Identification, Safety and Children

For entry to the US, new U.S. ID laws require either: a passport -or- a driver’s license plus birth certificate. We can’t get you back home without these. More information is available at the following links (we are a "Land Travel" type of trip).

Homeland Security - More details. See the section at the bottom about "Single Document..." and "Two Document..."

From US Customs & Border Protection: "U.S. and Canadian citizen children ages 18 and under will be expected to present a birth certificate issued by a federal, state, provincial, county or municipal authority." Note: hospital-issued birth certificates generally do not meet this standard.

From: US Dept. of State (scan down to the section titled "Important New Information... Minors"): "Mexican law requires that any non-Mexican citizen under the age of 18 departing Mexico must carry notarized written permission from any parent or guardian not traveling with the child to or from Mexico". See the US Dept. of State web page for a description of the contents of the permission letter.

See US Dept. of State Travel Alert for Mexico.

There have been many reports of increased assaults against American tourists in the north-western areas of Baja California. Unfortunately, Estado 29 is located in this region. There are a variety of reasons given for the increased assaults. They have unfortunately increased since the Summer of 2007. We take the normal precautions that any traveler should take:

- we travel in groups whenever possible - multiple cars caravan together
- we travel in ordinary vehicles- the Mariners suburbans are unmarked and plain-looking
- we don't get lost easily - our drivers know how to get to Estado 29 without checking maps or asking for directions
- we travel directly to the orphanage and then directly home, we don't allow side-trips
- we pass quickly around Tijuana in company of many other US and Mexican vehicles
- we use well-traveled roads (toll road 1-D and highway 3) and only in daylight
- we don't carry cash or valuable goods. All support money is wire-transferred before our visit.

Military Checkpoints:
We normally encounter military checkpoints on the trip. These checkpoints are now heavily manned by the Mexican military wearing fatigues with their semi-automatic weapons in prominant display. There has been no reason to be alarmed at these checkpoints. They are primarily looking for drugs and weapons. If we are stopped, we explain where we've been and they have always waved us on our way. If one of our vehicles is stopped, the rest will wait just ahead for them to catch up.
Lately they've started wearing black stocking face masks. We assume that this is to protect their identity for concern of vengeance attacks by those who might identify them. They are engaged a vicious battle and many police have been murdered for it.
One humorous incident: once, we we're stopped and our vehicle was thoroughly inspected. When someone asked why he was doing such a thorough inspection the guy answered "because my boss is watching me". The stakes are higher now but they have always been very polite.

Children are welcome on trips to Estado 29. Those aged about eight and older have the best time with the least trouble. Children younger than eight normally require careful monitoring by their parents during the entire visit. There are no day-care type facilities or oversight available. The children who live there have grown up in unsafe environments (by US standards) in unsupervised play and have developed good skills in keeping out of harm.