Central American Frontiers – Honduras, Guatemala, Belize & Mexico

Step 4 – El Poy, Honduras – El Florida, Guatemala – San Ignatio, Belize and Chetumal, Mexico

Visa Preparation

San Salvador to Guatemala City via Honduras- Google Maps

As mentioned previously, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua are the four members of the so called 'The Central America-4 (CA-4) Border Control Agreement.' This agreement was designed to establish free movement for citizens between the four signatory states and, in theory, was also supposed to harmonize visa regimes for third country nationals. With this in mind, theoretically no fees or visas should be required, as the next steps of our journey only involve travelling between CA-4 States. As with everything in the region, theory and practice can be quite different.

Entry – Honduras

The El Poy/Ocotepeqe crossing to Honduras from El Salvador seemed to be a reasonably well managed affair on the El Salvador side. 

El Poy - El Salvador Exit Controls

On the Honduran side however, checks seemed more lax with one lone Immigration hut and two observing police officers on duty for the task. After a few minutes of hanging around the immigration hut and trying to make it clear that we did want to have our passports stamped an officer arrived. We were shown a sign which stated there was a $3 fee to be paid and given a carbon copy form to fill out. The officer demanded for some time to see EU ID cards, (something which dont exist in Ireland at least) but seemed to drop this demand when the $3 was paid.

Honduras Entry Stamp

We were stamped in and on our way to negotiate a shared mini bus to Ocotepeqe. The immigration post is flooded with bus drivers and their passengers, all anxious to sell the remaining seats to you so they can head on. 

With this confusion, and the general hive of activity in the area, it would probably be possible to enter Honduras here without inspection. On exiting the hut, stamps were not checked to have the barrier raised. 

Onward Land Transport in Western Honduras

Standing Stone - CopanRuinas

We traveled north through Ocotepeqe to Santa Rosa de Copan, a town famous for drug smuggling according to Lonely Planet.  After a lunch and another change of bus we headed south west in the driection of Guatemala, stopping at the tourist magnet town of Copan Ruinas, famous for the ancient Mayan Pyramids. 

Copan Ruinas

The next day a short pick up truck ride of about an hour brought us to Frontero El Florido, the border with Guatemala. 

Time to say good bye to Honduras again!

Exit - Honduras at El Florido

Copan West Bus Depot

The exit process at El Florido was simple and easy. Similar to our experience on entry at El Poy, staff had no computers nor verification equipment so they simply spamped us out and removed the carbon copy page for their records. There was no exit fee charged and the process took seconds.

Next Stop Guatemala!!

Entry - Guatemala at El Florido

Guatemala Honduras Border at El Florido

El Florido is a relatively small and rural crossing, yet due to its proximity to the tourist site of Copan Ruinas, it seems to be both efficient and hassle free.  After walking across no-mans-land from Honduras, we paid 10 Guate Quetzal ($1.30) at the immigration post and were quickly provided with both a receipt for out payment and a stamp in our passport. There were no forms to fill out and no questions asked. We were officially in Guatemala!  

Onward Land Transport toward Guatemala City then North toward Belize

Street Vendors in Chuquimula

From El Florido we easily found a shared collectivo minibus heading to the regional town of Chiquimula and from there boarded a coach headed for Guatemala city.  Driving standards were noticeably worse in Guatemala than we had experience before, with bouts of high speed overtaking followed by tea breaks which at times seemed endless.

Antigua de Guatemala

Having drastically under- estimated the travel time from Chuquimula, we missed onward connections from Guatemala city and decided instead to spend two nights there to recuperate from endless travel.   

After a relaxing day discovering Guatemala City and near-by Antigua de Guatemala, an executive decision was made to splash out on first class bus tickets for the next leg north toward Flores.  After almost ten days of travel between old american style school buses, tick up trucks and collectivos, we decided that we would pay the extra money and travel in comfort aboard the ADN Luxury Express Night Bus.  

Average Bus

ADN "Luxury Express Night Bus"

From the get go this was a mistake.  The driver crashed into a lamp post before we even made it out of Guatemala city, then again into the back of a truck on the carriageway and then, to top it all off, we ran out of fuel - not once.. but twice. In total the advertised eight hour trip took over 15 hrs to complete. We had learned our lesson and vowed to travel like the locals from now on.

