Getting to Punta Gorda, Belize...

Prior to leaving San Pedro I asked Mike to present an offer on a condo.  The asking price is $189K and I said to offer $169K, with $100K down and the balance financed over 10 years at 10% with the first payments beginning one year after closing.  This would give me time to sell my house and buy the condo on the water I’ve been looking at nearby, which will substantially lower my living costs and make a second mortgage a possibility.  If I can rent the SP condo out half the time, this could work.  We’ll see.

Coming into Caye Caulker

Tuesday morning I caught the 7:00 am water taxi to Belize City where I was picked up by Budget car rental and driven to the airport to pick up my vehicle, a Suzuki Jimmy.  It is about a 6-7 hour drive to Punta Gorda, which is almost on the Guatemala border.  The water taxi left late because the three genius deck hands couldn’t figure out how to get the mooring line off of the dock post; everything they tried just made it tighter until one of the future engineering prodigies managed to use a claw hammer to loosen it up.  I would guess there were about 50 people aboard.  I sat at the back, which was not enclosed.  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 was glad that we stopped for a few minutes at Caye Caulker to take on a couple of passengers, because I at least was able to see what the island looked like from the shore line.  All in all, it took about an hour and a half to get to Belize City.  My driver was about 15 minutes late, but he was a fairly pleasant young guy who gave me a bit of geography and history lesson of BC as we went.

On the road from Belmopan to Punta Gorda

It only took about five hours to get to Punta Gorda; not the six to seven I anticipated.  It helped that I was doing about 120 on all the straight stretches (KPH, not MPH).  The area from BC to Belmopan was fairly flat and arid.  As I approached Belmopan there were a lot more hills and the scenery became more interesting.  There is a lot of agricultural activity ranging from cattle to corn to oranges and bananas. I stopped for gas at a Texaco station on the outskirts of Belmopan, which reminded me of when I was a kid… the attendant with a big star on his red polo shirt filled the tank and told me how much to pay the lady inside the station -- $10.13 BZ per gallon – or $5.065 USD; about what I expected to pay.  Not knowing how often I would find a gas station, I filled up again when I got to Punta Gorda and the price was a full BZ dollar more.

The distance from Belmopan to PG was filled with miles upon miles of orange groves and banana fields.  As I got closer to PG, the poverty of the native Mayans became more striking.  Many of their houses are made totally of thatch or of rough hewn lumber that is not planed to width to make the boards even, so there are one to two inch cracks between the boards and from what I could tell at a distance, most houses were built on grade with dirt floors.

I finally became accustomed to the signs announcing bumps in the road as the signal to slow down because I was approaching yet another town or village or cluster of homes.  Following the bumps were “Pedestrian Ramps” – Belizean for ginormous speed bumps.  These things are about eight feet across and about nine or ten inches high.  As I got closer to PG I was thinking that it still must be quite a distance because I was still in the midst of the hills, but the hills actually come down almost to the ocean so it was a pleasant surprise when I rounded a corner to see the Caribbean dead in front of me.

Looking towards Guatemala from PG

Punta Gorda is an interesting town.  Sadly, the first thing I noticed is that it is filthy.  It reminded me a bit of some neighborhoods of Bangkok; garbage was everywhere.  Styrofoam take-out containers, plastic bags and even disposable diapers were along the road or between buildings in sections away from the downtown area.

I found the Blue Belize Guest House and got settled in.  The owner is a marine biologist specializing in studying sharks and was away on business, so her research assistant got me checked in.

The room was very nice. It was on the second floor of one of the two houses that made up the property and opened out onto a huge, half-covered veranda with hooks for hanging the hammocks found in each room.  I found myself wishing I was staying longer.  As a former B&B owner, I really appreciated the thought that went into each aspect of the room.

Sign for Barber/Financial Advisor/Tutor/Accountant office

The main room was a combination living room and kitchen.  A very comfortable couch was accompanied by a low table facing the flat screen TV.  The large jalousie windows had floor length curtains with tie-backs to allow the maximum amount of sea breeze to flow through the room.  While I found the AC a necessity in San Pedro, the ceiling fan was more than sufficient here because of the constant ocean breeze. The kitchen was arranged along the wall between the bedroom and living area and had a toaster oven, microwave, coffee maker and counter high refrigerator.  The drawers and cupboards revealed a full complement of cooking utensils, pots, pans, silverware and dishes.  The bedroom had nice locally made tables on either side of the bed and plenty of hanger/storage space.  The bathroom was likewise well thought out and I noticed the tile work was expertly done.  The quality and level of detail far surpassed the Banana Beach.

I took a long walk about town, going up and down each of the main streets at least once.  I came across a chocolate shop whose smell alone made me wish I could move here immediately.  This shop grinds the beans, separates the oil from the mixture and makes the most wonderful chocolate imaginable.  The proprietor gave me a spoonful from the large milk chocolate batch she was making and I made a number of audible approving noises as I savored it.  I wish I could have brought some home but the heat it would have to endure over the next several days made that impractical.  I did buy one bar that, in the interest of avoiding a melted brown mess, I consumed immediately.  I also bought a chocolate swirl soap bar for my crazy cat lady cat sitter, Melly.  I looked over sidewalk menus of several restaurants before settling on the Olympia Restaurant and Bar, and I’m glad I did.  I had the curried fish with salad, beans and tortillas and it was excellent.  The owner said she had finished the renovations about six months ago and she did a very nice job.

