The work finally begins

The first work has begun on our property. YEA!!! They started clearing our lot today and finally got rid of a tree stump that has been a big problem because of the size. The BIG tree fell over during the hurricane season of '07. They cut off the limbs and the main trunk of the tree, but let the stump fall back into the hole. And with the beautiful Belizian weather, it started to grow again. Not what we wanted. Had the tree not blown over, it would have been a fine shade tree. But once it fell over, we decided it wasn't in the right spot and plan to plant a new tree in a different location. Plus, when you have a cistern for your main water supply, the leaves from the tree become a major issue. We hope to have some pictures soon, but our contractors' computer is on the blink after a recent power surge, so no e-mails.

Our lot in early May '06

Our lot, minus the tree, in Jan.'08

Our lot Nov '08, the tree returns

And a note to Sandra. Thanks for your comment and I don't know if you saw the follow-up comments that I had left. 1990 standard 4 cyl Toyota w/130K miles and a straight shell, no bells or whistles, not even air. Duties and taxes? Do they take credit cards?

Neat new blog tools

As I scroll though other blogs and admire their layouts and extras, I am finally starting to add some of these features to my blog. The newest addition, which I added friday, is the visitor counter. You sometimes wonder, who is out there viewing your blog, where do they live and do they have grand dreams as we do. You can look at the countries, the far away places, and envision someone at their computer, thinking of their own silce of paradise in Belize. And I get my 15 minutes of fame, one click at a time.

Some people have contacted me though the blog, leaving comments or sending an e-mail, but most probably just read a little, then move on. But the people who have contacted me all share the same dream. Moving to and building in Belize. I hope I can help some of you on your quest.

There is going to be a big cultural change from where I am now, but that is part of the excitement and adventure of moving to another country. We don't plan on trying to change the country we move to, but want add to the community as a whole. We will share what we learn so that others may avoid the pitfalls.

Getting ready for the drive

As March quickly moves toward the end of the month, I must now start focusing on the task ahead. I plan on driving to Belize near the end of the month and must now figure out what I want, and what I need to bring along with me for the trip. Originally, I had planned on waiting to drive down until I was going to bring the dogs. I didn't want to subject them to flying, especially with connecting flights. And they are not small dogs that I could bring aboard the plane.

But now, I have decided to drive down this time, by myself, caravaning with a Belizian friend, Hipolito, who has made the trip several times and knows all the details on going thru Mexico. This is probably the best way, so I can get a feel for what will be required later when I do transport the dogs. Mischelle is not overly happy with me driving down thru Mexico at this time, with all the trouble that has been happening lately, especially along the border towns. But I plan to cross over in Brownsville, TX and if all works out well, we will try navigate Mexico in a couple of days.

With the new rules in Mexico regarding "transmigrante", I now have to use a customs broker to get my car and belongings thru Mexico and to the Belize border. That involves sending the original (yes, THE original) pink slip to the customs broker so they can forward the information to the US Customs service. I couldn't believe that they wanted the original pink slips (what happens if they lose it?), but a change in policy last year made it so that copies were no longer acceptable. I also need to send a detailed list of everything I am bringing. I won't have any duties due on my car or belongings, but this allows them to track what I have brought into their country and to make sure that is what I have when I leave.

Belize will be another story. I will also need a customs broker in Chetumal to get my car and belongings in to Belize. That is the unknown. How much will duties be? My truck is a '90 Toyota pick-up with 130,000 miles on it. It has just broken in. Lots more miles left on her. The Kelley Blue Book shows a resale value of under $1000. I am hoping that with taxes, duties and enviromental fees, the cost to import my truck from the US will be under $400. With that and all the other stuff I want to bring, I am trying to get thru customs with a bill of under $700. But you never know who is on duty that day, or what kind of a day they have had before I arrived. I have also heard it can be an all day experience at the border. That sounds like fun. Maybe I can cross into Belize and go to the Casino while my car and belongings are checked and taxed.

