I get this question a lot, especially from folks who are considering retiring or moving to Belize in the future, and I always tell people "it depends".  Because it does, and because it's almost an impossible question to answer since everyone's lifestyles are different.  I refuse to be tied down to a number, or even a range, because there are so many variables.  Here are some of them:  

1. Which part of Belize do you live in?  Ambergris Caye/San Pedro is the most expensive place to live in the country in part because it is an island, so goods have to be shipped in via boat or air; and in part because it's the most popular tourist destination in the country, so prices on many items are elevated knowing that folks on vacation will pay more for what they need and want here.  Vacation budgets tend to be quite a bit more lavish than those of people living in a place full-time.  I'm going to talk only about our costs of living here on the island.  Groceries and some other items will be less costly in other parts of Belize.  

2. What type of housing will you have?  Another factor that is highly variable is housing.  You can rent a small apartment or very basic house here on the island for as little as $300 USD per month, but that's not going get you much.  You can also pay a couple of thousand dollars a month for a swanky beach-front home.  Or, if, like us, you own a condo or home outright, your actual monthly housing expenses may be lower.  We have a monthly HOA fee, common grounds fee (our portion of the lighting and other electrical for the grounds and pool here), yearly property taxes, and yearly insurance on the building and items inside our condo.

3. How energy-thrifty are you, what type of appliances do you have, and how much do you run the air-conditioning?  Electricity is another item that can be all over the map.  Electricity is expensive here.  We have an American-style washer and dryer, a dishwasher, and a large refrigerator, so we may use more killowatts than someone living with fewer appliances.  However, all our appliances were new and Energy Star rated when we bought the condo last year, so they are not as expensive to run as some older energy-hogging appliances.  

On the other side of the coin, we use the air conditioning sparingly.  Even when we run it, we set it at an unbelievable 84 degrees!  In the US we used to set it at 78 to 80F, so this just goes to show how acclimated to the heat we have become since living here for eight months.  We do run a dehumidifier overnight as well.  We live in a small space (just under 1000 square feet), which also keeps our energy costs down when we do run the air, as we don't have as large a space to cool.  And being on the first floor, we don't get as much sun heating up our unit as someone in an upper-floor condo or a house.

4. Do you have to pay for your water, and if so, how much do you use?  Water is also a variable and is expensive here if you have to pay for usage.  If you have a cistern, your water cost may be zero.  We are on water meters and charged monthly based on gallons used.  As I mentioned, we do have a clothes washer (albeit a high-efficiency one).  We try to be careful by doing things like taking quick showers and turning off the water in between soaping and rinsing.  We also (and hopefully this is not TMI!) don't flush the toilet after every pee.  And we'll cool off in the pool a couple of times a day when it's hot rather than take multiple showers, though we do shower once a day, of course!

5. How much do you spend on food, and what kinds of things do you buy?  Do you eat a lot of local foods or do you buy a lot of imported items?  Are you a junk food lover?  These things can be very expensive.  I've seen boxes of US-made cereals selling for as much as $24 BZD -- that is $12 US!!  We avoid these and eat mostly oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast.  Do you eat red meat?  Chicken is very reasonable here, as are eggs; but beef, pork, and sausage are higher.  We eat little meat, shop heavily at the local fruit and vegetable stands, buy sales and bargains when we find them, buy brands with Spanish labels, stay out of the pricier grocery stores geared more for tourists (although we do make an exception for the Greenhouse), and cook most of our meals at home.  We occasionally splurge, but in general we eat simply.  Beans are a staple of our menu, and we make our bean/vegetable tacos or burritos often.  We also do not buy wine by the bottle here, as we used to.  As much as I love wine, wine on the island is so overpriced that I just refuse to buy it.  I will occasionally have a glass in a restaurant (especially if there is happy-hour pricing!) but other than that, we drink mostly local rum and Belikin.  If you like imported liquors, you'll also pay a lot more.  Have your friends bring your selections from the duty-free shop at the international airport, and you'll save a lot.

6. The lifestyle stuff:  How much do you eat out?  Go to bars?  Take an excursion involving a guide?  Plan to do a lot of traveling?  Go diving?  All of these things will raise the monthly budget.  We don't eat out very often, though we enjoy it when we do.  We rarely go to bars or take guided excursions.  We do travel frequently and frugally on our own around the country, taking ferries and chicken buses rather than flying or renting a car (expensive here).  We don't dive.  I'm not including any travel expenses in our sample expense sheet below, since we don't necessarily do it every month, and it is an entirely discretionary line item.  But if you like to travel, you'll want to allow for it in your planning, as the costs do add up, even when traveling frugally.  And of course there are trips back to your home country to visit family that need to be accounted for.  

