New members of the Belize forum, introduce yourself here

Well said.........
f.y.i.   most of us Canadians are not like this dr. Al  jackass!

Dear all,

Let's get back to the original title of this thread so as to avoid off-topic posts please.

If you want to discuss about another topic, do not hesitate to start a new discussion on the Belize forum.

Thank you,

Hasnaa

I agree
Sorry I was off track , no excuses.

Ms. Aquamar
I just found this posting I will try to find the price for you

Thank you Expats
My Husband and I have enjoyed living here in the sout of Belize for 24 yrs. First we built our home in Independence, Stann Creek. Now we are living in Big Falls, Toledo. We can't think of a prettier place to be.
Our voluntary ministry brought us here in 1986, so we arranged to move here permanently.
We have one daughter, no grandchildren.
We make Pizza to support ourselves, but since have retired.
Les and Colette

Hello,  I'm new to this blog.  My husband and I are considering moving down to Belize (Ambergris Caye). We are on the five year plan so to speak.  Getting our house in order up here in Bucks County and taking our time in deciding exactly where to retire.  Will be visiting in August and if we like it will come back in January and then every 6 months after that to try and get a real feel for the place.  We would definitely rent for a year before purchasing a place.  Does anyone use solar power to help ease the electric bills? Which I understand can be quite costly. And how bad is the crime rate? I've been reading the SAN PEDRO SUN NEWS daily on line and taking note of the local crimes and happenings in Ambergris Caye. So far not deterred.  Looking forward to reading and learning about this Country and in particular Ambergris Caye.

Your decision making process is wonderful ,may be the only way any one should make the decision  (may be one of the most important ones any body will make in a life time) to move to another country.In many parts of Belize crime is endemic.Caution and common sense ,treating people with respect at the same time with caution,and not being naive,
minimizing any exposure that would make you a target etc will reduce one,s chance of becoming a victim. But if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time you can be at risk. I guess this can happen anywhere.

Thanks for your reply Spiceman.  Yes, living 40+ miles outside of Philadelphia we hear horror stories all the time. Diligence and awareness a must anywhere these days for sure.

Lasvegan, I have been living and working in Belize for 23 years, 19 of those on the Cayes where I had a hotel, restaurant and bar business.   the Cayes are the best  place to live, however, they are very expensive, cost of living on the Cayes is almost double to the Mainland.   Good Luck and if you think I may be of help to you contact me.

Thank you Raymond I still have 6 or 7 years before retirement and my wife and I  are looking forward to staying in  Belize ,It's nice to hear from someone that actually has had the experience of living in Belize , take care my friend .

no prob, are you intending to visit? if so keep in touch

Im. Larry Johnson..I have been looking for "thst" place for about 6-7 years! I was in Mexico for 4.of 5 of those..spent a couple of months in Panama. Now back in Az!  What can I say..I checked out Belize before Panama. Have a friend in Canada who talked me into Panama and he was to meet me and we would ho take a look at Belize..But he got sick in Costa Rico and bailed for home...still haven't talked to msny expats from the states!  What I have heard was that heard s there ia a lot of Brits..No kidding!

AZ,Larry,
   Been here for 23 years and loving it, I am originally from London so the change of pace is dramatic.
The people here are for the most part friendly but choose your friends carefully, if you are aiming to work here you will need a work permit, don't know the current cost.
   The cost of living is much higher in the Cayes than the Mainland and you can purchase just about anything in the way of food, although  imported foods are somewhat expensive.
   My electricity bill for last month was US$15 for the month, I do not have AC though and my water bill is just US$4 a month.  I pay US$50 a month for 125 Cable TV channels and internet service, the mobile telephone service is good with some good offers from the 2 providers in the country.

BoxerGal-
While exploring where to live I would encourage you to visit Placencia Village.  Great vibe and not as built up as Ambergris.

Hi,
I am new to the site today.

I have purchased a house and am just finishing a new house on the Sittee River, south Belize near Placencia.

Will be moving for good in August and have been spending time in Belize off and on for the last two years getting the new house built and arranging bank account and contacts.

I took advantage of the QRP program which I found very economical in that I paid no import duties of any kind.

I had my car driven from southern California last year and just got the rest of the household items delivered last week.

Found great house contractor and have had nothing but great experiences with the locals.

I was robbed once, but the thief took the cash $400 US and left the wallet on the steps for me. He was caught within the week and in jail for 5 years within 2 weeks. 

I live in the river -jungle area but only 1 1/2 miles from ocean which is the perfect balance for me.

The huge trees, river, birds are great to live with, but bugs are a problem.

thanks

In spite of the break in and losing Us $ 400 you have such fantastic outlook and optimism. Wish you luck in your new house.