Exploring Ambergris Caye

The beach "road"

The three main streets in San Pedro proper are cobblestone (flat, six-sided concrete stones) and everything else is hard pack sand. Most of the "roads" around SP are little more than cow trails with so many pot holes and ruts that you can't go more than 5 mph.  The driving rules are also interesting. Drinking and driving, I am told, is allowed (this explains a lot).  It seems that there is only one driving rule, "Don't go smackin' into shit." I felt safer in a tuk-tuk in Bangkok than driving through downtown San Pedro with tourists, bicycles and golf carts weaving in and out.  On the other hand, it is a tort lawyers dream come true – so many accidents just waiting to happen.

I drove to the far North end of the Island where it 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.

Prior to my turning back point, the road followed the beach for about half a mile and for good parts of this stretch the road is literally 2 feet from the water and maybe 2 feet above sea level. In a good Florida-style thunderstorm the waves must be splashing up on the road and maybe going over it.  The road turns inland and about 20 minutes further are several large condo developments with about 600 units total that range in price from about $250K to $1.5million.  Can you imagine spending that kind of money and then being stuck in town, unable to drive on the road to your home on a regular basis?

My impressions are that Ambergris Caye is a combination of Key West 40 years ago, third-world country, tourist haven and Wild West. Everyone is friendly and it seems very safe, but when it comes to business and real estate you need to be cautious and keep a tight grip on your wallet.  I have not done an in-depth market analysis and looked at only a few properties, so please take my comments with a grain of salt.  Remember, the whole point of this trip was not so much to find a property to purchase, but to get general impressions of whether or not this is a country I could retire to.

Condo project in progress

My Canuck real estate friend and I looked at a number of properties the next morning and I generally found that I don't have enough money to buy here.  There is almost no bank financing available and I have heard that a standard contract is 50% down with the balance at 10% over 10 years. Once you buy a property the overhead is pretty cheap: $200-$300 per year for real estate taxes; $500 - $1000 per year for insurance; and $200 - $300 per month for the homeowners association fee (if a condo), which typically includes water, sewer, garbage, common area maintenance and insurance, telephone, cable and internet. The last three vary a bit, but even at that you get a lot for the money once you buy.

Let me be clear -- I spent a whole two and one half days in San Pedro so I can scarcely be called a market expert, but these are my impressions. There are a few affordable (obviously a very relative word) houses or condos, but they tend to be on lagoons full of crocs and mosquitoes or they are older, wooden buildings (that I seriously question if they are made to withstand a good hurricane) and are likely to be eaten up by termites in a few years.  Those properties on or close to the Caribbean side tend to be of concrete construction and appear well built, but start at $175K for a one bedroom condo with no financing.  I am hoping to find better prices on the mainland.

I also stopped in a couple of hardware stores and grocery stores.  You can get just about anything, but prices for appliances and anything American are pricey.

Belize -- Day One

Well...

I arrived in Belize City and made it thru immigration and customs in about 10 minutes and then wandered over to the domestic terminal (it turns out that it is in the same building, just a different room and you have to go thru security to be put into the same departure lounge with the international flights).  I was able to get an earlier flight and got an upgrade – from a 5 passenger to a 9 passenger plane!

It was about a 20 minute flight to the San Pedro airport (more like an air strip).  I sat behind the pilot and took this photo over his shoulder as we landed.  The airstrip is in between houses and commercial buildings.  You get a luggage receipt when you get your ticket and then identify your bag when they bring it to the terminal (an open air building with a shed roof).

Maya Air "Terminal"

It is soooo good to smell the ocean breeze again.  It makes me miss living in Key West.

I can’t quite get out of banker mode… the first building I noticed next to the airport was ScotiaBank.

I shared a cab with two other couples and $5 BZ later I was at my hotel.  The Banana Beach is a mid-priced property on the Caribbean side of the island with 66 rooms.  It has two pools – one small and one medium sized – and a smallish, man-made beach.  There is a decent restaurant on site with an activities desk/store that also rents golf carts.

After checking in, I was unpacking when I got a phone call asking me to come back to the front desk; it seems the Sapphire Beach Resort neglected to pay for any of the guests who agreed to do a tour of their property in return for three nights free at Banana Beach.  I later heard all kinds of rumors (who knows if they are true) about the owner being in jail in Florida (check out Ambergris Daily and Update).  I found a mug shot of a woman by the same name on the internet and noticed that the arrest warrant was issued through the US Marshalls – not a good sign.  Someone also told me that the project is in receivership.  So I paid for the hotel at the rate they offered to Sapphire Beach and promptly sent an email to my “host” suggesting that I was no longer interested in their services.  I received a seemingly genuine response saying that it was all a mistake.  Regardless, the experience left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I now needed to get some beer and other necessities.  I was at the street entrance looking up and down the road in hopes of spying a small store when a voice behind me asked in a distinctive Canadian accent if he could help.  I turned around and met Mike – a ReMax agent who lives at the hotel.  After getting directions to the store two blocks away, I also relayed the short version of my story and we agreed to discuss my real estate needs over dinner.