7. Do you own a golf cart, a car, or a boat?  If so, you'll need to factor in the high cost of gasoline here as well as maintenance.  Salty air and sand do a real number on vehicles.  Not to mention the potholes that develop during rainy season on the unpaved roads!  We ride bicycles exclusively so save a lot in this category.  We do have to have occasional bike maintenance (for example, I have had both my wheels rebuilt with stainless steel spokes since the non-stainless ones were rusting out), but these repairs are dirt cheap here compared to in the US.

8. What kind of media plans do you have?  Internet costs can be very high in Belize, and you may also have expenses for a cell phone, telephone land line, and cable TV.  We are fortunate in that our HOA fees cover our shared DSL line, our land line, and our monthly cable TV expenses.  The only additional out-of-pocket expense we have in this category is for our Smart cell phone prepaid plan.  I normally purchase $50 BZD ($25 US) of credit per quarter; you may spend more or less.  

9. Are you a permanent resident, on the QRP program, or staying with a tourist visa?  If you decide to apply for the QRP (Qualified Retirement Program) before moving to Belize, you'll incur your expenses up front, but you won't have a monthly tourist visa stamp to purchase.  But if you don't go QRP, even if you decide to apply for permanent residency, you'll need to pay for a tourist visa stamp monthly until your residency application is approved after 1+ year of living in Belize full-time.  The tourist visa stamp will run you $50 BZD ($25 US) for each of the first six months you are here, then doubles to $100 BZD ($50 US) thereafter.  In order to "reset" to the lower fee, you need to leave the country for over a month, from what we were told at the Immigration office, and if you do that, you can't apply for permanent residency for another year, if you want to do that.  

10. Do you carry health insurance or have recurring medical or Rx expenses?  If you carry health insurance, obviously your plan will determine your cost.  Many expats decide to self-insure or have retiree medical plans back in the US so do not carry additional insurance.  We do not have any retiree medical coverage so chose a catastrophic plan from BUPA International.  We pay premiums twice a year but will show 1/12th of the cost per month.  We don't take any ongoing prescription medications, but if you do, don't forget to factor those costs in.

11. Do you use a mail-forwarding service?  If so, there will be a monthly expense associated with that.  We do use a service, although we get so little mail now (since they throw out all the junk!) that we only rarely have to have mail shipped to us here in Belize.  Some mail we have shipped to a family member in the US who scans in things for us to see.  This keeps our shipping costs very low.

So, with all that said, here's an example of our expenditures for a typical month.  Taking all of the comments I've made on our lifestyle choices, you can decide how your costs would compare. 

NOTE:  This sample monthly expenditure tally does not include every expense we might incur in some months but not others.  For example: clothing, medical/dental checkups or service, vet visits for Paisley, charitable contributions, gifts, and as I mentioned above, travel (either locally or to visit family back in the US).  If you are trying to determine how much it would cost you to live in Belize, you will need to budget for these expenses as well, if they apply to you.  We also have no children, so we obviously have no child or school expenses.  Because none of these items is included, this expense sheet is a little on the low side of our actual expenses to live in San Pedro.  This would be a "bare bones" month for us with very few extras.

I hope this blog entry helps just a bit with this question of cost of living here in San Pedro, at least for this couple.  I actually didn't know our exact expenses until we wrote this entry, so it was eye-opening for me as well!

Sorry for the lack of blogging recently.  It's been really hot and sunny, and we haven't done anything all that adventurous lately.  We spend more time indoors hiding from the sun, but we do still ride our bikes into town most mornings to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and a few groceries.  

Yesterday Maria gave us some interesting little fruits to try out.  They look like tiny little round limes that are kinda dried out and past prime.  I'd heard of a small round fruit called craboo that is much beloved by locals, but after reading that it stinks and doesn't taste too good if you weren't raised on it, I wasn't too keen to try it.  However, after googling, I determined that these little fruits were not craboo at all -- they are genip, also known as waya.  Here's the web page that confirmed their identity:  San Pedro Sweet Treats: Genip/Waya.

They are about the size of a grape.  The thin skin is brittle, like limes gone way too dry, but easier to peel.  Inside is a soft, orange fruit that is quite delicious!  It tasted to this Southern gal a lot like a scuppernong grape; and like a scuppernong, you have to suck the pulp off to get the juicy flavor, which seems to have a hint of cantaloupe and maybe mango in there too.  Unlike a scuppernong, there is only one large pit rather than several small seeds.  

