For quite some time David has been thinking about looking at property in another country that could be used for vacation and possible retirement.  This idea has been kicked around with Stacy and two friends, Dan & Christy.  We have done many things with them, including: living with them (2002), visiting Kentuck Knob (2004), Italy (2004), Mexico (2005), Ireland (2006), Wisconsin (2009), Italy 2010 as well as many other events.

David came up with what he thought was a simple list of requirements.  When those requirements were applied to the world, there were only three countries left on the list!  

Stacy and David went to Grenada in 2008, it was great fun, but was now off of the list (due to poor race relations).  

Dan removed Costa Rica from the list, due to poor property right enforcement.  

It was decided that the four of us should go to Belize to decide if we all wanted to look more seriously.

Below is Stacy’s version of the trip (with minor changes made by others).

Day 1 – 31 October

Hurricane Sandy had hit Virginia (& other states) on October 29th. Dan and Christy were to be joining us in Belize leaving from Dulles; however, the flights were all screwed up because of the hurricane.

They were re-routed to fly into Belize on 1 Nov, so David and I arrived in Belize on the 31st and decided to rent the car and stay in the hotel near the airport. We drove around Belize City a bit to explore.  We had dinner at “Green Jade”, which was a Chinese restaurant/shack-on-the-side-of-the-road near our hotel.

  • White-collared Manakin (Manacus candei)
  • A view over Belize City harbor
  • The Central Bank of Belize

Day 2 – 1 November 

In the morning, we visited the Museum of Belize and drove by the St John's Cathedral and Government House (now the House of Culture Museum). Then, we scouted out possible lunch locations and met Dan and Christy at the airport

  • The remains of Mayan teeth, still showing Jade Inlays
  • Christy and Dan arriving to Belize. We met them across the street from the airport.

We first visited the Traveller’s Heritage Center and did rum tastings. We bought the things we enjoyed best (5 Barrel rum and Rum cream) to enjoy for the next seven days. After lunch, we headed west to Cayo District. In San Ignacio, we checked into our guesthouse and relaxed for the rest of the day.

  • The bridge on the way into San Ignacio
  • Some flowers growing in our Guesthouse
  • Dan on the balcony
  • The view from our room
  • Interesting that the HI-ET advertises they have cold water
  • Dan moving our first car.
  • Christy in the main room
  • Our other room
  • The flowers on our table
  • Stacy on the balcony
  • David on the balcony
  • Christy and Stacy