Waiting for the final plans

The plans are in the final stages and the exterior walls have been approved. The interior walls have some leeway but they also are pretty much set as to their locations. Our contractor has been busy with the house going up next door so things are a little slow right now. They started the foundation work on their house and poured the floor for the cistern today. I am hoping to get some pictures to post.

Here on the home front, the bathroom remodel continues. I finished the tile work in the sink area earlier this week and installed the new cabinets on Thursday morning. Late Thursday morning, the granite guy arrived to intall our new granite counter.

Before the Bathroom Remodel

The ongoing Remodel

Everything went smooth, as planned, and they even installed the under the counter sinks. All I have to do is finish installing the bathroom fixtures and hook up the plumbing. One project down and ninety-nine to go.

The Money Pit-continued

After looking over the options available to us after the excavation of the money pit, neither is very good. Do we crush in the cavern then fill it with rocks and marl or do we drive pilings and add a substantial amount to the build cost. Our neighbors next door, that were having their lot cleared when they came across the cavern, have decided to use rocks and fill to level the lot so they can start building.

Next door neighbors' lot

We are working on the design for the house, but things have slowed down a bit. With our contractor busy with the neighbors house and the new surprises on our lot, changes will need to be made.

The size of the cavern and the amount of water that was flowing out to the ocean side of our property last November, makes me think if I really want to block that flow of water with rocks and fill. The pictures below show the stream coming out from under our property during the time when I visited in November '08, after heavy rain the weeks before. In the last picture you can actually see ripples in the water from the amount of water flowing out into the ocean. I would conservatively estimate the water flow at 5+ gallons per minute or at least 72,000 gallons a day. That is a lot of water to block or detour.

With our neighbors deciding to fill their lot, it will push that water to one side or the other, or both. If we fill our lot, that would only add to the blockage and push it further on to our neighbors lots. And our future neighbors may also opt for fill, which would only seem to compound the problems. Could there be enough water to undermine the rocks and fill? Nobody seem to know for sure. Are we willing to take a chance that it won't? I don't know right now.

But if we decide to go with pilings, it adds to the cost of building and may also bring the wrath of the neighbors who don't want pilings driven at the Shores. But it can keep our house stable and not affect the flow of the underground river. It will require a redesign of the plans to incorporate pilings, so that will also add to the cost factor. We will seek opinions, but in the end it will be our decision to make.

We Found the Money Pit

Yesterday, our contractor, John Harris, started grading the lot next door to ours, taking off the first foot of top soil to get down to the solid ground. Today they were digging the hole for the underground cistern and found much more.

The Consejo area is built upon a foundation of limestone. And after milleniums of water soaking through and eroding away areas of limestone, they leave soft spots, caverns and caves. Depending on what you find, may influence what you build. The closer to the sea, the better the chance for a cavern or cave. With our lot right next to the sea, there was a chance we could be affected.

While digging the hole for the cistern, they came upon this.

I think we have found the actual money pit! Phil Freytag, our soil inspector said he could see 50-100 feet back towards the road, and it extended to both lots. Not news we wanted to hear. Our options are limited but it looks as though we are going to driving piles to support the house. The up side is the house is very stable. The down side is the cost. The approx. cost to drive piles is around $500US each. That includes the pile, the pile driver, transportation costs and cutting to final size. The bad news from Phil was that the current design will need 25-30 piles to be driven. Not the news I was hoping for.

The neighbor building on the lot next door is down there for the construction, but it looks like there may be a redesign of their plans, so he may spend a good amount of time just waiting for things to happen. I have no idea how long it takes to order and receive pilings. Phil still needs to look at the engineering of driving piles and attaching them to the main structure. Will I need them for the garage as well? If I do, should I go ahead and drive them now while all the equiptment is there on the property? A whole new list of things to think about. As it looks now, my drive down has been moved back to around the first of April.

I also need to make the septic water drains to an evaporation mound and not percolate thru the ground to the caverns. I don't want to be swimming in septic water! The house foundation is three feet above the gound level so we should have the area and slope to make an evaporation mound work. Another thing to look up on the web.