For your trouble, you don't get a whole lot of fruit from this small gem, but what you do get is so good, this has to be my favorite new fruit we've tried since moving here.  If only the genip was the size of a mango!

I also wanted to share a few photos from our veranda recently.  With the wall-to-wall sunshine, the sea has been exceptionally turquoise, and there have been some colorful sights right outside our screen doors.  It's always a pleasure to look out and see scenes like this:

Or this:

And then of course we had the "supermoon" recently, which was stunning rising right over the Caribbean Sea out our doors.

Recently our good friends and fellow bloggers Bill and Debra (http://takingbelize.blogspot.com/) invited us to join them on a day trip to Chetumal, just over the border in Mexico.  Chetumal is known as a good place to shop for those of us living in Belize, as there is a better variety of goods available, and prices are much lower than those in Belize.  And of course there's the wonderful Mexican beer that is illegal in Belize.  'Nuff said!  So even though we'd already booked our reservations in Crooked Tree for the very next day, we didn't want to pass up a great opportunity.  It was certainly an interesting day but not without a few snafus.

The first problem was entirely my fault.  We'd planned to take the water taxi from Grand Caribe to town instead of walking since we needed to catch such an early ferry to Chetumal (7:30 am).  All the southbound water taxis go past Grand Caribe's dock at 40 minutes after the hour, except one.  I didn't pay attention and was thinking the first taxi of the day would pass at 6:40 am.  So, there we were, out on the dock at 6:35 am -- quite early for us to be up and about -- and my heart sunk when I saw the posted schedule and realized that the early ferry would have passed by at around 6:25 am, not 6:40.

We had no real choice than to start walking the two miles to the ferry terminal, as we figured a land cab might not even make it up to Grand Caribe in time to get us there.  So walk we did, and it was already sweltering, especially at the fast pace we were having to keep.  We were hoping that maybe a golf cart would go by and offer us a lift, but the only one we saw was just ahead of us on the road.  If we'd been one minute earlier getting to the road, we might have been in luck, but as it was, we weren't passed by a single vehicle before we reached the bridge into town -- guess it was just too early.

I called Bill on our cell phone and told him where we were.  Plan B was that if we missed the 7:30 ferry, we'd walk around to the other ferry terminal on the lagoon side of Ambergris Caye and take the more expensive 8am boat instead.  Fortunately, we did make it to the ferry terminal in time (though drenched with sweat) to fill out our exit paperwork and board the boat.  And in actuality, the boat didn't leave the dock until 8 am after all.  It's very possible that they post a 30 minute earlier departure to make sure that passengers are there in time to fill out the paperwork.

On the trip over, we were able to exchange some Belize dollars for Mexican pesos.  100 pesos is roughly equivalent to $7-8 US dollars, depending on the exchange rate you get.  In this case, the boat took a "cut".  As usual, you pay for convenience.

It was a very bumpy ride as the wind was coming from the north, the direction we were traveling, so we were bouncing up and down in the hard seats.  We finally figured out that if we sat on the life preservers under the seats in front of us, we could keep from wrecking our backs, but it was definitely uncomfortable.  Note to self:  Make sure to check the wind direction before heading to Mexico on the ferry again.

On the boat we filled out our entry papers for Mexico, which were all in Spanish.  Fortunately, one of the ferry employees was available to assist.  The audio-only Spanish lessons we'd been taking didn't quite prepare us for everything on the form, but with his help, we got it done.

Upon exiting the boat, we were instructed to put our backpacks out in a line so the drug-sniffing dog could give them the once over.  Much to our surprise, Barry's pack was the one the canine focused on.  Then we remembered he had some yummy homemade snack bars (containing peanut butter) inside.  No wonder!  To prove he had nothing stronger than peanut butter bars on him, he had to unpack his bag for the authorities wielding impressive machine guns, then was waved on his way.  We were not frisked or searched in any way, nor did we have to go through a metal detector.

Little did we know that we would have to fill out yet another form once our bags were checked.  I guess one form was for Immigration and one for Customs.  Barry and I were so slow filling out our form that one of the attendants grabbed them and did most of it for us.  I guess there was another ferry coming right behind us, and they wanted us out of the way by then. 

