Entering and Leaving Belize
 

Hi,
this is an information given by Sjoerd Bakker in a different thread:

Just entered Belize this morning and was reminded of some of the strange rules they have here.Winnie , you no doubt intend to come through Belize so take note that when you get your passport and papers processed they will ask you where in Belize you are going or if you are just going through on your way to Guatemala. If you say you are going somewhere in Belize they will note that on your papers and then you MUST go there! If you are going to Guate say so and they will make forms accordingly , giving you X number of days to make that transit. This morning I told the fellow at the Sta. Elena/Chetumal entry that I was going to Dangriga and also to Guate for a few days. He said okay, ready. When I came to the exit at the Guate side this afternoon the customs lady said that I was breaking the law because I was not in Dangriga and I was liable for a BZ$500 fine !!!After a bit of explaining she phoned the other chap at Sta.Elena and got confirmation that it was a misunderstanding at his end, and got it straightened out for me, no fine.
One would think that the people who thought up these rules were maybe students in eastern Europe before 1990?Apparently no freedom of movement permitted here.
By the way , Guatemala gives a nice souvenir sticker for keeps.

I just experienced the same thing in Belize.
Told them that I was going to Punta Gorda, and once there would put the bike on a boat to Puerto Barrios Guatemala. Yet the guy at the customs must have had a brain lapse and wrote "transit for export to Mexico" in my passport, causing me some grief while trying to leave Punta gorda.
I had already hired a few locals to help load the bike into the boat when the customs official told me that what I was doing was illegal, and they could confiscate my bike because of it!

Well, after some discussion, I still have my bike. But it did make for a few stressful moments.

READ WHAT THEY WRITE IN YOUR PASSPORT!

Mike.