I'm glad to have a little more time before I leave for Belize. I am remodeling the master bathroom in our current home and I am just laying the tile floor. The tile needs to be in so we can install the cabinets, and the cabinets need to be in so the granite fabricator can take the measurements to cut the granite. And the granite guy will be here this Thursday!

I have faith that I will finish it in time. After the granite guy comes by, I will need to start painting. Mischelle is busy stripping the wallpaper from the bathroom walls. When she finishes I will add a orange peel coat to the walls for texture then go ahead and paint after that. The granite bath counter should be back and installed by Monday.

Not So Fast

Monday has arrived and they have begun to clear Pip and Jasons', lot next to ours. We have spoken to the builder, John Harris, about moving our house back from the road about 75 feet. He is concerned about the caves and soft ground under what will be our patio and cistern. We requested that he meet with the person who did our soil tests, Phil Freytag, to determine if we can move the house back from the road where we would like it. The land under Pip and Jasons' lot has a lot more soft areas than ours, so we are crossing our fingers that the land under ours can support the structure.

John is concerned with the structure failing at some point in time and would rather error to the side of caution but we will find out if he has changed his recommendations tomorrow after he has consulted with Phil. We are trying to avoid driving pilings. We have decided to delay having our lot cleared until we make a decision on the house location.

We have also heard thru the grapevine that our original contractor is constucting a new job at Wagner's Landing. I don't know if it was a job that was previously bid or if he is back in the construction business. I'm thinking that he doesn't want to deal with some of the people in the Shores, but I hope that's not the case.

I continue to get ready for the drive to Belize. The tankless water heater is due to arrive on Thursday. I found a Rheem tankless water heater that will handle two showers and a washer all at the same time. It is a commercial model that should last for a long time. After searching the internet, I found this Rheem GT-199XP using LP for $897 with no tax or shipping. And it comes with a $300 federal tax credit, so the actual cost in $597. Such a deal. I have also found out that propane and butane are virtually interchangable. There is almost always butane mixed in with the propane. Butane just doesn't work well in freezing temps, but I don't think that will be a problem in Belize.

I am also bringing down some artificial turf so I can design a putting green. I have ordered cups, pins and flags and I am reading all I can find on how to build a green. At some point in time I would like to help restore the greens at the Consejo Shores golf course. It is a large undertaking, but I'm sure I will get help along the way.

Slowly Moving Along

After a few small changes to our floor plan to accommodate a ten foot clearance to our lot line, we are moving towards the final plans. John Harris wants to start leveling the lot on March 2nd and start backfilling the three feet needed for the foundation. He has also moved the house to within 50 feet of the road, so we are requesting that he try and move it back to 75 feet from the road, if there are no caves under that portion of the lot.


I have started looking at tankless water heaters as a way to save on energy costs. The problem has been finding one that will run on Butane. All manufactures list natural gas or LP but I can't seem to get a straight answer on Butane. It is only a few thousand BTU's hotter than LP, so I can't imagine there would be a problem. I will also be using Butane for our stove and oven so those are other applications I need to look into.


Other issues that need to be dealt with are a DSL/phone connection and a whole house or connection point UPS (uninterrupted power supply). Do I use diesel or Butane for the back-up generator? Is solar going to be cheaper in the near future?

Disney's Club 33

Working for a large corporation sometimes allows nice perks to wander your way. During my thirty years at AT&T, I was able to participate in many different functions that would normally be off limits to an outsider.

One of the big perks was being the turf technician at Rocketdyne, Santa Susanna Field Labs, just outside the San Fernando Valley, in southern California. It was there that they built and tested the Saturn and Delta rocket engines. They also tested the Space Shuttle engines and worked on the Peacekeeper missile systems. Knowing all the security personel and the AT&T toolbelt on my hips, I was allowed virtually unchecked access to the whole facility. I could sit in the stands and watch the rocket firings or I could go down in the underground control room to watch the firings from twenty different views. In the late '80s the facility was humming. They might do eight or more tests a week.