Finally we were all checked through and on our way.  This was Bill and Debra's second trip to Chetumal, so it was great to go with them since they knew the ropes.  They brought rolling suitcases along to load up with all their purchases.  We didn't do that since we knew they would be hard to haul on the ever-crowded water taxis in San Pedro.  We had our small backpacks and figured we could carry shopping bags for any purchases that wouldn't fit into them.

Our first destination was Sam's Club -- yep, just like back in the US of A.  Debra and Bill knew that we could walk there, so off we went, taking in the sights along the way, including this charming dinghy dock.

Barry and I are not Sam's Club members, but Debra had just renewed her membership.  We found a really nice package of two "extra firm" bed pillows, which they bought for us, and we paid them back.  The pillows that came with our condo furniture were way too flat and squishy, so this was a great purchase.  I been hoping to find a foam mattress topper as well, but came up empty handed on that one.  Bill and Debra bought food items, batteries, and refilled some prescriptions at the pharmacy.

Next on the agenda was catching a cab over to the "American Style" mall for additional shopping.  I should mention that with daylight savings time being active in Mexico (but never in Belize), we would have one less hour than typical for a trip to Chetumal.  So instead of our boat leaving at 3pm, it would leave at 2pm.  This meant that we were in a bit of a rush the entire time we were there.  

Our taxi driver drove like a maniac, fast, weaving, and passing on the right. Then again, it seemed like everyone else on the roads was driving the same way.  This is definitely a place I would not want to drive.  

Here are some of the sights we saw during the 10-minute taxi ride to the mall.

Here are some shots from inside the mall.  We were headed to Chedraui, a department/grocery store along the lines of Wal-Mart.

We did find one mattress topper here, but it didn't seem to be of nice quality nor very thick, so we passed.  We were able to score some of the other things on our shopping list, like a salad spinner and plastic cover for reheating plates in the microwave.  Such simple items, but I'd been unable to find either of them in San Pedro.  It was our understanding that each person could bring one liter of booze into Belize duty-free, so Barry and I chose a nice tequila (on sale, no less) and Triple Sec, both of which are very expensive in Belize.  Can you say margaritas, baby?

Bill and Debra were buying a lot of food here, so we told them we'd meet them at the food court, and Barry and I headed on down.  We had hoped to go to a decent Mexican restaurant while we were in Chetumal, but as I mentioned before, we were on a tight schedule, so the food court it would be.  Fortunately, there was a taqueria there that ended up having yummy made-to-order tacos.  I was able to order from the Spanish menu, pay, and get my change from the cashier who spoke only Spanish.  The tacos were less than $1.50 US each, a great deal.  Barry went in search of another money exchange to make sure we had enough pesos for both of us to have lunch and drinks.

Barry was able to get some more money changed, so I went back and ordered cuatro (4) of the same tacos for him.

Thanks to one of the best Belize bloggers around, Rebecca (http://www.sanpedroscoop.com/), we knew there was a little casino in the mall that served Mexican beer for cheap.  So our final trick was to find it and grab a Corona or two before we caught a cab back to the ferry.  Time was getting really tight by now, so we had to make tracks.  Amazingly, we found it and managed to chug down a couple of beers in record time.  Beers were only about $1 US, maybe $1.25, if I recall correctly.  No problema.  It was great to drink a beer other than Belikin for a change.

We were able to find a taxi quickly when we left the mall, but the guy didn't know where the water taxi terminal was!  Or maybe he just didn't understand our garbled Spanglish?  In any event, he ended up taking us to the bus terminal.  By this time we were really worried about missing our ferry.  We kept saying "Rapido, Rapido" and "taxi agua" (water).  Barry was sitting in the front seat and was able to help the most with directions:  "cerca de Sam's Club" (near Sam's Club).  We were getting a bit frantic, and it felt like we were on an episode of The Amazing Race.

Finally, we made it to the right place and paid our fare (taxis are cheap, cheap, cheap in Chetumal!)  While Debra and Bill were checking their suitcases, Barry and I proceeded to Immigration to check out of Mexico.  The Immigration officer just shook his head when he saw our papers.  He told us we were supposed to have paid a $25 US exit fee (per person) at a local bank.  What?!  We had done our research ahead of time and knew that there was NO exit fee for folks staying for less than seven days and returning to their country of origin.  We tried to reason with the officer, but he would have none of it.  When Bill and Debra arrived, they were told the same thing.  One of the ferry employees was there trying to expedite things as we were now past time for the boat to leave.  He agreed that we should not have to pay the exit fee, but his hands were tied.  

