Mexico - First Attempt

Having finally got the camper sorted then we are off from San Clemente heading down the last of California and on to enter Mexico at the San Ysidro / Tijuana border crossing. This border crossing is the forth busiest in the world (the other three are in China) and we are expecting large queues. The queue is large but moving and we get in the right lane, eventually, to declare the vehicle on entry and sort out a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) which we need for driving in Mexico. 

The first half of the immigration process is fairly straightforward and we quickly get our visitors visas. Then we try to get a TIP. The staff know what we need and we have all the correct documents but…. our truck (Big Blue) is actually owned by our Limited Liability Company (LLC) of which I am the sole owner and Managing Director / President. So even though I own it, it appears that the authorities need a letter (Power of Attorney) from myself to authorise myself to take Big Blue into Mexico. Talk about Catch 22!! So no TIP.

We drive into Mexico, because that’s the only way to go, and try to navigate Tijuana to get back into the USA to get a POA. What a nightmare Tijuana is. The roads to the border are not really signed, the traffic is terrible and we are in some dodgy looking areas. So we head towards the nearby border crossing at Otay Mesa on the other side of Tijuana and get in an even larger queue. When we get to the border post the US Customs & Border officer looks at us suspiciously till we explain our situation - “that’s Mexico for you” and waves us back in.

We head back towards Chula Vista and find a small campsite down a narrow and bumpy road to stay overnight in. The following morning we drive through Chula Vista and find a Public Notary. Roberto Ruiz and his mother have a small business and produce the required POA in English and Spanish and officially notarised and signed and finished off by logging it in an official record with my thumbprint! Thank you Roberto. I now have a piece of paper signed by me which authorises me to do whatever I want with the vehicle. Hopefully we won’t need Roberto again.

We head back to the border crossing and the same queue and building. This time the POA does the trick and after the fee is paid and photographs taken of Big Blue and Beluga we have our TIP and can properly enter Mexico!

Except as we drive out of the customs building then we get waved to the side and the vehicle is searched - nothing found of course!

And then we are in Mexico and heading south through Tijuana towards Ensenada. The first three miles - sorry it’s back to kilometres here - are driven alongside the Trump Wall. A massive concrete and steel edifice which defies gravity going up and down hillsides and down to the coast. This section of the wall is a real barrier to immigration yet is still under construction and provides shelter from the sun for the impoverished looking to gain a better life, what a contrast!

We encounter the first of many Mexican toll roads, which will eat our Pesos, as we start to head south into Baja California state. We stop at Playa Saldamando, just North of Ensenada. I coax Big Blue up a steep and rocky track to a lovely pitch looking out over the Pacific. We go down to the beach and spend a couple of hours watching a local fisherman using a throw net from a rocky promontory. He’s excellent and catches loads of fish and sells us three. They end up bbq’d alongside some corn - fresh fish no more than 60 minutes out of the sea, washed down with a little wine, so yummy! We see see dolphins playing in the break and it's beautiful.

As we relax in the evening we realise the waves on the beach below are glowing green and turquoise with bioluminescence, just beautiful nature at a microbe level. We borrow an axe from the campers next door to chop some firewood and end up sharing Oreo’s and beer with Alex telling them all about the glowing waves. Just loving Baja already!

The following day we are up reasonably early and get a treat watching sea lions in the surf. Then it’s off to explore the Valle de Guadalupe wine region, didn’t know Mexico did wines! We go to the Casa Frida winery, it was founded and is run by an all women team and has a different vibe about it. Although going through a metal detector to get in was a bit weird, but it is a place for local hen parties! The wine tasting was great particularly as it was accompanied by different chocolates, so lush! But sadly the prices stopped us buying… budget constraints.

We got a great recommendation for lunch and set off along a couple of crazy dirt roads up hills to arrive at La Cocina de Dona Esthela in San Marcos.  Lots of locals means good food and it was great! We had a local ‘borrego’ which was potatoes with chorizo and corn pancakes with cheese and syrup washed down with fresh lemonade, sounds different but was fabulous. 

We head towards the next winery but the road is just a narrow track at a steep angle and we decide that the combo won’t make it up. After a bit of reversing and multi point turns we are ready to move on but decide to check the tie downs on Beluga. There had been some movement, may be a structural issue, so we decide to find a flatter campsite (we had planned to stay at the winery) and end up near Santa Anita. Looking at Beluga we think she may be ok.

So now it’s Sunday and it’s raining! We head further south aiming for La Bufadora which has the 2nd largest sea blowhole in the world. This place is a bit of a cool local Mexican go to place and there are loads of souvenir stalls interspersed with pharmacies selling cheap off-prescription medicines! There are load of churros and tamales stalls and even an ice cream stall for Alex.

But our visit is overshadowed by what is happening to Beluga. The tie downs are loose again and it’s obvious the attachment points on the camper are moving - which they shouldn’t!! So, very carefully we head out and stop at a flat campsite just a couple of miles away. It’s very basic for 200 pesos but overlooks the sea!

Further inspection of the attachments show that something is seriously wrong so after much discussion of our options we decide to head back to the RV dealer in the States.

So now it’s Monday 2nd September and we are up early to drive somewhat tentatively back into California to the RV place to get their opinion as to what can be done. Of course there are traffic jams in Ensenada, after all it is the Monday morning rush hour! We continue slowly towards Tijuana, paying the occasional toll and spotting where we have already stayed. Then it’s trying to cross the border, or more accurately trying to find where to cross the border. We follow one set of signs only to be told we are pushing into a queue and to go to the back, or jump the queue for a certain amount of money! We feel that there is some wrong with that and the people, who are not police, and head away, with a taxi driver trying to guide us. Of course the taxi driver is probably part of a scam so we back away from him and try again.

Following a slightly different route and signposts we come across some local police who kindly direct us in the right direction. And then we join the right queue of about 1.5 hours. The queue moves slowly but we meet all the street vendors hawking wares to everybody trying to cross the border, you can buy everything from ice creams, hot snacks, Christmas decorations, a complete set of copper cooking pans, the ubiquitous packs of crisps, cute puppies and even garden planters!

We pass through the border into the USA with just a short check of the camper for drugs and guns and sympathy for why we are suddenly back when they understand that we are not smugglers! We eventually make it back to the RV dealer (RVM), who are expecting us.

Now comes the awkward part. The dealers look at the camper and agree that it’s a FUBAR (Fu**ed Up Beyond All Repair) an ancient military term! There is dry rot in the main structure and it’s clearly unsafe and should not be used ever again. They are angry at the person who they sold the camper on behalf of as he has pulled the wool over their eyes. Worse is that they have already passed on the money to him so have no real levers to pull. We have no legal redress as it was sold as seen, normal for the USA. After a lot of negotiation with the bosses we settle on halving the pain and we get 70% of our money back. The dealers were brilliant throughout this as they looked after Alex, and had masses of sympathy with our position.

We then try to get the camper off the back of Big Blue but one of the four jacks fails! This camper is just junk!! After some ingenuity Beluga is detached from Big Blue. RVM say just leave it there, you can empty it another day and they have space in their workshop for our stuff where it will be safe. So after a very long day we head off to a local hotel.

But, in reality we are now homeless in Southern California, and seriously Considering our next move.

Guy