The other half of the "hill", as Santa Susanna Labs was referred to, was the Dept of Energy. They explored the "nuclear" issues. The first nuclear reactor in the US was at the field labs. It also has the dubious distinction of being the first nuclear reactor to melt down in the US. Unfortunately, this happened in 1959 and wasn't reported to the public until the late 70's. Lawsuits are still ongoing and will probably out live me.

Other perks included working the '84 Olympics in LA, behind the scenes providing communication for President Clinton, weeks on end at the Renaissance Faire, the TV shoots, the Reagan Library. There has been so much, I struggle to recall them all. But there is one which I treasure above them all.

AT&T, being a corporate sponsor of Disney, has a membership in the VERY exclusive Disneyland "Club 33"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_33). For every real Disney fan, the holy grail is an invitation to the Club 33. It begins with passes to both parks for all the invited. We have been lucky and have had two opportunities to visit the Club. Once for lunch and now, once for dinner.

You press a doorbell near a small sign that just has the numbers "33". Located to the right of the entrance to the Blue Bayou resturant, you might pass it as a prop. A voice asks for your parties name and soon after a non-discript door opens with a hostess in Victorian garb there to greet you and your party. You take a "lift" to the second floor where you are greeted by the Host , who will show you to your table. This time we sat in the "Trophy Room".

Looking around at all the pictures of Mr Disney and his cast of characters, it's amazing the changes in Disneyland thoughout the years. At our table was my former supervisor, John, and his girlfriend, Charlene, our long time friends, John and Chris, and Mischelle and I.

Dinner was a very formal affair and the meal was fabulous. Everyone ordered the Chateaubriand which melted in your mouth like butter. Dessert was a chocolate truffle made with imported Belgium chocolate (one of Disney's favorites). And to top it off, a sniffer of Grand Mariner (this is the only place in Disneyland that serves alcohol and that bartender can mix a mean Long Island Iced Tea).

After dinner it was off to the rides. We had "fast passes" for Indiana Jones, so we were able to go to the front of the line bypassing an hour wait.

All too quickly the night came to an end. A stroll down Main Street with its lights bright against the night sky. The sparkles of the the fireworks, the loud boom echoing after the explosion of light. Tinker Bell floats across the sky. Another good day at Disneyland.

The Plans Come Alive

It's been a while since my last post and things are moving along rather well. We received the foundation plans and several computer generated views of the house from John Harris, this week. Other than a few minor changes, it is pretty much how I had originally designed the house.


View looking South




View looking West

View looking to the Northwest

1st Floor layout


With the computer generated views, it starts to make the home come alive. We need to make the changes we want and get them back to John as soon as possible so he can make the changes to the foundation plans. Soon after that, John will send us site and elevation plans along with the revised foundation plans.


John has been very easy to deal with and very professional in his business, especially from what you may expect from a third world country. He has given us a "Schedule of Work" along with a schedule of payments. He has requested no upfront payments to start the job and expects to get paid after he finishes each stage of his scheduled work.

Schedule of Work

Schedule of Payments

If everything goes as scheduled, John has given us a completion date of June 8th, just one day after Mischelle's birthday. What a birthday present!

We have a Plan

It took a little give and take and a little financial awakening, to arrive at our decision to build a single level home with the pool. We decided to build the second floor at the beginning of 2010 when finances are a little better. The Market has to go up some time ( I hope ).

The cost to build, of about $67-$70 per square foot, is right in line with what I was expecting to pay. I was hoping that with the cost of cement and rebar, both being lower this year, the cost to build would be a little lower. But I don't think that the prices have filtered down to the contractors, yet. Suppliers are probably locked in a price contract for a year. Maybe when we build the second floor, prices will be lower.

John Harris will draw up the plans and FedEx them to us for revisions. He expects that to take about a week to ten days. The tenative date to break ground is March 16th. I plan on being there for most of the building.

Choices

Due in part to the economy, we have instructed our contractor, John Harris, to give us several building options.