Finally we were told to walk over to a bank, pay the fee, and come back with the receipt.  The ferry worker said "Hurry" as we hustled off.  A local was going with us to show us where the bank was.  I was wondering if this was all some elaborate scam that they were all in on together.  Even the local agreed we should not have to pay.  It was really sickening.  We've all read and heard immigration horror stories, but no one expects it will ever happen to them.  

As we walked down the road, the ferry worker came calling after us.  There was no time for us to get to the bank, and a young lady working with the Immigration officer could take our money and get us our receipts "later" (ummm, right...).  So, we had no choice.  We turned around and headed back to the immigration office.  I waited outside while Barry did our business.  He came back out with our passports and quickly hustled me down towards the boat as quickly as possible, leaving Bill and Debra behind to check out.  I thought he was acting a little strangely, but I didn't understand -- I figured he was just pissed off, as we all were.

When we got about halfway down the promenade and no one was within earshot, he told me that he didn't pay.  He said there was a lot of confusion in the office, so he just got the stamp and high-tailed it outta there!  I have to give him credit for that bold maneuver; after all, we were in the right, and he was simply trying to avoid being scammed.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out as the young lady working with immigration and the ferry worker ran to catch up with us and said "He says you didn't pay."  Since there were men with machine guns standing near the boat, Barry had no choice but to give them the money.  It was worth a try, right?

Debra and Bill reluctantly paid as well, and we all made it onto the boat without being thrown into a Mexican prison.  We were all angry, though, since we knew we'd been taken.  Another passenger on the ferry approached us and asked if we'd had to pay -- turns out they tried to make her and her husband pay as well, but somehow they got out of it.  She said the officer was extremely rude to them.  Apparently they are pulling this scam on everyone with a US passport, but some manage to get out of it somehow or another.  This couple had been coming from Cancun so possibly had a slightly different situation than ours that he let slide.

Unfortunately, this incident ended the trip on a bad note.  At the time I swore I'd never go to Mexico again, but since I've had time to cool down, I now think I'd go -- but not for less than seven days.  If I know I have to pay the fee by law, I certainly don't mind paying it, but I strongly object to government officials taking advantage of visitors (especially those who have just spent good money in their country) and breaking their own laws.  Infuriating! 

The ride back was uneventful (and smooth, with the wind behind us), and the Belizean Immigration and Customs officers were in good moods when we arrived back at the San Pedro dock, so we sailed right through.  We did learn something important, though:  while you are normally allowed 1 liter of alcohol per person coming into Belize, the Customs' officer told us that that does not apply to Chetumal because it is "too close" to Belize.  So it's okay to bring in a bottle from the US, Canada, or even Cancun, but not from Chetumal!  That really surprised me, and I wonder if it's written down in any law book?  I mean, where do they draw the line on where is considered "too close"?  But, she was in good spirits and let us through.  She did say that in some cases they would confiscate the liquor and was giving us a "warning" this time.  Just another reason not to bother with Chetumal again -- I was already tasting those margaritas and would have been so disappointed to have our purchases taken away!

Here is what we came home with:

So, as I said in the beginning, it was an "interesting" day with some good and some challenging moments.  I guess travel to a foreign country is always fraught with pitfalls, but there are many rewards as well.  We'll keep traveling, but we've certainly had our eyes opened.

The only bus that runs directly from the village of Crooked Tree to Belize City, the Jex bus, comes through at 6:30 am, so we knew it was going to be an early morning by necessity.  Fortunately, as I mentioned before, it's easy to get up early at the lodge, and I managed to pop out of bed just in time to catch the stunning sunrise over the lagoon.  Barry just missed it!

We quickly dressed and packed our backpacks for the trek back to Ambergris Caye.  I was at the lodge a little before 6 am and caught Angie coming in from a walk.  The coffee was fresh and hot, and we were able to grab a cup (and a banana each for the road) while saying our goodbyes to Angie and Mick and checking out.  Mick offered us a lift down to the bus stop, but our backpacks weren't that heavy, and it was a beautiful morning for a walk, so we declined.

We walked quickly lest we miss the bus, arriving at the stop a few minutes before 6:30 am.  When we got there, we saw some locals gathered, so we knew it hadn't come yet.  And since the roads are unpaved, you can hear vehicles (especially bus-sized) from a long distance, and we hadn't heard a peep.  We ended up waiting about ten minutes and getting in a little last minute birding, of course! 

