Belize was listed as one of Islands Magazine's 10 best Islands to call home! They call it an "affordable paradise in the Caribbean." I like that. Paradise and Affordable, all in the same sentence!. Here are a few other things I love about Belize:
Ambergris Caye has a population of about 15,000. 12% are Expatriates. It's easy to get around - by golf cart! It's easy to buy a home. It's easy to get there - a 2 hour flight from Dallas or a 2 hour flight from Miami, then a 15 minute plane ride or 1.5 hour boat ride from Belize City to Ambergris Caye!
My husband and I read about Belize in Islands Magazine at just about the time we decided we wanted to purchase a home outside of the country. The original plan was to find a place for vacations and possibly to retire to. Once we traveled to Belize, we just fell in love with the people. The native Belizians as well as the other Expats, and we knew that this would be where we want to retire. But not at age 65. We want to retire NOW.
We found a beautiful little resort called Reef Villages and stayed there the first couple of times we were there. We soon found out that the developer of Reef Villages was also putting together a second development called "South Beach Belize." This was to be modeled after South Beach, Miami, Florida - another one of our favorite places. One of the first things we did was put a down payment on South Beach Belize.
We continued staying at Reef Villages, since South Beach wasn't started yet - "Hey! I got some swamp land to sell ya!" But when we realized that South Beach, although definitely in the works, was not going to be ready to live in for YEARS, we bought a beautiful little villa at Reef Villages. Not nearly as fabulous as the story of South Beach Belize, but IT EXISTS! It's BUILT and people actually live there. Very cool people live there. I thought originally that this would be a temporary place for us until South Beach is built, then we could sell our Villa and relocate to South Beach Belize. But now I'm not so sure! I fell in love with our little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house. I had them paint it white, it has a thatched roof over the front porch with runs the entire front of the house and is on the lagoon. I mean really on the lagoon - as in, water under the front porch! I LOVE IT! I think my husband Robert still envisions us living a glamorous life in South Beach Belize, but I'm perfectly content on the North end of the island. Maybe some day we'll make that move, but if it never happens, I'm happy with that.
We are a short golf cart ride from downtown San Pedro - wonderful restaurants, bars, night life and shopping. Well, I'll admit, the shopping isn't that great. In fact, unless you want to take home a T-Shirt or shot glass, you'll be hard pressed to find any souveniers to take back with you. But the more time I spend there, the more niceness I find! For example, there's a wonderful Wine store that has beautiful bottles of wine - most that you've heard of! There's another place where the owner of the shop will custom sew covers and cushions for your patio furniture. And another place where a local family makes and paints outdoor furniture with bright, tropical colors that will look just perfect in and around a little white villa!
We've owned our Villa for just over a year now and have been there several times. Robert has been there more often that I have since he's furloughed and has a lot of time on his hands. I am still trying to string 3 or 4 days off in a row so that I can get there, relax a bit and not feel completely rushed during a short vacation. If I could afford to quit my job and move there permanently, believe me, I'd do it TODAY.
Robert and I have a solid 5 year plan in place, but everything I do, every day is to try to push that plan up! I'm even getting a Massage Therapy license so I can move to Belize, put up a little Cabana and do pool-side massages for the tourists. THAT sounds like heaven to me. How about you? We've started taking things to Belize with us when we go - little things we can live without in Texas, like extra clothes, our Bose Radio, CDs DVDs, small decorative things. We purchased this house fully furnished, so I haven't put much effort into decorating it in my own style. I want to save that for when I'm actually living there. We do rent it out occasionally and allow our friends/relatives to stay, so I want to hold off on changing anything until WE'RE the primary residents!
Wine motif? Tropical Blue theme? I really can't decide, and it's good that I really don't have to decide right now. For now, I just love every second of what's in Belize just the way it is. We fly in, taking pictures from the Tropic Air flight like tourists. We walk across the street from the airport and get a Belikin Beer from the Lime Bar the minute we land - that's become our tradition. We rent a golf cart as soon as we get there and that's our transportation for the time we're there. When we move there, we'll buy one. The drive through town to get to our place is always fun and it always looks different, each time I go. New little shops opening and others closing depending upon the season. I couldn't love it more.
As soon as we get to our villa, I put a fresh bowl of water out on our steps for the Reef Village Dog, who's name is Spot. Just in case he wonders by and needs a little refreshment. Throughout the day, I'll add some ice cubes to keep his water fresh. Last time we were there, I bought a dog water bowl to put in the main area of the resort for Spot and the visiting dogs. It never ceases to amaze me when I see people bringing their dogs on vacation and not being coherent enough to make sure they have water when it's 90 degrees outside. I have a little deal with the bar manager to make sure that bowl stays full.
I always look forward to the first morning that we wake up in Belize. It's a very slow process. We get up, make coffee, sit on the front porch for a while, waving to the neighbors on either side of us as well as the early birds who are sitting at the bar across the lagoon! Then that's where I go. As soon as I'm awake. The Reef Bar makes the best Bloody Mary you'll ever drink! That's my breakfast of champions!!
Then we start our day. Riding around on the golf cart, visiting people, visiting shops. Riding over to see our friend Linda who owns Coco Loco's bar, right on the beach! You never know who you'll run into there. She has many stories of celebrities walking in. I've never seen one, but I'm sure someday I will. Riding down to the south end of the island to check on the progress of South Beach Belize - I love the plans of the developers, but I don't expect that place to happen until I'm too old to live there!
So for now, that's where I'll leave you.....90 degree weather, riding around, wearing sunscreen, stopping for Belikin Beer or a morning Bloody Mary... later I'll tell you about the water taxi and some of the other resorts on our little Paradise Island!
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