1.Go ahead and build it all at one time. Two level with a garage and a pool.
2.Build the two level with a garage, no pool.
3.Build two level with pool and no garage.
4.Build two level, no pool and no garage.
5.Single level with pool and garage.
6.Single level with only a garage.
7.Single level with only a pool.
8.Single level only. No pool, no garage.

Now we have to go over the pros and cons of each option. If we build it all at one time, will we have the extra money for appliances, furniture, moving expenses, etc. Sometimes you forget those extra expenses and they can add up quickly. I'd hate to have a new home and no money to finish the move.

I'm leaning towards a single level ( with everything ready for a second floor ) and the pool. During the summer, it would be nice to go in the pool instead of the bay. The pool water would probably be cooler. Also, it would leave money for all the additional surprises. We don't really need the garage right away and could build it next year.

But the wife is another story. She wants it all. She's afraid that the second floor won't get built if we wait. That's the master bedroom and bathroom. She wants her dream home and that's what I promised her if we moved to Belize (I just didn't say how long it would take to build it). So now starts the give and take. I give, she takes. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a beautiful woman.

We have a Response

A week after our contractor, John Harris, received the plans, he has given us a rough estimate of what it is going to cost to build our dream home on the sea. It's about 30k more than I had budgeted for, but with all the extras, it's right in line with our targeted cost of $65-$70 per square foot. Now we start going over the details. Our, soon to be next door neighbors, Pip and Jason, and are breaking ground March 2nd. John would like to start ours two weeks later, so we are possibly looking at March 16th to break ground.

With the time table he has given us, our house would be done by late June or early July. And at that point I had also better start looking for hurricane protection for the windows. I don't plan on using plywood because of the storage problems. The high humidity and the bugs would ruin plywood after a few years, anyway. Some of our neighbors in the Shores are using a corrigated sheet metal bought from company in Belize City. It looks like it's a good product and fairly easy to install. The other thing I will need to look at is the air conditioning. With the hot and humid days and nights of summer, we will need a place to retreat and get cool.

With a start date on the calendar, there are so many things to do. Now the fun really begins.

Still waiting for a response.

Ten days have passed since my last blog, and I was waiting to hear from the contractor. Well, he e-mailed me to tell me he has received the plans and now must look them over, after which he will give us an aprox. cost to build per square foot. So, we are still waiting.

So while we were waiting, we went to Vegas!!!! Why wait at home? Mischelle was invited to a slot tournament and the rooms were comp'd for 5 days. Although Mischelle didn't do that great at the tournament, she did pretty good at the video poker machines. I played some blackjack and a little Texas Hold'em.

Mischelle at the Slot Tournament

Part of Ceasar's Palace at night

Me at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville

I' m sure not as young as I use to be. Those late nights take their toll. You lose track of time in the casinos, and they keep the inside so bright. We saw a few of the tourist spots, shuffled between casinos and generally had a good time.

With the drive just a little over 4 1/2 hours, we took the Avalanche truck because the gas is fairly cheap ( $1.99 gal.) and flying takes just as long with all of the security, getting to the airport, etc., and that's with no delays.

Waiting for a response

A view from Pip and Jason's back yard.

I've heard mostly positive things about John and like his work ethic. He was the contractor we were looking to use after CJ Consulting decided they didn't want the job. His build schedule is unheard of in Belize. We are looking to break ground March 22nd and we could be in our new home by August. Now we just need to sell the place, here in the States.

View from our lot



We have sent off our plans to John by way of snail mail, so we hope he receives them sometime this month. He will look over the plans and give us an estimate of the per square foot cost. Now we need to look into housing for the duration of the construction. There is a small house across the street going for $500 mo., but I'm not sure if it has air conditioning. You need a/c for the dog days of summer. At least somewhere to retreat, during the hot, humid days and nights. It will also get us ready for life in the Shores. No real stores near-by and only a couple of resturants with differing schedules.

It's also time to begin packing things for the move. The BIG garage sale. No winter clothes. I'm ready to go!

