Buenos Dias everyone!
So, normally I wouldn't have thought to already post to this blog a few days after leaving the US, but we had such a memorable first adventure, that I just had to share!
So, all went well with our flights. We flew into El Salvador and successfully arranged for our baggage to follow us to Guatemala City and then on to Flores, Guatemala, the first stop on our trip. Since the flight to El Salvador and the flights to Guatemala City and Flores were booked separately, it was quite a celebration when our backpacks did, in fact, arrive in Flores when we landed on Jan. 3rd at 6 PM.
However, we didn't get so lucky with immigration. When we arrived at the tiny airport in Flores at 6 PM, immigration had already gone home for the evening, so there was no one around to stamp our passports. Hmmm... I tried to discuss this with the airport security and how I thought entering the country without that immigration stamp in our passports might cause us some trouble, but to no avail. They just said, don't worry about it, just come back to the airport tomorrow between 2 and 5 and no problemo! Um...ok. What choice did we have?
So, we get a taxi into town and the hotel we wanted to stay at had room for us - success! We made it. Good thing they didn't ask to see our passports and entry stamp!
So, since they told us to come back between 2 and 5, we went ahead and headed to Tikal early in the morning, the amazing Mayan ruins, for the day. We climbed around on pyramids, saw spider monkeys, heard the howler monkeys' ferocious howl and generally had a great time. We're figuring out how to post some pictures now. Hopefully we'll get a couple up soon. But anyway, back to my story. So, since the bus to Tikal went right past the Flores airport, I asked the driver to drop us off there instead of the hotel, on the way back to town.
We walked confidently up to the immigration booth with passports, boarding passes and immigration paperwork filled out and in hand. Hola! Buenas Tardes! And I start to explain that we arrived yesterday evening and no one was there in immigration so we were told to come back the following day to get our entry visas. The two women in the booth look at our passports and boarding passes and say that this is a problem because we don't have entry stamps into Guatemala. I explain that we never left an airport in Guatemala until Flores the night before, so there was no reason to pass through immigration and get our entry visa. I explain in Spanish that we were in transit only, and that Flores was really the first place we arrived. No dice. She doesn't believe me. Then she sees the stamp in our passports that says we arrived in Costa Rica in May of 2007. And now she thinks we've been in Central America illegally since then! By this time I have explained our situation as best I can in the Spanish that I know, to three people that the immigration officials had come over to the booth to discuss what to do with us. I'm starting to get pretty worried because they don't want to stamp our passports and keep saying that we should have had them stamped in Guatemala City during our layover there. I hold out our boarding passes from SFO to San Salvador, from San Salvador to Guatemala City, from Guatemala City to Flores, all on January 3rd. She shakes her head and calls another officer over to the booth. And accompanying him was an officer all in black with mirrored glasses and a rather large machine gun, standing and watching us and our discussions. Oh boy. At this point I've said everything I know how to say to explain why we don't have entry visas in our passports and they are still discussing us in very quickly spoken Spanish, so that I don't catch every word they say. But I understand enough to know that the one immigration officer is really hung up on our Costa Rica stamp from May and doesn't believe me when I say that was a different trip. Yikes!
After about 15 minutes more of them discussing our situation and me holding out our boarding passes and probably looking pretty sheepish and a little nervous, they finally decide we're not fugitives that have been living illegally in Central America since May - maybe we looked too clean still, although not so clean after a day wandering the jungles around Tikal all day. Grudgingly, the suspicious immigration officer stamped our passports. Phew! We walked away very quickly, so they didn't have a chance to change their minds, with much relief.
So, that's the story of how we almost ended up in a Guatemalan jail on our first day of this three month adventure. We treated ourselves to a glass of wine and a very nice dinner that night, to celebrate no longer being illegal aliens in Guatemala! All I have to say is that I'm SOOOO glad I took that year and a half of conversational Spanish. Or I'm not sure what would have happened. Muchas Gracias a mis professores de Espanol!!!!
Tomorrow we get on a bus headed for Belize City and Caye Caulker in Belize, supposedly one of the nicest beach/snorkeling/diving areas in Central America. Hopefully that border crossing will be MUCH more uneventful.
Lots of love!
Mikol and Jeremy
So, normally I wouldn't have thought to already post to this blog a few days after leaving the US, but we had such a memorable first adventure, that I just had to share!
