Three Days in Mexico

Oops! I never did write about Chetumal, did I? I turned a year older there and didn’t feel a day over 20. Even the rain didn’t put a damper (pun intended) on our fun. The only problem was we didn’t stop at customs. We meant to but we couldn’t find the immigration office and everyone we asked pointed in a different direction. Finally, soaked and frustrated, we said “the heck with it” and just drove on.
We ate, we swam, we drank and we shopped ‘til we were too tired for anything else. Fortunately the evening activity was not too strenuous. Television! You might not know this, but if you want to watch television in the jungle you have to buy and install a big ol’ satellite dish which I do not have. So I got my TV. fix for a couple of evenings while sipping on cerveza.
Mexico makes the best beer in the world. It’s called Modelo Especial and I decided I wanted to take some back with me. I bought a six pack and Ellen picked up a bottle of Baileys and headed off to the border and back to Belize.
“Where is your visitor pass?” asked the stern looking official at the immigration booth. In our flustered, eye batting innocence we explained about the trip across. The official was neither flattered nor amused. We were told it would cost hundreds of pesos as a fine. We pooled out pesos and come up with an amount a little short of what was asked for. I guess they were tired of us so they accepted it and let us go back home.
We hadn’t bought much besides the clothes we were wearing so we declared everything we had at the Belize customs desk knowing it wouldn’t be over the amount allowed.
“You are Belizean residents,” the officer said. “You cannot bring beer and alcohol into the country.”
“Why”, I asked. “Is it dangerous?”
This did not get the smile I was hoping for so we professed we did not know this or we certainly would not have bought it and then been so honest about declaring it etc. etc…
They decided we weren’t going to open a liquor store and ruin the Belizean economy and let us keep it.
I repacked my small suitcase quickly and hurried out to the car with half the contents spilling out the unzip-able container. Ellen brought the car around and we both breathed a big sigh of relief!