Finding a Contractor

In late Nov of '08, I went down to Belize to find a contractor to build our house in Consejo Shores (http://www.consejoshores.com/). I had seen several different homes from builders in the area and now I needed to get references. A few contractors had been recommended to me and a few contractors I was told to stay away from. Problem was, they were the same contractors in both categories. It just depended on who you talked to.

The one contractor, who has built quite a few homes in the Shores, has stretched his resources a little thin and the workmanship has suffered. He was recommended by a few people who had their homes built by his crew, but a few others had horror stories of past encounters. I went to see one of the homes he was building, and it was about 2 months behind schedule, with the owners expecting a finished product by the first of December. The tile work was OK, but they had no direction on how to do the layout, so transitions from one room to the next had poorly offset tiles. The tile was set from one side to the other, not factoring in corners or doorways. It had lots of small pieces and odd shapes.

The dock that was built used 12 inch wide boards, instead of 8 inch, so the edges are curling up. Makes it easy to catch a toe. Less than half of the nails used for the dock were gavanized, so rusty nails are already showing up. And the Palapa, built on the dock, had no side to side support. It was a 30 MPH wind away from being blown into the bay. The project looked as though it had no supervision.

So the next day I went to the neighboring development called Wagner's Landing/Mayan Seaside (http://www.mayanseaside.com/) and toured some of the houses being built there. There were a couple of houses being built by other contractors that had been recommended. I had seen other work by one of the contractors who had built a pool for Dave and Dianna, (http://winjama.blogspot.com/) and they are very happy with his work. They are now in the process of building a guesthouse next to the pool using another contractor that is on our contact list. It may come down to the price per square foot.

I also checked out a new B&B on the road out to Consejo. It's called Serenity Sands (http://www.serenitysands.com/) and it's run by Phyl and Jill Mason. The main B&B was built by the contractor who had spread himself a little thin and Phyl was not too happy with his work. But down closer to the bay they are building a beautiful new home for his son-in law. This building has gone to the other extreme. They are extremely happy with their contractor but the budget went from $250K US to over $580K US., about $220 a square foot. The building could withstand a hurricane, tornado and an earthquake, all at the same time, and it would be the last thing standing. I'd like that too, but I don't have that kind of a budget. I think it's a little over engineered, but I'll be at their house during the next Cat 5 hurricane.

Another recommended contractor only takes on 2-3 jobs a year, and he already had one going in the Shores and another over at the Mayan Seaside, so he wasn't sure if he was going to pick up any more jobs. The neighbor nextdoor to our lot was also looking to use him as their contractor and to start building in Feb. '09, so they are in limbo until he makes his decision.

I'm hoping that the decline in prices for gas, steel and cement will have a positive effect on the budget and that building costs will be around $65-70 per square foot.

The New Year

The New Year is finally here and good bye to last year. The niece and nephew are gone and the house returns to somewhat normal. It was a good Christmas with friends and family. At one point we had 4 generations together for Christmas Eve dinner.

Now, Mischelle and I are going to get ready for the big changes that are coming up this year as we chart our path to moving to Belize.

In my last post before the holidays, I was covering my trip to Belize in Nov. 08. One of the first things I wanted to do was get a local telephone number so I could be reached while I was in Belize. I had used my local carrier in the States the last time I was here and got on their International Plan. The problem was that I was charged $3.49 a minute for both incoming and outgoing calls. On top of that, I only received a few of the calls that were made to my phone during that time. The outgoing were OK, but I was charged $3.49 a min for a local or long-distance call. So this time I had my AT&T phone (GSM) unlocked, bought a SIM chip at BTL, the local cellphone company, and received a local Belize telephone number and rechargeable time for about $25US. The rates were MUCH better. It cost less than $.50BZ per minute to call the US and $.10BZ for local calls. And ALL incoming calls were free to me. So I had Mischelle get a calling card from Costco, and she was able to call me from the States for between $.31 and $.52 a minute. And I could go down to the local store and buy additional minutes for my phone in $5, $10, or $25 increments.

