Sonoyta Crossing Today
I'm sending this from San Carlos. We left Ajo, Arizona this morning, crossing at Sonoyta/Lukeville. This is, and remains our favorite crossing point.
After we checked out of the US with the man at the border-passport, entering license place, where are you going, etc, we entered Mexico, and were asked to pull to the right by a uniformed young man. He identified himself as with the Department of Agriculture, and had good English. He requested the health certificates for our dogs (very visible big ones) and one of our passports. He said he'd be back in 2 minutes and would be making copies. He was indeed back in 2 minutes. When he was gone, his female partner had one of the dogs stick her head out of the window so she could take her picture. When he returned with our documents, he said he would be checking our refrigerator. Fine! He checked the fridge thoroughly, and reminded me politely that many fruits and vegetables were not allowed into Mexico. I told him that I understood that, and that's why he didn't see much more than lettuce and tomatoes. In the freezer, he again looked hard. He specifically said he was looking for beef, and I told him there wasn't any. He saw a package of hand labeled chicken leg meat, told me that wasn't legal either, but that he wasn't going to take it because this was more an educational stop for future visits. He saw bacon, salami, ham, and a processed chicken lunch meat, but these were all legal. As he was leaving, he also said that it was important to know that beef based dog food was also not permitted. I called him back in to show him my dog food in the bathroom-chicken with rice, no beef. He was pleased. He could not have been more informative, polite and respectful, and I was the same to him.
While he was in the bathroom, he said, "Nice cat!" I didn't bother doing paper work for him, so I guess that wasn't a problem.
Paperwork: I find APHIS Form 7001 on line, fill it out, print it, and sign it each year. This is the first time I have ever shown it.
The whole thing took no longer than it did to check out of the US. I understand the issues that Mexico has with beef. Whether or not I agree with them isn't the point.
San Ementario is still open, just as in the past. We got no light, and passed through. Caborca, everyone got a green.
Later here at San Carlos, another rig came in. They had passed us this morning while we were doing our dog paperwork. They had two little dogs, which may or may not have been visible, but because the official was tied up with us, they just drove through.
End result? It's all good, they did exactly what they are supposed to do, and were very nice about it.
After we checked out of the US with the man at the border-passport, entering license place, where are you going, etc, we entered Mexico, and were asked to pull to the right by a uniformed young man. He identified himself as with the Department of Agriculture, and had good English. He requested the health certificates for our dogs (very visible big ones) and one of our passports. He said he'd be back in 2 minutes and would be making copies. He was indeed back in 2 minutes. When he was gone, his female partner had one of the dogs stick her head out of the window so she could take her picture. When he returned with our documents, he said he would be checking our refrigerator. Fine! He checked the fridge thoroughly, and reminded me politely that many fruits and vegetables were not allowed into Mexico. I told him that I understood that, and that's why he didn't see much more than lettuce and tomatoes. In the freezer, he again looked hard. He specifically said he was looking for beef, and I told him there wasn't any. He saw a package of hand labeled chicken leg meat, told me that wasn't legal either, but that he wasn't going to take it because this was more an educational stop for future visits. He saw bacon, salami, ham, and a processed chicken lunch meat, but these were all legal. As he was leaving, he also said that it was important to know that beef based dog food was also not permitted. I called him back in to show him my dog food in the bathroom-chicken with rice, no beef. He was pleased. He could not have been more informative, polite and respectful, and I was the same to him.
While he was in the bathroom, he said, "Nice cat!" I didn't bother doing paper work for him, so I guess that wasn't a problem.
Paperwork: I find APHIS Form 7001 on line, fill it out, print it, and sign it each year. This is the first time I have ever shown it.
The whole thing took no longer than it did to check out of the US. I understand the issues that Mexico has with beef. Whether or not I agree with them isn't the point.
San Ementario is still open, just as in the past. We got no light, and passed through. Caborca, everyone got a green.
Later here at San Carlos, another rig came in. They had passed us this morning while we were doing our dog paperwork. They had two little dogs, which may or may not have been visible, but because the official was tied up with us, they just drove through.
End result? It's all good, they did exactly what they are supposed to do, and were very nice about it.
