Boquillas Del Carmen, Mexico (12-05-14)

Our final adventure in Big Bend National Park was a day trip to Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico.  The day started in an unusual way for this area of Texas- with fog clinging to both the roads and mountains.










  Boquillas is a small town in Mexico, that until 2011, was a “soft” border crossing. Mexicans would casually cross to shop in the United States, since the nearest grocery store in Mexico is a 3.5 hr drive down a dirt road.

 Americans would cross just as casually to explore Boquillas, eat lunch and buy souvenirs. September 11th changed all that, and devastated this small town with a population of just 300.  The border was closed.  Period.  No more crossing at all. The town inhabitants waited in vain for it to re-open, and eventually, many of them moved away to find new jobs.




Finally, in April of 2013, the border re-opened, but it will never be quite the same again.  Now Mexicans need a visa to cross into the U.S. and Americans need a passport to cross into Mexico.

Well, with passports in hand, the 6 of us began the trek to Boquillas del Carmen.  After an hour and a half drive, we reached the ranger station at the crossing, where we were briefed on the do’s and don’ts of crossing into Mexico.

Our options for crossing the Rio Grande were wading/swimming (not recommended) or paying Victor $5.00 to take us across in a boat. 

So, after a short boat ride, we were in Mexico.

The next step was to get to town, a mile up the road, where we would need to check in with immigration officials. 

Our options for that segment of the journey were to walk a mile uphill, ride in a pickup truck taxi, or ride burros.  We chose the burros. 

I think we laughed all the way up the hill.

  Our handler was Paulo.  He kept the burros moving, and we assumed that once we got up the hill, his job would be done, but we were wrong.

He walked us to the immigration building, waited for us, and gave us a tour of his town.  In fact, he stuck by us all day, right up until we crossed back over.  There aren't many jobs in Boquillas, so working for tips may be one of the better ways to make money.

Paulo spoke very little English, so the little bit of Spanish that we knew came in handy.  In fact, we learned later that one of the effects of the border closing is that the children of the town don’t speak English as well as the older people.






Paulo was very proud of the new hospital and school in town, and seemed happy to report that soon the town will have electricity, generated by a new solar station.  The residents will pay for the electricity they use, but the money will go into a fund to replace the batteries when the time comes.  Very clever.




  We worked up an appetite on the short tour, and had lunch at one of the two restaurants in town. 

The food was good, and the beer was cold!

Afterwards we wandered across the street to the other restaurant, which had a nice view of the mountains and the river.  So nice that we decided we weren’t in a rush, and sat down to have a margarita. 

The owners of both restaurants were very friendly and spent quite a bit of time chatting with us, sharing stories about their lives in this small town.

After purchasing our souvenirs, we decided it was time to head back.  The border crossing closes at 5 pm.

  Once back in the U.S., we all had to take a turn at the immigration kiosk where we inserted our passport for inspection, and spoke on the phone to an immigration officer.

All in all it was an easy process and a great way to spend an afternoon.