Finally the bus arrived, and we all filed on.  It was already quite crowded, a bit surprising since we thought that Crooked Tree was the start of the route, so apparently more folks from this village take the bus to the city than we realized.  We would be sitting together on the child-sized seat with our backpacks in our lap for the entire way this time.  In fact, the bus continued picking up folks all the way to Belize City, with very few getting off, so eventually it was standing room only.  I suspect a lot of these folks were heading to work or to appointments in the city.

When we got to Belize City, the bus attendant asked where we were heading. They don't get a lot of gringos on this bus line, so she had also taken care of us on the way to Crooked Tree, making sure we got off at the right spot.  We told her that we were taking the ferry to San Pedro, but first were planning a stop at Brodie's (grocery store) to pick up a few things.  We figured the bus would finish the journey at the same place we got on two days earlier, but she told us that they needed to fuel up first, and if we were in a hurry, she'd show us where to get off so that we could walk to Brodie's.  What a nice lady.  We hoped to make the 9 am ferry back to San Pedro, so we didn't want to wait for them to fuel up the bus.  

She instructed us to get off right where a local woman who was also heading towards Brodie's got off, so the local lady said she'd show us the way; we'd never gone there from this direction before.  Walking with a local was great -- no one hassled us, and we didn't get lost.

Finally she pointed us to Brodie's, but peeled off in the other direction herself, so perhaps she was just going near there, not actually there.   

We found a good assortment of groceries at Brodie's that just fit into the extra canvas bag we'd brought along for that reason.  We were cutting the time very close to the 9 am ferry; however, so practically had to run to the ferry terminal.  We'd hoped to have time to hit the rest room at the terminal before boarding the boat, but as luck would have it, a field trip's worth of children and their chaperones were lined up in the ladies room, so I had to grin and bear it.  As it turned out, the ferry was late leaving after all (typical in Belize), so I probably could have made it, but fortunately I didn't wet my pants on the boat ride to San Pedro (heehee).

As is also very typical for our travels, we knew we'd be arriving in San Pedro just after the water taxi north would have departed the dock (and with two hours until the next one), so we decided to have brunch at Estel's before picking Paisley up at Pampered Paws.  Thus fortified, we picked her and her stuff up and still had a 45-minute wait for the next water taxi, but it costs quite a bit less than a land taxi, and we couldn't walk the two miles back to Chico Caribe with her and all our gear on such a hot, sunny day.  So we waited.  At least there are benches in the shade, with a nice breeze, and I had a book.  Could have been worse.

As usual, the water taxi was packed, and with all our gear, it was quite an uncomfortable ride, but we made it back safe and sound.  Paisley was glad to be home, though she does great at Pampered Paws.

Since today's post is a shorter one (for us, anyway!), I'm including photos of some of the many birds we saw during our stay at Crooked Tree.  Each species that was a new one for our life lists, I've followed by an asterisk (*).

White pelicans are rare in Belize, so the folks at the lodge were excited to see this flock.

There were large flocks of these Black Vultures in trees along the road (but not at the lodge, thankfully).  Reminded me places in rural North Carolina where we'd see them on our bike rides.

We saw a few other species that we were unable to get photos of.  And probably even more we didn't write down.  Here's a list of the ones we did note but didn't get photos of.  All of these were already on our life lists, but we never mind seeing them again!

Rose-Throated Becard (pair)
Chackalacka (audio only)
Social Flycatcher
Great-Tailed Grackle (many)
Great Kiskadee
Green-Breasted Mango
American Redstart
Mangrove Swallow
Blue-Winged Teal 
Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

If you enjoy bird-watching and are in Belize, you owe it to yourself to visit Crooked Tree.  We can highly recommend the Crooked Tree Lodge -- Mick and Angie will treat you right, and you will see more birds than you can imagine.

Because the sun rises early over the lagoon, the birds start singing, and the dogs start barking, it is easy to get up early at Crooked Tree Lodge.  We rolled out of bed at exactly 5:42 am, having just missed the sunrise by a few lazy minutes.  This is at least an hour or more earlier than we usually rise.  We were excited to start what we expected would be an excellent full day of birding.

After grabbing a cup of coffee in the lodge, we took a morning walk before breakfast and checked out the birds along the road. Of course we saw many, as birds are most active in the morning and again at dusk.  It was a beautiful morning, and the sun was already getting hot -- it gets hot early in Belize.   

Breakfast was served at 7, and what a spread it was -- scrambled eggs, sausage, fruit, johnny cakes, toast, homemade jam, and freshly squeezed orange juice.  The perfect way to start a big day.  