Flores to Belize via Tikal

Tikal

We stayed a night at Flores, an island town in north central Guatemala. For the first time on this trip Flores seemed to have a strong back-packer contingent, many of whom had traveled south from Cancun for a few days to see Tikal and explore northern Guatemala.  The local 'Cueva de Serpente' thankfully didn't live up to its name, so after a swim in the lake and a stop off at the Tikal ruins we headed east toward the Belize border.  By means of three separate collectivos, we arrived at the Melchor De Menchos border and said good by to Guatemala!  

Exit – Guatemala at Melchor De Menchos

Guatemala Belize Border

To exit Guatemala one must first walk across a road bridge which forms a natural barrier between the local town and the restricted border area.  Facilities on site seemed well established, with large immigration sorting halls and a significant number of officials on duty.  On approaching the desk seeking an exit stamp, the officer was on her phone and simply stamped us out. There were no computers present and no passport reader machines of any kind.  A short walk across no-mans-land and we were approaching the Belize officials, and our first official anglophone country of the trip. 

Belize Visa Preparation

Belize Passport & Map

Belize is not a member of the CA-4 agreement, rather it sees itself as a member of the Caribbean Community and, as such, maintains its own immigration rules and protocols.  Citizens of the EU as well as many other countries including Australia, Canada, the US, Mexico, New Zealand and many Caribbean nations do not need to obtain a visa in advance, provided they have an onward or return ticket and sufficient funds ($60 per day).

Entry - Belize at Benque Viejo Del Carmen/ San Ignatio

The Benque Viejo Del Carmen immigration post is a large purpose built complex with immigration channels, tourist information desks and separate customs inspection area. The friendly tourist information officer provided us with maps, forms and information on onward travel options. Struggling to reacquaint our brains to speaking English with officials, we completed the necessary forms and approached the immigration desks. Officers had both computers and passport readers and asked a number of questions about our route and our intended plans in Belize.  The immigration forms were in the duplicate, however the secondary leaf had neither a  reference number nor bar code, so it remains unclear how exit data is easily consolidated by this method. After completing immigration, we passed the customs post without being stopped and made our way outside to start the process of negotiating onward transport toward the capital Belmopan. We were in Belize!

Onward Transport to Belmopan and Belize City

Belize City Bus Station

With more daylight remaining that we had initially anticipated, we managed to make our way not only to the capital Belmopan, but also onward to the coastal city of Belize City by nightfall. This journey across the heart of Belize consisted of a shared taxi to the first town San Ignatio, followed by a bus to Belize City via Belmopan.

During our time in Belize we met migrants from India, China and the United States, who for various reasons had decided to relocate to Belize to set up trading businesses or perhaps to retire. Some were attracted by the Special Economic Export Zone at Corozal, and others saw Belize as a pleasant and low tax place to escape from big city living. That said, most industries remain in local hands and many service providers, hotels and restaurants appear to be family businesses. 

Onward Transport from Belize City North to Mexico
Similar to areas of Caribbean Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua which we had traveled through,  the transport network in Belize includes a strong emphases on boats. There are two primary methods to travel from Belize city up north toward Chetumal in Quintana Roo in Mexico; The first options is to travel by bus to Corozal, followed by a combination of minibus/ collectivos across the border.  The other options is to travel by boat via the islands of Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye into Chetumala by sea.  We chose the sea route. 


Exit - Belize at Ambergris Caye

Caye Caulker Boat Dock

Perhaps we had become too accustomed to the small fees charged for immigration processing by the various countries so far on our trip, or perhaps Belize is taking advantages of the tourists flocking to their magnificent islands, in either case we were hit by a host of unexpected fees and charges.  First one must pay a 30Bel ($15)exit tax, followed by a $7.50 environmental fee (which for some reason is charged in USD) and finally there was a further 10Bel ($5) port fee.  Whilst receipts were provided for both the exit tax and the port fee, despite much arguing, it seems that a receipt for the $7.50 environmental fee is not available - Something smells funny there! The immigration post is located on the boat pier and consists of two windows, one for ticket checks and the other for passport inspections. Officials had no computers, however did record all exiting passengers information in a ledger.  We were asked no questions apart from how we would pay the fees.

Immigration Post at Ambergris Caye

The boat ride from Ambergris Caye brings you north west to the port of Chetumal in Mexico. The boats are modern speed boat shuttles and were full of tourists returning from short two day trips from Cancun. On board staff tried to sell pricey but convenient onward private minibus transport to Playa del Carmen for Cozumel and to Cancun. Goodbye Belize!

