bats! That was a first for sure! We filled up gas in Ixpuhil, 95.7liters for 915P, $67.78US. We also grabbed a bag of ice and an energy drink for Kris for 51 pesos, $3.78US. Then we were surrounded by fields of sugarcane. As we approached Chetumal the border town into Belize we took an exit toward Belize but ended up on a dirt road and had to use our 4WD to get across it, and at the end of the road it was blocked off completely… so we turned around and asked for some directions a couple of different times and got different answers each time. Finally we saw a truck in front of us with Belize plates and we followed him and within 5 minutes we were at the border for Belize! We parked the car and headed into the border crossing building. Compared to entering Mexico, this was a breeze. We are cleared to be here for one month and can renew when the month is up.  We had to get Belizean car insurance which was $60BZ, or $30US. Belize is fantastic! They speak English here which makes everything easier. The exchange rate is 2 Belizean dollars to one US dollar, and they accept US and Belizean money interchangeably.

Dinner time!

1st Belizean sunset

Jumping Aaron

We got into Belize around 6:30pm and found out that the border doesn’t close at 7pm, it doesn’t close at all in fact! We found a restaurant for dinner called Corozo Blue’s. The boys and I shared a pepperoni pizza and Kris had shrimp kebabs with baked potato & salad. The restaurant was right on the ocean! The moon was reflecting on the water and it was breathtaking! Behind the restaurant was a big playground structure. It was dark but I used my flashlight to follow them around the structure so they could run around and play. And then we saw the trampoline! It had a big safety net around it. It was their first time on a trampoline and they loved it! We stayed and played for a good hour before finding a hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Maya, which was $50US/night and was supposed to have internet, but it didn’t work in our room. It did work on the patio but it was super hot outside and the mosquitoes were thick!

Jonathan the walrus

Towel Swans in our hotel room!

 

 

 

 

 

Jumping Jonathan