I went for a walk towards town, passed the store and went a bit further to get my bearings.  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 roof in anticipation of adding a second floor.  It looks as though many construction dreams come to an end at the first floor.  No building can be more than four floors in SP, so it has a nice feel to it and does not look like Cancun.  No one tried to sell me beads, trinkets, sunglasses or asked for money.  I decided the best way to cover a lot of ground quickly would be to rent a golf cart so I did an about face, stopped by the store for a couple of Belikins and stopped by the activities desk to rent a golf cart (you can't rent an actual car on the island).  More on this later.

I had a meltdown...

I had a meltdown today.  Work was stressful.  I’m leaving in a week.  The house is a mess.   I have to get the taxes to the accountant next week.  I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday that always takes twice as long as it should.  My sister-in-law and her cousin are staying the night next Wednesday and Andrea’s brother arrives the next day.  The pressure kept building.  I've been assigned to a new project at work and I don't yet know the parameters.  The pain in my neck and shoulders was unbearable.  I’m exhausted because I haven’t been sleeping.  My boss is coming to town the day after I return.  I heard a song that reminded me of Andrea.  I had a meltdown.

I hit the “away” button on IM, walked away from the desk and just wept.  I am still a mess nine months after Andrea passed away.  We were a team.  We kept each other going and now I am so alone without her.  I curled up in a ball on the bed and cried.  The last couple of months she was tired all the time and was home all alone when I was at work.  I felt so badly for her because now I feel that aloneness, too.

After Andrea died I threw myself into my work partly to keep myself occupied, partly because I’m living on one income now and had to make sure I got a raise and a decent bonus and partly to try to move on.  Well, I succeeded at the first two but the third still eludes me.  Moving on is hard because I don’t necessarily want to move on.  I want her to hug me and tell me she loves me.  I am just an empty shell without her; she was my substance and reason for being.

I know these meltdowns are further and further apart, but that doesn’t lessen the pain at the time I’m going through them.  Intellectually I understand that time does indeed heal all wounds, but my heart is still broken and on days like today it feels like I can never be whole again.

I need this trip.  I need to do something on my own that will be my own experience and my own memory.  I need some time to play in the ocean and do something different.  I just plain need time but I want to somehow skip over the pain and get to the living.  It doesn’t work that way.

Belize links...

As I have been researching Belize I have come up with a collection of links that provide information about the country, expat living, specific areas of Belize, the history, real estate, etc.  Here is a “starter kit” of links for anyone who may be interested.

Blogs, news and expat forums:

§  Taco Girl

§  Expats in Belize

§  Belize Forums

§  Expat Blog

§  Belize First

§  Belize News

The various regions of Belize:

§  Northern Belize

§  Corozal Town

§  Sarteneja

§  Belize North

§  Southern Belize

§  Placencia Peninsula

§  Ambergris Caye

Real estate:

§  Retire in Belize

Remember what I said earlier about real estate… most real estate (both purchase and rental) is found through sources other than brokers or the marketing of specific developments.  So while the above links may be interesting to look through, they are probably not representative of the true market.  My own observation is that they are filled with overpriced development properties.  There is little monitoring of realtors like there is in the U.S.

I was reading Lee Harrison’s article in the February edition of International Living about how moving abroad is not about escape; it is about choice.  My first thought was, “Yeah – a damn hard choice because I can’t decide where to go!”

Lee uses the comparison of a “standard” menu vs. an “expanded” menu to illustrate some of his points regarding choice, but my mind wandered back to making the big choice of a country and I recalled another author pointing out that there is no need to restrict one’s self to a single choice.  To use Lee’s metaphor, you don’t have to choose between the shrimp scampi and steak Diane because it’s not your last meal… you can have both, just at different times.

If you pare down enough you can live simply, rent an apartment in the country du jour for a few months to use as a base for day trips.  When you have had your fill of country X or city Y, simply move on to the next country or region of a country.  That is a very appealing idea, but would require jettisoning 99% of what I own.  I guess that what few family mementos and heirlooms I have could be divvied up amongst my siblings or given to my brother-in-law. 

By the time I get out of Dodge I will likely still have two cats (they will be 11 and 16 when I retire) that I am unwilling to just hand off to someone else, but once they are gone I would be able to possibly put my home up for rent, store my remaining few possessions and hit the road.  Assuming the life of a vagabond has its appeal.

This brings me back to the whole health care/insurance issue.  Life on the road would need good insurance that would cover repatriation in case of emergency.  A related issue that has been nagging at me a bit is that my mom died of Alzheimer’s.  Being on the go while developing dementia would definitely not be a good thing.  Although Alzheimer’s is not definitively an inherited ailment, it is nonetheless a concern.  I don’t mean to sound cold, but I will be watching my sisters (6 and 12 years older than I) and hoping for the best.