After breakfast, we took the two touring kayaks out on the lagoon to try to find some Jabiru Storks.  We had seen them on the far side of the lagoon through our binoculars in the late afternoon of the day before, but they were too far off to photograph.  It was a gorgeous day for paddling, and so much fun to be out on the water again.  We used to own touring kayaks but sold them on Craigslist before we sold our house in 2010, and hadn't paddled for a long time.  The water was very shallow in the lagoon.  By the end of May, it might be dried up totally until the rains come again.  We were glad we made it here while we could still enjoy a paddle.

Paddling towards the far bank of the lagoon, we spotted many Snail Kites in bushes and on tree branches.  We'd first seen one of these large birds on our trip to Lamanai Maya site back in January, but there were so many here on the lagoon bank it was astonishing.  There were also some large bulls along the banks checking us out.  I was hoping they wouldn't come charging into the shallow water to get a closer look, but of course, they did not.  I do have an active imagination!

As we traveled farther up the lagoon, we eventually came upon a bank of large shorebirds in HUGE numbers.  Huge!  It took quite awhile to paddle closer to the "bird convention", but on the way there, we were rewarded by seeing a couple of Jabirus in flight, so we knew there were likely more along the bank, mixed in among the many egrets, herons, terns, and others.   

Much to our delight, our suspicions were confirmed as we drew closer to the bank of birds.  There were Jabiru Storks here and there, just a few, mixed in with the many Wood Storks and other shorebirds.  We couldn't have been more delighted at seeing these massive, odd-looking birds so close.  Some of the other guests at the lodge had paid a guide to take them out in a motorboat earlier that morning, but we were hoping that we could see the same birds for free under kayak power.  And we did!

The White Pelican is very rare for Belize, so we were excited to see this flock here.

After we'd satisfied our birding urges on the lagoon, we headed back to the lodge so that we'd be back in time for lunch.  We definitely didn't want to miss one of the wonderful meals here! 

Not long after pulling the kayaks back up on shore, it was time for lunch.  Angie served us a delicious baked tilapia with fresh vegetables, a green salad, wheat rolls, a banana (which we saved for an afternoon snack), and the leftover bread pudding from the night before.  It was as delicious as it looked!

After lunch we spent some time relaxing on our cabana's veranda.  I mentioned before that there were a lot of dogs on the property.  A lovely Doberman belonged to a young couple from the UK vacationing at the lodge (after adopting the dog in Louisiana and driving from Texas through Mexico to Belize -- now that's adventurous!), and many other dogs apparently belonging to Mick and Angie.  All the dogs were sweet and friendly, and we had fun watching them romp and play on the grounds.  One even had puppies under the lodge stairs.  They were 2.5 weeks old and just adorable!  Check out all these cute pooches (and this isn't even all of 'em)....

In the afternoon we took another walk up the road.  The original reason for the walk was to determine how long it would take us to walk to the bus stop the next morning, but we were having so much fun we walked all the way into the village (which is tiny, consisting of only a fruit stand and a couple of other small buildings).  Barry was interested in this hurricane shelter because the Occupancy level hadn't even been filled in.  He surmised that in Belize, the right answer is "as many as can be packed in"...

We saw quite a few loose cattle along the way...

And more cashew trees....

When we returned to the lodge, we continued bird-watching around in the back.  We discovered couple of pigs in a pen and some additional short trails we hadn't known were back there.  Turns out our friend David, who lives just up the beach from us on Ambergris Caye, stayed here with the cast and crew while filming a movie he was in, and the movie was mostly filmed right in this part of the lodge's property!  We had no idea until after we returned home and Barry told David about our stay.  Pretty incredible!

After the mosquitoes drove us from the trails, we retreated back to the lodge.  We discovered this cache of drying cashew nuts in back.  Very cool!

I decided a cold Belikin would taste really good, so we hit the honor bar, then watched the beautiful sunset from the lodge deck.

Dinner was once again delicious and bountiful.  On the menu was tomato soup, shepherd's pie, sauteed fruits and vegetables, salad, beans and rice, and cheese bread.  Dessert was coconut turnovers and mini chocolate cakes.  Needless to say, we ate until we were stuffed.  Good thing we got so much exercise during the day!

In researching various destinations in Belize, we knew we'd have to pay a visit to the village of Crooked Tree, because it is known as a birding hot spot, particularly in April, during spring migration.  We love watching, identifying (or attempting to identify), and photographing birds, so we didn't want to let this month go by without a visit.  We were particularly excited about the possibility of seeing the Jabiru Stork, the tallest bird in the Americas.  Jabirus arrive in the late fall to nest in Crooked Tree, and we were excited by the possibility of viewing some before they migrated to their summer grounds in June.