Mexico Visa Preparation
Mexico welcome passport holders from the Belize, US, EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and a number of other developed countries, without requiring a visa. In addition, nationals of many countries who hold a valid US visa are also exempted.  All others must obtain a visa in advance.  In theory, tourists must obtain a 'tourist card' which operates much like the carbon copy immigration forms and is surrendered on exit.  Also to note, we were warned that a tourist fee is normally included in flight tickets to Mexico, but seeing as we were arriving by boat, there would be a need to pay a M$200 ($16) charge before exiting the country.    

Entry - Mexico

Immigration and Customs at Chutemal, Mexico.

Customs and Immigration at Chetumal dock are strict.  All luggage was placed in a line and inspected by sniffer dogs whilst heavily armed guards searched baggage at random.  The immigration procedure was simple albeit slow, as duplicate immigration forms (the 'tourist card') as well as tourist fee receipts had to be hand written for each passenger. Somewhat different to what we had expected, the tourist fee was charged on arrival, rather than departure, and the rate had risen to $25. That said, we were happy enough with the process as it seemed less complicated that the previous system which required paying the fee at a designated bank. We were stamped in and provided with a receipt for our tourist fee. We had arrived in Mexico.

Mexico - Google Maps

Onward Land Travel in Mexico

Mexico City

With Mexico being exponentially larger than the previous countries along our trip, travel around the country takes time and is more costly. Bus connections from Chutemal to Mexico City take approximately 24 hours and cost around $100.  We opted for a flight which took 1 hour and cost $110 instead.  From Mexico City connections north toward one of the many crossing points into the Estados Unidos range from around 20 hours to Reynosa or Matamoros to 35 hours to Tijuana, again costing approximately $100 to $150.

Exit - Mexico
On exiting Mexico, check-in staff removed and stapled the remaining section of our immigration forms to the boarding pass. We were asked whether we had ESTA (Electronic System of Travel Authorization) visas for the United States, however no effort was made to verify whether we had onward tickets or sufficient funds as is normally the case as airlines struggle to avoid carrier liability fees for delivering a inadmissible passenger. 

Similar to the United States, Ireland and many other countries, Mexico does not apply immigration checks on exiting passengers, rather the immigration forms are used to match entry with exit data and verify that those on visas leave before they expire.  As such, we met no further checks in Mexico before arriving at the United States (CBP) Customs and Border Patrol inspection area.  

Conclusion

Arrival in the United States marked the end of our trip and the final point in this examination of immigration and customs procedures in Central America. 

Overall we met a variety of strict and lax borders along the way, ranging from those simply going through the motions to those strictly enforcing a regimented and well thought out protocol.  

We learned that many of the Central American nations have linkages which make the strict  enforcement of border procedures impossible and perhaps even culturally inappropriate. For example, Nicaraguans of Bluefields have much more in common with their neighbors across the sea in Jamaica than they do with their countrymen across the mountains in Managua. To this regard they often speak of being 'British Caribbean peoples', rather than Nicaraguans. Similarly, Panamanians from Bocas have stronger economic and social ties to those on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica than they do with the Spanish speaking city dwellers of Panama City.

It is apparent that stricter US Border Controls, coupled with depressed economic activity has made the traditional migration to North less appealing than before. We met Nicaraguans migrating to Costa Rica instead, where they may earn less, but can travel home reasonably easily and are unlikely to be imprisoned at the border. 

Also to note is the noticeable Chinese community in Central America, particularly in Panama and Costa Rica, signs perhaps of a new wave of inward migration not seen since the arrival of Afro slaves some hundreds of years ago.

Central America is an intriguing mixture of wealthy and poor, of democratic and repressive, of capitalist and socialist and of African, Hispanic and Indigenous cultures. Also, the concept of nationality is vague in places and concrete in others. 

In my opinion, the attempted enforcement of strict immigration controls in such an environment is basically a pointless, expensive and futile exercise. Although they cant be seen to admit so, it is clear that the Central American authorities know this all too well and in reality they focus on creating the perception of enforcement as a deterrent, coupled with targeted anti-narcotic operations. 

This concludes this five part series - Central American Frontiers.

Please feel free to make comments, positive and negative.

Central America