So, all went well with our flights. We flew into El Salvador and successfully arranged for our baggage to follow us to Guatemala City and then on to Flores, Guatemala, the first stop on our trip. Since the flight to El Salvador and the flights to Guatemala City and Flores were booked separately, it was quite a celebration when our backpacks did, in fact, arrive in Flores when we landed on Jan. 3rd at 6 PM.
However, we didn't get so lucky with immigration. When we arrived at the tiny airport in Flores at 6 PM, immigration had already gone home for the evening, so there was no one around to stamp our passports. Hmmm... I tried to discuss this with the airport security and how I thought entering the country without that immigration stamp in our passports might cause us some trouble, but to no avail. They just said, don't worry about it, just come back to the airport tomorrow between 2 and 5 and no problemo! Um...ok. What choice did we have?
So, we get a taxi into town and the hotel we wanted to stay at had room for us - success! We made it. Good thing they didn't ask to see our passports and entry stamp!
So, since they told us to come back between 2 and 5, we went ahead and headed to Tikal early in the morning, the amazing Mayan ruins, for the day. We climbed around on pyramids, saw spider monkeys, heard the howler monkeys' ferocious howl and generally had a great time. We're figuring out how to post some pictures now. Hopefully we'll get a couple up soon. But anyway, back to my story. So, since the bus to Tikal went right past the Flores airport, I asked the driver to drop us off there instead of the hotel, on the way back to town.
We walked confidently up to the immigration booth with passports, boarding passes and immigration paperwork filled out and in hand. Hola! Buenas Tardes! And I start to explain that we arrived yesterday evening and no one was there in immigration so we were told to come back the following day to get our entry visas. The two women in the booth look at our passports and boarding passes and say that this is a problem because we don't have entry stamps into Guatemala. I explain that we never left an airport in Guatemala until Flores the night before, so there was no reason to pass through immigration and get our entry visa. I explain in Spanish that we were in transit only, and that Flores was really the first place we arrived. No dice. She doesn't believe me. Then she sees the stamp in our passports that says we arrived in Costa Rica in May of 2007. And now she thinks we've been in Central America illegally since then! By this time I have explained our situation as best I can in the Spanish that I know, to three people that the immigration officials had come over to the booth to discuss what to do with us. I'm starting to get pretty worried because they don't want to stamp our passports and keep saying that we should have had them stamped in Guatemala City during our layover there. I hold out our boarding passes from SFO to San Salvador, from San Salvador to Guatemala City, from Guatemala City to Flores, all on January 3rd. She shakes her head and calls another officer over to the booth. And accompanying him was an officer all in black with mirrored glasses and a rather large machine gun, standing and watching us and our discussions. Oh boy. At this point I've said everything I know how to say to explain why we don't have entry visas in our passports and they are still discussing us in very quickly spoken Spanish, so that I don't catch every word they say. But I understand enough to know that the one immigration officer is really hung up on our Costa Rica stamp from May and doesn't believe me when I say that was a different trip. Yikes!
After about 15 minutes more of them discussing our situation and me holding out our boarding passes and probably looking pretty sheepish and a little nervous, they finally decide we're not fugitives that have been living illegally in Central America since May - maybe we looked too clean still, although not so clean after a day wandering the jungles around Tikal all day. Grudgingly, the suspicious immigration officer stamped our passports. Phew! We walked away very quickly, so they didn't have a chance to change their minds, with much relief.
So, that's the story of how we almost ended up in a Guatemalan jail on our first day of this three month adventure. We treated ourselves to a glass of wine and a very nice dinner that night, to celebrate no longer being illegal aliens in Guatemala! All I have to say is that I'm SOOOO glad I took that year and a half of conversational Spanish. Or I'm not sure what would have happened. Muchas Gracias a mis professores de Espanol!!!!
Tomorrow we get on a bus headed for Belize City and Caye Caulker in Belize, supposedly one of the nicest beach/snorkeling/diving areas in Central America. Hopefully that border crossing will be MUCH more uneventful.
Lots of love!
Mikol and Jeremy
5 comments:
nothing says adventure like looking into the maw of a foreign legal problem! have a great time and maybe we'll see you in the UK...
gary
Probably helps you also cut your hair before you left. Nice work, mi hermano.
¡ay, caramba! una cerveza y dos tequilitas then, enjoy the adventure and have fun!
We just got back from Mexico (with no computer) so this is my first read. I had to laugh. John is right. Good thing you cut your hair. Can't wait for photos.
MOMster
Oh, forgot to tell you I did send the note to the Fuller's yahoo group.
Love to you both!
MOMster
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