I forgot to make another point. To escape from Insect Bite I use a multi mode approach. I use full sleeve shirt and pants. Very rarely I wear shorts outside. The doctor fly can still bite you through your cloths but most of the time look for an exposed area. During the season for Dr fly I am very careful and watch where my hand is  and look at the hands frequently. The dr fly can do its job without you knowing it until very late.
The little Black fly (this one you can hardly see but love your blood) are very annoying. Repellants help.
The night time invaders love wet areas of your body. There are skin creams available and it usually work. Spraying Citronella or similar under the cover before you sleep  help.  I keep Insect spray (with diet) near the exit door of my house. So I won,t forget to put it on. Wearing a hat is a good idea since some insects love to get in to your hair (literally and figuratively). You get a lot more insect bites when you first arrive in Belize. I believe the body develop some resistance to the insects over time.
Mosquitos are easier to control now. The Anopheles (Capable of carrying the Malaria Parasite-Plasmodium Vivax) Mosquito usually come out at night and are noisy.

Belize is a postgrad entymology student dream destination. Also a place where humans are the main course in the Insectivora Bistro. Starting with mosquitos  we have daytime Aedes that carry Dengue Fever aka break bone fever for a reason. The hemmoraghic form requires platelet transfusion lest you "bleed out" internally. Anopheles carries malaria at night but restricted mainly to far south.
Then we have the lowly Sand Flea popular in Hopkins. Where Isreali specialists have studied cutaneous leishmaniasis carried by the little bastards and which kinda looks like leprosy but not fatal generally.
Doctor flys carry  no disease but the bite feels like a burning ember and if you are allergic can swell your hand to soccer ball size and lead to anaphylactic shock.
Red fire ants will cover your feet with painful sterile pustules that are intensely itchy and lead to cellulitis from scratching.
Repellents are marginally useful because the intense heat and humidity wash it off requiring many repeat applications. Suggest a bug suit at all times and tuck  cargo pants into hiking boots as well.
Smoke cigars constantly(smudge fire). Always travel with well perfumed companions in remote areas.

May be true. It is the tropics all kinds of bugs can be expected.
In 20 years I have not seen a single case  Dengue fever in Golden stream. May be 2 or 3 malaria cases.
Other insects are manageable. If you watch where you stand (not in ants nest)  usually you do not get ant bite.
When I am in Golden Stream Village for months I get few bites ,Not much.
Al you left out Poisonous Snakes (plenty in Golden Stream) wasps,Scorpion,Killer Bees and the Black bees (may be not bees) that get in to your hair. Please add the plants (almost like Poison Ivy). that make you itch.
I am sure it will be hard to find a place without insects. But Tropics got more of everything living.

Yes well they are not insects technically. I have indirectly encountered black scorpion stings which are not fatal but many wish they were. I have seen one juvenile fer de lance snake which has a prehensile tail and for which the best antidote for being nailed  is reading John 11:25. Coral snakes have no antidote. Never had a bee issue.
Other items on the menu are a variety of fungal infections  in moist dark places on the body. As for microbes Belize has the highest rates for reportable STD's in Central America. That's because Belizean men have the sex drive of a rabbit in a Viagra factory. Don't look for love in the wrong places.
Once in awhile there are a few cases of cholera and amebic dysentery.
Best relocation plan is an air conditioned condo at Grande Caribe on Ambergris and watch Nat Geo for a Belize experience. Drink heavily.

After careful consideration of where our future will be,it has been narrowed down to Belize.  Now to see if it'll work for us.    What is the need for auto mechanics?   We would like to close our business here and re-open it there!  Good, honest and reliable.  We'd follow the guidelines and hire locals of course.     

I can't find any relevant information regarding Auto Mechanic Shops.  Anything would be helpful.

From recent personal experience I can tell you ,this is one skill  that is in high demand in Belize. I still have one truck that won't shift after the mechanic replaced transmission.
It could be the computer or it could be …….
It is parked for over 6 months now.
Hope you can get work permit and start a good repair shop with all modern diagnostics.

What kind of info do you need about auto mechanics. If you  give you names and locations  of few of them I know will that help. I am not sure talking to any one of them would help you any way.
Mathew

Wonderful news!    Is there any particular place you think business would be best?   ( I'm leaning towards the Northern part of Belize).  We are going to fly down there first of course, and would like to be able to narrow our search since we'll probably only have 5 days to do it in. 

I'm so glad I found you...lol

Cheers!

Hi Mathew!

We're interested in the prices of repairs.  .
What is their hourly labor charge....or do they have one?    .
Would you know where the parts are ordered from?

Do you know what areas would benefit most from having a mechanical garage in it?   I don't want to tick-off any shops that are already established!

