Belize

For those sick of Walmart , Home Depot and McDonalds. This is an excellent site for info. Spoiled Gringos need not apply.
http://www.belizefirst.com/rules.html
http://www.belizefirst.com/livehome.html

Nice place to visit but not live. I saw law enforcement in action on Caye Caulker
which is a very nice small island with a reef preserve. Ambergris
key actually would make many Gringoes happy but all I saw and felt were
Condo Salesman. Went to check out the local health clinic and they showed
me there glass syringes and told me if I came back could I bring them some
disposable syringes. The Hotel (Caribbean Queen) which was used to film
the Dogs of war has not changed other than moving the bar since the movie.
But they basically locked us into the hotel at night with armed guards walking
all around the hotel. Belize city at night is very dangerous. Caye Caulker is
much less dangerous but petty theft and single women are mildly molested
by the local ladies men. Never made it to the beaches south of Belize city
which has the other large group of expats. Biggest store in the country was
a true value hardware store. Band came over from Ambergris Key to play in
our sand floor nightclub in Caye Caulker. They played the whole Hotel California
album like it was the eighties again. I very much enjoy the experience and can
suggest a nice vacation in Caye Caulker to see the reef and relax but to live full
time my answer was no.

Z

I agree with the visiting part. However for the younger more adventurous type this could be nice.

Agree with Zed. Husband and I spent a month in Xcalak once at the Belize border. Met lots of people there trying to get rid of their houses in Ambergris Key for all the same reasons Z relates. Especially crime. Also said it was expensive. They all wanted to sell out in Belize and buy in Mexico. I don't even think I want to visit. . .

Haven't had time to read this blog, it appears to be up to date and it sure looks like everyone is having a good time !
oops .. her is the link
http://www.sanpedroscoop.com/

espíritu del lago wrote:I agree with the visiting part. However for the younger more adventurous type this could be nice.

Good point and I agree just tell the younger more adventurous types to be polite to law enforcement including customs. VERY POLITE and don't get caught with
pot or you will have an adventure. They love to catch Gringoes with Pot and make big bucks while mentally torturing you.

Z

WHile in Honduras and Guatemala a coupe of weeks afo I met a lot of young adventurous type who were arriving from trips in Belize, many of them really disliked the country and did not enjoy bumming around there.

An interesting take on Belize. When we were considering where south of NOB to retire in the late 2000s, we never really considered small Central American countries from Belize to Nicaragua to Panama to Honduras because it was easy to remember how, just a few years before, in places such as Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua and others, dictatorial regimes and insurgencies were the order of the day spiced up by covert U.S. interference. The dirty civil war in Guatemala had been going on for decades. The corruption in all of those places was and is rife and, unlike Mexico with its own corruption, the governmental infrastructures of these "banana republics" were and are too weak to overcome these problems.

We briefly considered Colombia but at that time the narco crime was through the roof. That´s the only place we considered in South America and, instead, concentrated on North and Central America. In the final anaysis, Mexico was the hands down choice as a retirement place and, despite the fact that Calderon´s War then bloomed and brought with it obscene crime levels, we do not regret that decision for one minute and, unlike such places as Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, in our assessment, has the overall political infrastructure to survive this organized crime grab and widespread petty crime with which these small Central American governments cannot cope.

Thanks for the take on Belize.

Belize City is the only place I've had to run for my life. Glad I had a 2 block head start and was 40.

Even back in the 70s when I was living in Central America, Belize had a reputation for not being a very friendly place,especially if you were traveling on a budget.

Well I guess we all agree who have been there that it is not a good place to live LOL.
If you have not gone to the reef on one of the islands I do suggest
Caye Caulker (caye is said like Key) and stay at Leeside in on the quiet side
of the island. He supplies bikes, and sea kayaks. Island has everything you
need but not everything you want. We stayed for two weeks and had a delighful
time including singing the theme to Gillagans Island while our night
time three hour boat tour turned to crap when the whole electrical system on
the boat failed. Than it rained and I sat outside the cabin as no room was
available and got soaked in the tropical rains. Eventually someone on shore
saw the lighters and came out and got us. Sounds bad but actually fun trip
even the captain when he ran out of tricks starting to sing the song with us.
The reef is great animal wise but much of the coral is dead so see it while
you can.