Next on the list of things to do was to open a local bank account. I decided to use Atlantic Bank because of the ease of opening a savings acct., it being local, in town, and the availability of branches, nationwide. If you go to the bank prepared, you should have no problems opening a savings account (checking is a little different)http://www.atlanticibl.com/requirements.shtml. Due to the problems with money laundering, a little more paperwork is required than you might expect. First, they want a letter of recommendation from two different banks in the States. This is more of an introduction from your bank to theirs, stating that you have had an account with them for over one year and that you are in good standing with the bank. I had them include checking and savings information, how long I've had my accounts and any credit cards issued though them. That, along with a color copy of your passport (picture and address only) and $100BZ, I was able to open a local savings account.

My next stop was to get a P.O. Box in town. I had heard that this was the hardest thing to get and they were right. I couldn't even get on the waiting list to get on the waiting list. It seems as though they are sold out for years to come. Opening a P.O. Box store would be a great little business if you're allowed to compete against the gov't. So, no P.O. Box this time. Maybe next time there will be an opening on the list.

3 days to Christmas

It's getting close to Christmas and Misch and I have house guests. Mischelles' mom, Fay, and our nephew, Jonathan, are here from the Palm Springs area. Our niece, Josette, from Las Vegas is also staying with us. It keeps me from updating the blog as much as I would like. I can't seem to get computer time. They both are on the computer messaging their friends. Looks as though I may have to wait to update the blog about the trip.

The trip to Belize

I have been so slow to post new happenings on my blog. The time has just flown by. So I will bring everything up to date.


The last post was 2 weeks before I left for Belize. The trip to Belize this time was to find a contractor to build our new home. I had a few contractors we were interested in contacting and a few I found while I was down there.


The flight was from LA to Dallas and then on to Belize. It was not that bad, but it was a full flight. About 8 hours total to get to Belize, then on to get the rent a car at the airport. I rented a car from Belize Auto Rental and was very pleased with the car, the service and the price. The car was a 2005 Kia Sportage with 100K on it. Fairly good on gas and only $540 US for 10 days including CDW and taxes.


The flight was about 10 min late and Customs was slow due to the amount of people on the flight. By the time I got through Customs and got the rent a car, it was getting close to 5pm and sunset is around 5:30pm. I had a 2 hour drive to Corozal and I was going to spend half of that driving on the Northern Highway at night. I was not looking forward to that part of the drive. It was my first trip driving from Belize City to Corozal.


The Northern Highway wasn't that bad, but with no streetlights except in towns, no center divider lines, no lit signs, it could be easy to lose your way in the dark. And everybody rides bikes on the road, sometimes two or three abreast, and dressed in dark colors. A scary drive to be sure. I would not do that again in the dark unless I had to. And the sleeping policemen (speed bumps) are in all the towns and not that clearly marked. I think I hit a couple of them doing 40 mph or so. It's no wonder the shocks in the cars are the first to go.


I arrived in Corozal around 7:00pm and still had to find the road out to Consejo. After finally locating the road, I arrived in Consejo around 7:30pm. I was staying at Bob and Martha's place right across the street for the Customs station. Nice place close to the water and in the small town of Consejo. They rent out a large studio apt downstairs for about $25-$40 a night, depending on the length of the stay.



After a day of travel, I went to sleep early and awoke with the sun. I put together my list of things to do and was headed to town by 8am. My first objective was to get a SIM card for my cell phone. I went to BTL and of course they were closed. Monday to Friday only. I went to another store that I was told would have SIM cards, but they were out of new ones and only had used ones. I didn't want someone's old telephone number, so I decided to wait until BTL opened on Monday.



A friend in Consejo Shores had asked me to pick up some Sage while I was in town, for the Thanksgiving turkey. I went to 5 different stores and none of them had any Sage. In fact, they pretty much all have the same things in all the stores. That's why when you shop in Corozal, you may have to visit many places to find what you need. And most of the stores seemed to be run by Chinese. There are also a lot of Chinese food restuarants in town. In fact, a lot more than any other restuarants. I haven't tried any yet but was told a few of them are rather good.