On this occasion we had to renew our visas in Belize (they only give you 30 days at a time), so we took the dinghy a couple miles across the Placencia Lagoon and tried to leave it parked in a “private marina” (we were willing to pay a fee) but no, they wouldn’t let us. They made us pull it up on a beach with a lee shore nearby.
Once on the beach we started walking towards the town of Independence, so we could walk to the harbor of Big Creek. Heaven forbid if they let boats come into big Creek to deal with Customs and Immigration. According to them it is a private harbor only for the banana company, so cruisers have to travel miles for something that is a couple hundred feet from a dock. It is crazy!!!!
Anyways a pickup truck came along as we were walking and Shane flagged them down and offered money to take us to the office and more if they waited and bring us back. They agreed and into the back of the pickup we climbed. Once at the Immigration office we had to pay $100 USD and wait for almost half an hour…..even though they only need to take the money and stamp the passports. Ahh, the life of country officials!