Z

A friend of mine was raised in Central America. She said the houses all had large yards and then locked gates and you did not open those gates until you were sure who was on the other side.

Trailrunner wrote:Agree with Zed. Husband and I spent a month in Xcalak once at the Belize border. Met lots of people there trying to get rid of their houses in Ambergris Key for all the same reasons Z relates. Especially crime. Also said it was expensive. They all wanted to sell out in Belize and buy in Mexico. I don't even think I want to visit. . .

We also spent a month in isolated Xcalak (population about 400) for a couple of days, at that time still displaying a good bit of damage from a past hurricane, before fleeing for Lake Bacalar which, while a beautiful cenote supplied lake, as it turned out, was also not a keeper. There on that hurricane coast, expat residents - mostly part time it seemed to me - had seemingly vastly overpriced, sometimes isolated and often ostentatious beach homes for sale. If memory serves me, one has to drive all the way to Chetumal, which I think is about two hours or more distant much of the ride over isolated beaches or mangrove swamps, for decent medical care. Not a good idea for old goobers.

I have never been to Belize but Xcalak is actually part of the same peninsula known as Ambergris Caye in Belize a few kilometers distant and separated by an artificial canal defining the two land masses constructed by the Maya eons ago. It is that old canal that makes Ambergris Caye an island. I figure, as I stated in another post, that the recreational activities available to residents of Xcalak include diving, fishing, reading Agatha Christie novels, getting drunk and passing out. Fun for a while I´m sure - then the looney bin.

Totally agree, Dawg! But you forgot bonefishing. . .gawdalmitey how many days can one spend bonefishing!!!! And how much barracuda can one eat, smoked, fresh, flaked, tacos,dried, filets. . .aaaaaarrrrggghhhh As I said, EX husband. . .

Big overpriced homes and abandoned resorts on crappy beach is what I remember most. Ocean only about a foot deep, mucky and reedy all the way out to the reef, which is beautiful and full of fish and nice breaking surf. Long walk out for a swim tho!

Right about that too, Dawg, no medical services to speak of except Centro de Salud who cured me from the righteous case of food poisoning from the lady in the blue house. One must take a long trip to Cancun or Chetumal I guess. . .maybe it's improved since I was there.

Was Mexico Mike there then?

Well said, TR. I forgot to mention that the beaces at Xcalak are narrow and the water immediately adjacent to the beach filled with sharp coral so strolling out into the water is impractical. As best I remember, one has to drive the beach road all the way to Mahahual (some distance) to find more expansive beaches and a sandy sea bottom. The sea in this part of the Costa Maya is best suited for diving rather than a leisurely swim. The nicest beaches for swimmers in all of Quintana Roo not spoiled by commercial overdevelopment are around Tulum in my opinion. Tulum is about four hours north of Mahahual through flat, dense jungle.

For those of you planning to go to this part of the Costa Maya,and it´s a fascinating place to visit, there are two ways to get to Xcalak; the main paved road from Mahahual which is a boring drive through seemingly endless mangrove swamp or the unmarked dirt beach road which is a fascinating drive you´ll probably have all to yourself and a million ferocious mosquitoes. Just don´t break down as, if you try to continue on foot, they´ll find your blood drained body near some really fat mosquitos on the beach weeks later when someone else drives by.

We never met anyone named Mexico Mike while there but, then, we were out of there very quickly after having a couple of cold beers at that rustic large hotel in Xcalak among the palm trees. The staff at that hotel are bused in from distant Chetumal weekly since there are so few people resident in the Xcalak area.

When we were at the Costa Maya about five years ago, they were threatening to build a huge interrnational airport and fully develop that primitive region turning it into Cancun South. Those of you interested in rustic, undeveloped remote coastlines had better get over there before they ruin this one but then there is always the primitive Chiapas Pacific Coast which will probably never be developed. Not exactly the same experience, however. The nice thing about living in Highland Chiapas is one can choose between the Chiapas or Oaxaca Pacific, Gulf or Caribbean Coasts - all a few hours away.