I can’t believe that I’m writing this post from San Carlos, Mexico!

I took reader Contessa’s advice and left Nogales quite early this morning. I had a feeling that an early Sunday would mean a quicker crossing. I was smart and went to bed early last night, but when I woke up around 3:00, a switch went off and I had a hard time falling back asleep. So six came earlier than I would have liked. 🙂

Most of the packing was done, so I just did a little online stuff, then brought my bags to the truck. I stopped in at the office for a coffee and went back up to my room to drink it and force myself to eat a banana. I pulled out of the motel around 6:45 and went to top up the gas tank and empty the bladder one last time. It was 7:15 when I approached the point of no return. I took the ‘truck route crossing’ at the end of Mariposa Road, which detours Nogales, MX, rather than the crossing that takes you through the centre of the Mexican city.

I had read reports of some people getting stopped on the US side, but there were no US officials to be seen, so I got through their post without incident.

The next milestone was the toll booth. Surprise, the toll was higher than the website had said. Not by much, but my exchange change wasn’t anymore and I had to fumble with the currency a little. 52MX rather than 40MXN.

Then, I encountered the first checkpoint where you have to play red light, green light. There was no one around, no lights, nothing, so I rolled through the check point slooooowly and then sirens started to blare and a red light flashed! There was another light directing me to go to a certain lane where I could see two sour looking officials waiting for me.

I rolled down the window and handed my passport, which earned me a wince from the female official. I forget what she asked me exactly, but there was talk of where I was ultimately going, where I was landing tonight, and she had me open the back of the truck. She rifled through my things a little and asked if I just had clothes. I said yes, nothing that would be staying in Mexico. She told me to go on. This took less than five minutes and I’m pleased to say that I was perfectly unflustered by the whole thing. I’ve been interrogated, threatened, and detained by Canadian customs so I’m not really afraid of anybody at this point. 🙂

I then had a short drive to get to ‘kilometro 21’, the immigration checkpoint where you get your tourist visa and temporary import documents for your vehicle(s), arriving around 7:40. I had done a lot of research and knew roughly what to expect, but it still wasn’t obvious and the officials didn’t volunteer much info. With no point of comparison, I’d say that KM 21 from the Mariposa crossing is a very convenient and easy place to cross. It’s definitely very doable in an RV.

First stop was inmigración to get my tourist visa. There was no wait. I had to fill out the standard visitor card that I’ve had experience with flying into the US and the UK. I didn’t have the address of my ultimate destination, so I said ‘piso en Isla Piedra’ and gave a contact name and local phone number. The surly official glanced at the form, made me add a few things and sign it, then told me to go pay and come back.

Payment was at the Banjercito, just behind the inmigración office, a separate building, but all under the same covered complex. Again, there was no wait. I had to pay about 26USD for the visa. I went back to the inmigración and the same surly guy called me over. He stamped my paperwork, told me I have to be out of the country by April 30th, and said, ‘Bye bye’, waving me away.

Before going back to Banjercito for the vehicle stuff, I used the bathroom on site, glad that I had napkins and hand sanitizer in my purse! The room was otherwise very clean and perfectly serviceable.

Back at Banjercito, where I still didn’t have to wait, I had to present my vehicle registration card from Saskatchewan, passport, and tourist visa. I was asked for copies of those documents. CRAP! I had the first two but didn’t think of getting a copy of the visa! And there was a photocopy kiosk right across from the bathroom! I put my hand back out to retrieve my documents to go get the copy, but the official ignored me. He went into the back office and made the copy for me! I think he was rewarding me for otherwise having all my ducks in a row…

I had to pay 3,600MXN for the privilege of bringing Moya into Mexico for the winter. That’s roughly 200USD for the bond that I will get back when I bring the truck out on time, plus an administrative fee. This felt like a HUGE amount, but I just did the currency conversion and it’s 301CAD. I had budgeted 300CAD total for fees, so I came in about $30 over budget, which I can live with!

I was given some official looking paperwork, made to sign a legal document in Spanish with no time to read it, and told that I need to have the truck out of MX by April 30th or I’ll forfeit my deposit. Finally, there was a sticker (holograma) that I needed to stick to my windshield. I was told that was it and I was free to go.

I went back to my truck and read the legal document. The gist of it was that MX is allowing me to temporarily import my specific vehicle for X amount of time. If I return on schedule, my deposit will automatically be refunded to my credit card by Banjercito. I am to advise them immediately if my card details change.

I read the holograma instructions and stuck it to the left of my rear view mirror, then pulled out of KM 21.

The final milestone, according to research, was a final game of red light, green light at the exit to KM 21. There was no such thing! I was free to go! I was out of there by 8:20 at the latest. The process took less than 40 minutes.

Crossing the border into Mexico with my vehicle was a bit of hassle, but not nearly as convoluted as research had made it seem. It does seem that the Mariposa crossing is particularly good, however.

Everyone I spoke to ahead of the process advised me to pretend I don’t speak a lick of Spanish beyond gracias and I don’t think that was good advice. There was absolutely nothing about the process that I couldn’t have done in Spanish and I actually did the payment part of the import process in Spanish because the gal’s English was poor. It was very awkward to pretend that I didn’t speak the language and I think next time I will just go ahead and do the whole thing in Spanish.

I’ll elaborate more on the language situation in my next post, which will be about the not so exciting, but still thrilling, drive to San Carlos!

I made it to Mexico! North America just got a whole lot bigger!