It was 5 in the morning when we left my uncle’s home in LA and headed to the border. We had few items on our shopping list to do before crossing the border including extra gas canister and engine oil for the next round of oil change in Mexico. After doing all these and driving for few hours we were at the border at Tecate. We picked a Sunday and a remote small border for our crossing to make it as smooth as possible for our first real border crossing and it paid off!!
Tecate is an interesting border. You just go through the border and might only stopped for car inspection by the border control on Mexican side and you are in Mexico. No passport controls no nothing! So, you can basically enter Mexico without any paperwork or passport here.
After the border, we had to drive in Tecate and find a safe spot to park the car and get back to the border to do the paperwork. The first street just next to the border wall is the nice place to park but it is one way street with a lot of no parking signs and apparently local police waiting for tourists to make their first mistakes. Again, we were lucky that it was Sunday, and we managed to find a gravel patch in front of a closed mechanic workshop and asked an older man kindly to keep an eye on our car and headed back in for the paperwork.
The visa process was easy. Just filled a form and the nice immigration agent did all the copies. After paying by Credit card, our Mexican visa was issued for 180 days.
The next stop was the Aduana for the Temporary Import Permit (TIP). Here again, we were the only ones and it helped us to do the process as fast as possible. The first challenge was the way our registration document looks in New Zealand. It is confusing even for us, and it was the first time that the nice girl at Aduana saw New Zealand documentation. After few questions and few calls to her boss, we finally had our TIP issued for Mexico for 6 months.
For visiting only Baja, TIP is not required. It is to make it easier for American to travel to Baja back and forth but because we were heading to mainland Mexico, we needed the TIP anyway later during the trip, so we decided to get it at Baja border.
The other thing for Mexico is the deposit to get the TIP. If you are in any other car than a Campervan (Needs to be registered as RV), they need a deposit to issue the TIP. The equivalent of few hundred US dollar will be blocked in your credit card by Mexican customs and it will be returned to you when you cancel the TIP on your way out of Mexico. More on this later when we leave Mexico.
For our first experience crossing a border that requires paperwork, it was smooth and easy. But picking a very quiet day and quiet border played a crucial role in it too.
The next important paperwork for travelling in Mexico is the Third party insurance which is required to make your rig legal on the roads. We bought ours from Baja bound online before getting to the border, but no one checked it at Aduana (Customs). We bought it for six months as it was almost cheaper than the 3 months option.
And just like that, we were in Mexico!!! Really exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.
Almost everyone we met in the USA warned us about Mexico and looking at iOverlander, the whole Mexico was dotted with warning signs on the map.
And even though a lot of that warnings and concerns we received were from people that actually never been to Mexico before, but it just created a lot of red flags in our minds.
And even though, we always try to have the open heart and open mind for any new place and adventure, we always consider all the warning signs and try to be vigilant. Because one wrong move or mistake can ruin the whole journey.
For the first few nights, we picked a ranch close to the border with only an hour drive, up in the mountain and away from any town or city to relax and get some practical information on the ground from its knowledgeable owner before we start exploring Baja.
We drove on the main highway 1 south and after half an hour we turned left to a dirt road up in the mountains. The Ranch La Bellota has nice signs on the road, so it is easy to get to its main Gate. I’ve been already in contact with Raoul and they were expecting us at the Ranch.
By lunch time, we arrived at the Ranch and got a warm welcome from Raoul and his lovely wife and set up camp in their Overlanders section next to three other overlanders.
It is a working ranch with lots of horses and due to their proximity to the border, they receive lots of Americans for horseback riding and quail shooting.
We have spent three beautiful nights there. Had a great dinner with other overlanders and Raoul’s guests and friends and tried some prime Tequilas.
The second night, we sat around the fire and Raoul gave us all some tips about the general concerns that all of us had with safety in Baja and mainland Mexico which was extremely helpful for all of us.
On the last day of our stay, we were on our own and Raoul kindly spent an hour explaining what to see in the Baja peninsula to us and marked some epic camp spots for us on the big paper map.
That was a great start to our Baja adventure! It will be a great first stop for any first-time visitor in Baja in our opinion and we are so happy to have a stop here.
In the next post, we start to have a first-hand experience in Baja and share it all with you. All I can say now that it is epic! Till then take care and I’ll try to be back soon.