Many thanks!

For security, Spanish look out may be the best place. Competition will be from Mennonites who are good mechanics. But for a good mechanic this area may be good. I have no idea if you can buy a place there.
In Dangriga there is a workshop, may be more than one. In South (PG ) there are several auto repair shops.
Payments for repair is much lower than in US.
I do not know how to tell you the price for repair. It will be always like comparing apples and Oranges since two repairs are not the same.
I can find out some of the payments I made for specific jobs and give you my experience and kind of write a review.

Sorry I did not answer couple of your questions
I have not paid hourly rate. There may be repair shops with hourly rates.
When we need parts we call Spanish look out -usually Westrac. Sometimes I go on ebay or parts geek etc in US
Recently I needed a hydro booster for a diesel Suburban I had to get in US.
Price of any part in Belize is 30 to 50 % higher than in US. (Dealer has to import it and pay duty for it).
I hope this info is helpful

If you have the time, that would be great!  Thank you so much!

Hello Mr. Spice!
If you have time, could you provide a few of the auto repairs that you have had done in Belize and what it cost you?
We want to have all our ducks in order before plunging into our move there.

Thank you!

Grugar, thanks for the in put.  We live in the country now, so I'm actually looking forward to a few more neighbors and a more "town" feel.  But, yes, we are going to look there as well.  Also what is Caye Caulker like?  So many questions, I've started a list of them and hopefully they will be all answered by the time we get down there to visit in August....will probably have a whole new set after visiting!

yes i will do that,will take few days.

Dr. Al, where do I find the International Living Index for 2014?  I would like to read the results.

Thanks,
Boxergal

Voila..
http://internationalliving.com/2013/12/ … ts-scored/

Thanks Dr. Al...it's because of International Living we choose Belize in the first place.  In March it was on their "one of the best places to retire" list that was put on my MSN Bing headlines news.  They are a fickle bunch.  Guess we'll just have to visit and see for ourselves as it seems no one can be trusted, and one mans poison....

Susan/boxergal

Oh by the way, for the most part I found Dr. Al to be pretty funny, except for the tacky comment about the men of Belize. Actually, his comments on insect bites, etc. was well received by me. If you have ever had Malaria, and I have, you may appreciate where he is coming from. I read in the local papers about a new strain of insect virus that we should all take quite seriously. I was in Ghana when I was stricken, there are few words to explain the near death experience. During my 3rd hospital admission, there was a small child in a comma with Malaria that impacted her brain. I didn't know that was possible, but the emaciation that follows the vomiting, diarrhea  that goes on for months is no joke and like somebody wisely said on this forum, we are in the "Tropics" and we must learn to respect our environment by learning as much as we can. Many of the locals here in Dangriga have serious skin rashes from repeated infections. I am open to learn all that I can. Thanks so much! Peace

Do you know what kind of flies. Wonder if there are more of them in Hopkins. . Certain flies are more in certain area.
I live in Golden Stream Village . what I noticed is, the flies have seasons, after the season they disappear.
Studying about it and taking some precaution certainly help.

My wife was born in and is a Belize national. She has been in the states with me about 5 years and we want to move to Belize. We have land in a place called Flowers Bank on the Belize River (where she grew up) and want to start building there very soon. What I wanted to do was drive down there in my 2000 Silverado and enter the country as visitors and work on building the house. Will need the truck to build. We believe this is OK as long as we travel to Chetamel every 90 days and leave the county and come back in. Once the house is built we will determine the best way to enter, under the Diaspora Program or the Qualified Retirement Program, or maybe just as the husband of a Belizean, and then transfer all our household goods and pay car import and what not. Can anyone tell me your experience driving to Belize, what to expect, and your impressions of our plan? Any information you could share would be deeply appreciated as we our getting so much conflicting information off the internet and the Belize Government isnt much better? Thank you in advanced.

Good luck in your search...we are going to be doing the same thing in August!  This blog is very helpful, at least it is for me.  Subscribe to the San Pedro Sun News Paper on line it gives you all the good and the bad of the area of Ambergris Caye and surrounding areas.

Hello all!
We are an American couple planning to retire early and relocating to Belize within the next 2-3 years. We are travelling there next month to look at several properties we are interested in , and hope to buy one of them this summer.
A a semi-retired physician, I would like to prectice pro bono in Belize on  a part-time basis. However, I have run into a dead-end trying to get information about obtaining a medical license there. I would think that a developing country would be more responsive to requests for medical licensure, from an individual who wants to work pro bono. I would appreciate any help or information related to obtaining a medical license there. I have not received a repsonse from the Ministry of Health or the medical school there.
(Wow! Belize didn't fare well in the 2014 International Living results.)