8 Days in Belize…

I first explored Belize in February of 2011.  I was 10 years from full retirement age and had long wanted to retire abroad with my goal of seeing and experiencing more after a lifetime of work.

Retiring “elsewhere” would give me the opportunity to continue exploring and get to know more people, places and cultures.  I didn’t want life to become a downward spiral with the delivery of the first Social Security check.

I had a long list of countries that interested me but, not having any particular order to follow, Belize was first alphabetically so off I went with the intent of exploring the coastal cities and the island of Ambergris Caye (pronounced “key”).

I started in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye followed by a drive south from Belize City all the way to Punta Gorda near the Guatemala border and finally made my way north through Placencia, Dangriga and finally Corozal near Mexico.

My plan was simple: mosey through each town, check out local markets and sights, talk to locals and ex-pats and generally gather impressions of the areas as I went.  Can I live here?  Does it fit the lifestyle I envision?  Is the infrastructure sufficiently advanced for me to live comfortably?  How’s the Wi-Fi?  What level of medical care is available?

This was the same approach I would use in future fact-finding trips to Panama, the US Virgin Islands and Ecuador.

When you fly into Philip Goldson airport in Belize City, transiting passengers will be met by someone from either Maya Island Air or Tropic Air, the two domestic airlines of Belize.  If you’re early enough and there is space available, they will move you to the next available flight.

My flight for the short, 15-minute hop to San Pedro was on a Tropic Air 8-passenger GippsAero GA8 Airvan.  I sat behind the pilot and took the above photo over his shoulder as we landed.  The airstrip (I find it hard to label it an airport) is nestled between a lagoon and commercial buildings and just a short walk to downtown San Pedro.

Ambergris Caye reminds me a lot of my time living in Key West – an interesting mix of high-end condos, mid-priced hotels, mostly modest homes for the locals and lots of bars, restaurants and touristy shopping.  The big difference between Key West and San Pedro is the high level of poverty.

I stayed at the Banana Beach Resort, a mid-priced property on the Caribbean side of the island about a 15-minute walk south of town.  After getting settled I started walking into town and met an affable Canadian real estate agent who agreed to show me around the next day and take me to dinner that night.  Mike also gave me some tips on where to go and what to see.

I immediately noticed that practically everything in San Pedro is either under construction, for sale or both.  There are tons of buildings that have the first floor finished and rebar sticking through the concrete roof in anticipation of adding a second floor.  At first, I thought many construction dreams come to an end at the first floor… but that wasn’t it.

You don’t start paying taxes on the building until it’s finished; never finish and you never pay taxes!  No building can be more than four floors in San Pedro proper, so it has a nice feel to it and doesn’t look like so many other resort towns filled with condo towers.  Also, no one tried to sell me beads, trinkets, sunglasses or asked for money like every cruise port I’ve ever been to.

San Pedro is primarily a tourist destination built around water activities — diving, fishing, snorkeling and the beach.  Made famous by great diving on the Belize Barrier Reef and at such sites as Shark Ray Alley and the Blue Hole, there are a wide variety of restaurants and bars for night-time activity that ensures their tourist creds.

Locals claim that San Pedro is the inspiration for Madonna’s song “La Isla Bonita.”  Why that “Spanish lullaby” would be intended to describe a town in an English-speaking country I’m not exactly sure, but I guess it makes for a good story.

Ambergris Caye is a combination of Key West 40 years ago, third-world country, tourist haven and American Wild West.  Everyone is friendly and it seems very safe, but when it comes to business and real estate you need to keep a tight grip on your wallet.

There are only a few dozen cars and trucks on the island but most transportation is by golf cart or scooter.  I rented a golf cart to check out the island, which is 25 miles from end-to-end with San Pedro on the southern end.

The three main streets in San Pedro are cobblestone and everything else is hard pack sand.  Most of the “roads” outside of SP are little more than trails with so many potholes and ruts that you can’t go above 5 to 10 mph.  I understand that additional roads have been paved in recent years, including to the northern end of the island where new resorts and condos have sprung up like weeds.

The driving rules are interesting.  Drinking and driving, I was told, is allowed, which explains a lot.  There were times I felt safer in a Bangkok tuk-tuk than driving through downtown San Pedro with tourists, bicycles and golf carts weaving in and out from every direction.  It is a tort lawyers’ dream come true – so many accidents just waiting to happen.

I drove as far north as I could before the island becomes mostly mangroves and lagoons.  At that point, the “road” was about 5 feet wide and after seeing a crocodile run across the road in front of me, I found a place to turn around.   I’m adventurous, but I have my limits.

Back in town I wandered around for a bit, did some shopping, checked out the hardware and other stores and then headed over to the central square to find a street vendor for dinner.

After checking out a couple of food carts I settled on two chicken burritos with homemade salsa from a guy who swore that he had the best food in town.  After paying a whopping $5 BZ ($2.50 USD), I had to wonder if he wasn’t right… they were fantastic and I certainly couldn’t argue with the price.

I walked down the beach in the moonlight to grab a couple of Belikins, the national beer, at Crazy Canucks Beach Bar before calling it a night.  I got there just in time for the hermit crab races and ended up staying several hours, chatting it up with three British Royal Marines who were on leave from a training exercise on the mainland.

The next day I explored the southern end of the island which, at that time, had far fewer pricey resorts and more upscale houses.  Back at the hotel I went for a swim in the warm Caribbean and soaked up some sun on a lounge chair, enjoying the sound of the ocean lapping against the sea wall.  The waves of the Caribbean were breaking on the reef in a white, frothy line about three-quarters of a mile offshore.

Mike the real estate guy and I spent the afternoon looking at condos and villas before having dinner at the hotel restaurant; a superb conch ceviche with fried plantain strips washed down by a couple of Belikins (of course).

It was about an hour and fifteen minutes for the water taxi ride back to Belize City the following day where I rented a Suzuki Jimny for the 6-hour drive to Punta Gorda.

As we pulled away from the dock we were backing into the east wind and the waves caused a number of sprays that got several of us square in the face; a bracing way to start the day.  Despite three-foot seas driven by the morning wind, the taxi sliced through them and the ride was quite comfortable.

I have been back twice to this little island paradise in the last nine-plus years since my first visit to San Pedro and there have been a lot of changes.  Hurricane Earl swept through in 2016 and created over $10 million in damage.  On the more positive side, a couple of name-brand hotels have sprung up creating more employment in both the construction and tourism industries.  I would love to get back there someday.

About the size of New Jersey, Belize has a slower, simpler lifestyle I find very attractive.  Formerly British Honduras (they achieved independence in 1981), English is the official language and although Kriol is most widely spoken, I had no problem getting information and engaging with the locals.  Fresh veggies, fruit, fish and meat are readily available and mostly raised on small farms.

The Barney Rubble internet service was (and, I’ve learned, still is) awful.  Bribery and corruption are a part of the social fabric and I heard about it from many an ex-pat.  But corruption was also rife when I was in Key West where I had to engage the “help” of natives to get building permits and ensure that inspectors did not take an overzealous interest in my property.

I’ll write a second post soon about the rest of my travels in Belize.  Next up — Punta Gorda, Placencia, Dangriga and Corozal.

The map of Belize is courtesy of Lonely Planet.