Moving to Belize..Any and all helpful advice appreciated.

Hi bamatobelize,

Welcome to expat-blog!

Your post was moved to the Belize forum for better visibility and interaction.

I suggest you to read some topic on the following forum, this might surely help:

•  Everyday life in Belize

•  Telecommunications in Belize

•  Cars Belize, Transportation in Belize

Regards ,

David.

BamatoBelize:

Welcome to the forum. For our first trip down we brought a Sat phone with us as we were traveling to several countries. The first thing we learned is that even a cloudy day can kill the reception. So being in a building, or under thick trees is also a problem. If you are going to Belize, have a cell phone that is unlocked. Drop by the phone company and get a local number.

There are several places to rent a vehicle. Our experience was that the first company we rented from we used it for 15 minutes and then it broke down. The car rentals from all the companies are not new cars. We got another car from the same company and it worked well for the rest of our trip.

Depending on where you want to travel, seriously think about a 4x4. Off of the main highways the roads are very rough. In the dry season the roads are better, but still very rough. On some roads 20 mph is the fastest you will go even with a good 4x4. For travel in the towns connected with the main highways a 2 wheel drive is fine.

Don't leave property in your vehicle if you are going to be away from it. Like countries in central and South America theft from vehicles is common. I have never felt insecure walking around during the day or night anywhere in Belize. I did avoid the south side of the Belize City though at night when we stayed there.

There is lots to explore in such a small country. The different regions are so different. Enjoy your trip, and your search.

Tom and I appreciate your help very much
Thank you

Bamatobelize:

Not a problem. If I can help I wll certainly respond.

Thank you, the more I research, well to be honest, the more confused I become. we are definitely coming in the very near future. Not looking for 5 star life and not quite ready to retire. We have resources where we could build our own house  and clear land if need be but can we have equipment shipped over?  is this possible? Of course, need a base of operation so to speak. Decisions decisions.

I sent you a PM.

Certainly you can ship equipment over. We are doing this. Today I take a tractor and attachments over to the shipping company. Expensive though - no wonder there is little of this equipment there. As well, prepare for the sticker shock for the GST & import duties.

Understand as well that the cost to have locals perform these tasks is much lower than in Canada or the USA. Therefore you may not want to go through the expense of getting the equipment down and doing it yourself.