About halfway through the 110 mile drive, much of which is on a rough dirt road, I thought about the dives I had done the day before and I was reminded of my scuba equipment still hanging at the dive shop. Normally turning around would be a no brainer, but I had a boat to catch. I had a ticket, and I was on a tight schedule to get to Mexico City where Kerry was flying to meet me and I had a hotel reserved. After a verbal explosion of expletives and a momentary consideration of leaving a couple thousand dollars worth of scuba gear I flipped the Trailblazer around, turned on the "Roadtrip Playlist" and put the pedal down. This was not safe driving. I had extra time, but if I didn't knock down the miles quickly there would be no chance of making the ferry. I was hitting the twisting bends in the roads at nearly rollover speeds and fishtailing on the dirt roads as I bounced along. Urging me along with a positive attitude, sometimes the music would sync well with the mission. - "I left my scuba in Cabo Pulmo" by A Tribe Called Quest, "I'm going going back back to Pulmo Pulmo" by The Notorious B.I.G., etc.
I made the drive that Google Maps predicted would take 1:40 in about 1:10, grabbed my gear, then turned around and did the same stunt work back the other way. Devastatingly, it was all for naught. I reached La Paz with what I thought would be enough time to catch the ferry but couldn't find the terminal. I called the ferry company who told me where the port was, but also informed me that to catch the ferry I needed to be three hours early! Somewhere between inadequate Spanish, not reading the entire ticket confirmation email, and assuming that three hours early to board a ferry would be ridiculous I missed this important detail. Long story short, I changed my ticket to the next day and booked a room for the night in La Paz.
After a nice breakfast in La Paz and a run on the malecon, the first of a series of issues with the car registration that have been a theme of this wonderful adventure began. While in Todos Santos I had had my mom send me a temporary vehicle import permit that is necessary to drive in Mexico. Nowhere did I read that I needed the permit until I was already well into my drive in Baja, where for whatever reason the permit is unnecessary. I read from multiple sources that the only way to receive the permit is at a Mexican consulate in the US, at the border at Tecate (The border crossing I took leaving San Diego), or online (in which case the permit is shipped to a US address), which is what I did. You can't board the ferry without the permit so before I drove to the terminal I opened the Fedex envelope that my mother had sent to me. It looked like it had been taped at the top but I figured this was simply done for extra security. I was wrong. Turns out the envelope had been opened during its journey from the US and the contents had been stolen. Needless to say, I freaked out. What would I do? It would take nearly two weeks to apply and receive another permit, essentially ending my trip that was intended to take me through most of Central America in Baja. And of course, Kerry would either be hanging out in Mexico City alone, canceling her ticket all together, or changing it to hang out with me in Cabo.
With no real plan I began driving to the ferry terminal. If I didn't get there soon I would miss the ferry no matter what I figured out. On my way I Google searched Banjercito, which is the Mexican bank that issues the temporary car permits. Oddly I found that there was one located at the ferry terminal. I called and explained the situation and they told me to come there to see if I could get another permit. This was good news because I was under the impression that getting a permit anywhere within the country was completely impossible. When I arrived some phone calls were made and I was eventually told that I would have to buy another permit (about $60, with a $300 deposit that is returned once the car leaves the country) but I could do it there. Fantastic! Sold! So, a note to anyone who stumbles across this blog looking for information about a similar road trip: YOU CAN PURCHASE A TERMPORARY VEHICLE IMPORT PERMIT AT THE BANJERCITO OFFICE AT THE BAJA FERRIES TERMINAL NEAR LA PAZ.
Sadly, my relief didn't last long. You see, I purchased the car I was driving two days before leaving the US. When I went to the DMV in Oregon they took the title and the registration so new ones could be created with my name on them, which would be sent to me in four weeks. I was given a receipt of the transaction and was told that this would be enough documentation for whatever comes up. Mexico doesn't agree. After showing the DMV receipt, the Bill of Sale, and a photocopy of the original title I was told flatly, "I'm sorry, I can't give you a permit with this." (Spoiler alert: An issue arising due to not having an original tile will come up again in a future post.)
Another rush of doom came over me. I pleaded, begged, and charmed until my gatekeeper did a little more research into how I could get the permit. She said that if I had proof of insurance from the US she would do it. "Yes! I have that!"
After some forms were filled, pictures of the car were taken, and money was exchanged, I had my permit. It was only an hour and a half before the ferry departure time but that proved to be plenty. The stress of the 24 hours leading to the 9 hour (that includes boarding and disembarking time) over water journey took a few days off my life but I would soon be on mainland Mexico. I would need to hammer pretty hard to get to Mexico City in time but I would make it.
The ferry ride was uneventful. There are two or three large rooms. I chose to sit in the cafeteria area where the bar was located . I had my own table to watch other groups of people get wasted drinking cases of Tecate while Mexican music blared and the AC kept the room just above freezing, which was likely an attempt (unsuccessful) to keep people from passing out on the padded benches that surround the room.
After waiting for over an hour to disembark I made the decision to stay in Los Mochis overnight as opposed to driving to Mazatlan late which I was advised not to do for safety reasons. This meant that I would give up the room I had reserved in Mazatlan and I would need to drive the 900 miles from Los Mochis to Mexico City in two days, but it was the safe play.
I made it safely to a hotel where I knew I would sleep after a long day. A couple big days of driving were coming but I was happy to be on my way to see two cities in Guadalajara and Mexico City that I had heard good things about, and of course to see Kerry.
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