Splutering into America

On the 11th June 2019, the bus pulled up to the American border. Having heard so many stories and reports about the Mexican - American border, none of us really knew what to expect. The border crossing we used is in the city of Nogales, which has parts in both Mexico and Arizona. We queued for only an hour or so (mainly through the centre of town!) before we reached the Mexican exit. Despite all the headlines to the contrary, there were no lines of Mexicans trying to cross, no huge swathes of people camping at the border, desperate to get across. It was all relatively quiet and peaceful. We had to walk all our belongings to the American side and to wait to see what the American immigration officers would be like. Again, everyone knows the reputation of these officials and anyone who has flown into the US will have had first-hand experience of these humourless individuals. Well, these chaps were lovely, helpful and one of them even bent the rules for a couple of our party. I did not get thrown into jail, fined or even reprimanded over the forgotten apple in my backpack! And a couple who had flown into the country a fortnight earlier and had booked return flights on day 32 of their stay by mistake(one day too late) were given another entry stamp, so they would not incur any trouble at the airport. I would definitely recommend travelling to the US via a land border if ever possible. So none of the people had a problem but the bus was another story. The Dragoman school bus had not started the trip in Mexico. It had been travelling through Central America, in fact a couple of the people had been on it since Panama City, a couple of months earlier. Their trip had been beset with many technical problems and the bus breaking down often. Supposedly, the bus had had a major overhaul in Mexico City as there would be no way, American customs would let an unroadworthy vehicle into the country. Unlike my previously used overland company Oasis, Dragoman do not require the driver to be a fully-fledged mechanic. In fact they do not have specific drivers, the driving and tour leading are combined with both people expectedly to share all the work. The Oasis drivers carry enough spare parts to completely rebuild the engine plus they know how to strip and rebuild an engine. Dragoman give their driver / leaders a 4 week course in basic mechanics. Not surprisingly this results in the Dragoman tour staff not really being able to do anything! We therefore, were not surprised when the bus did not pass the initial inspection and we had to wait for hours sat on the tarmac within the border compound. When we were eventually released and drove to the local campsite, it was dark. We ate a quick meal and went to bed. Apparently, we were at a lovely campsite around a lake but as we arrived late at night and had to leave early the following morning, we were not going to see much. I did manage to go for a quick walk before breakfast which is where I spotted the pedestrian bridge (in the photo above). I have never seen a bridge like it before and crossing it was a bizarre experience. It really did make the heart beat faster!
We drove to the ridiculously hot city of Phoenix where we had an afternoon and evening to entertain ourselves. Some of the group choose to go to the theatre, others had a quiet evening making the most of the aircon in our very comfortable motel rooms, and some went to a local brewery. Wade (a supermarket manager from Wales) suggested we make the most of the big city and visit a vegetarian restaurant. I know that veggie restaurants will be harder to find in the US so I jumped at the chance. It was so nice to eat something fresh and not dep fried. Plus I found a nice line in speciality cider!
The following day we were supposed to leave at 11am to drive to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately Julie, the crew leader had decided to take the bus to the mechanic the previous evening and it was not allowed back on the road. She promised us it would be ready by lunch time and in the meantime, we could enjoy the morning in Phoenix. We had to leave the motel rooms and leave the luggage in storage. Oh yes, and there was a high weather warning in place. The temperature was expected to go to 41 degree C. Being outside was not advised. A group of us decided to explore Phoenix and on the advice of a local policeman who was at the tram station, we boarded a tram and went downtown. We explored shops and bars and restaurants and after receiving word that the bus was still not ready and to check back at 4pm, we had a very slow, leisurely walk back through the art district. We found some whirly chairs that was great fun but skin did burn on the red hot plastic.

The meeting point of the motel carpark – had absolutely no shade and no shops nearby so water could not be bought. The older members of our group were really struggling in the ‘danger to life’ heat. There were some fast food drive through outlets nearish and they had been serving the group with water instead of soda for free. At 4pm we got a message that they were hoping to be back for 6pm. You can imagine the frustration that was building. I decided to go to the McDonalds drive through, to get a veggie burger meal.
I walked in and could not see anything veggie on the menu, so I asked. First of all, my accent was highly amusing to them but the staff were very confused as to what I was asking for. At one point, the woman at the counter asked me, if I realised this was a McDonalds. I explained to her that Maccy D’s in the UK sold not one but two different veggie burgers as well as things like salad and carrot sticks in the kids meals. She actually called over the manager and all the other staff in the shop so they could listen again to my description of McD’s in the UK. It was surreal. Needless to say, I didn’t get anything veggie and my hopes of finding veggie food in the US were diminishing greatly.I walked back to the carpark at 6pm to be told another message had been received saying the bus should be back for 8. By this point we had been outside for 9 hours with no shelter, shade or easy access to water in 41 degree heat. We were supposed to be watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon at this point. It was the highlight of the trip and we were still an 8 hour drive away! Surprisingly, none of us were particularly happy.
The bus and crew did arrive back just before 8pm saying they were ready to set off! But where would we go? The Grand Canyon campsite does not allow people to arrive after 10pm. The crew suggested we drive, set up a camp outside the national park , then pack-up the tents and move into the official camp site and set up the camp again before going to visit the Canyon. The other option would be for us all to pay an additional $75 dollars each and stop at a motel. There was an outcry. After Dragoman had supplied a not fit for purpose bus, left us alone without shelter or shade in 41 degrees for a total of 11 hours, made us miss the highlight of the trip – they were now asking us to pay as a result of their catalogue of errors. Eventually, the crew realised this was not acceptable and we pulled up to a motel at 2am. The rooms were charged on the company’s credit card. At 6am we were up again, grabbed a breakfast of fruit and oats and quickly got back on the road. It was another couple of hours on the road and we arrived at the Grand Canyon visitor centre for around 8.30am. I had had a grand total of 3 hours sleep and had managed to eat half an apple and a muesli bar. I wasn’t feeling on top of the world but at least we had finally arrived!