Crooked Tree is said to be named for its many cashew trees (which do have a rather crooked, multi-branched habit) by early logwood cutters boating on the Belize River and Black Creek to what is now the Crooked Tree Lagoon (source: Lonely Planet).  It's a small, sleepy village with a sparse full-time population, but fortunately, one of the "chicken bus" lines in Belize, Jex, runs a daily bus to the village.  Since we are traveling on a budget in order to see as much of Belize as possible, this sounded perfect to us.  We'd take the ferry to Belize City, then grab the bus to Crooked Tree and avoid car rental and taxi charges.  

We made reservations at the Crooked Tree Lodge, a charming family-run place right on the Crooked Tree Lagoon.  Mick and Angie run the lodge and live there with their two young sons and a menagerie of dogs.  There are a handful of simple casitas of various sizes (starting at $60 US per night) with lovely water views; and delicious, colorful, healthy meals are cooked and served in the timberframe lodge.  There is also an honor bar, where guests can grab a Belikin, a soda, or mix a drink on their own, listing their purchases in a notebook.  

We planned to start our journey to Crooked Tree on the Wednesday 7:40 am water taxi to San Pedro town with our backpacks and Paisley.  However, when the southbound boat arrived at the Grand Caribe dock, it was packed to the gills with people, mostly children, as this particular taxi serves as the "school bus" for the island.  There was no room for us or another Grand Caribe owner-couple waiting with us, but the driver assured us that an additional boat would be along in a couple of minutes.  Since normally the taxi runs only hourly (if that), we all thought that he was just telling us what we wanted to hear, a frequent occurrence in Belize.  Barry and I were worried that our entire day could be messed up since we had multiple connections to make, and were already thinking of what our Plan B would be if another boat did not show up, and fast.  Much to our surprise, within five minutes, another boat did pull up to the dock after all!  And this time it was just Barry, Paisley, the other couple, and me in the boat.  It was much more comfortable than the first one would have been! 

Once we got to San Pedro, we had adequate time to drop Paisley off at Pampered Paws for boarding and catch the 8:30 ferry to Belize City without having to run, as is sometimes the case.  The 75-minute boat ride was uneventful, and we arrived in Belize City with time to spare before catching the Jex Bus to Crooked Tree at 10:50 am.  

Finding the bus was another matter.  From our research, we knew that the bus "terminal" should be on the other side of the famous swing bridge, but once we walked across, we saw no sign of it.  We did see some other buses there, and upon asking some men standing around, learned that we had to walk a bit farther to find the Jex Bus.  So it wasn't "just" on the other side of the bridge after all.  We continued walking down the road, but all we saw was an old broken down bus a ways down, and it didn't even look like it was in running order.  So we backtracked to a small hotel we'd just walked by and asked a nice lady inside the lobby if she knew where the Jex Bus terminal was.  Turns out the "broken down" bus we'd seen down the road was indeed the Jex Bus!  Yep, sometimes it's hard to "belize" things here!

The bus looked a bit sketchy, as did the building next door, and we had a bit of a wait, but it was all fine.  Since there was nowhere else to sit, we went ahead and boarded the bus and waited the 45 minutes or so until departure, watching people come and go from the building next door.  At some point they opened up the door, and it looked like some sort of a Lion's Club building or something similar, nothing as illicit as what my active imagination had conjured up!  

The bus ride to Crooked Tree took about an hour and fifteen minutes and was interesting, as locals got onto and off of the bus frequently all along the way, though it was never very crowded.  For once, we each had a seat to ourselves, helpful since we had to share our seats with our backpacks.  At one point a large number of adorable little children got on, going home from school.  Naturally they had incredible amounts of energy, running, laughing, and shrieking, but finally the bus attendant got them settled down and into separate seats to calm them.  The bus made frequent stops after that to let them off.  The bus ride from Belize City to Crooked Tree set us back a whopping $3.50 BZD ($1.75 US) each! 

Finally, we were let off in the village of Crooked Tree, and hiked down the unpaved road to the Crooked Tree Lodge.  As soon as we stepped off the bus, we began seeing (and hearing) numerous birds, so it took a lot longer to get there than we expected, as we kept stopping to view birds with our binoculars.  It would have been about a twelve minute walk had we just walked without stopping to bird watch.

We were fascinated by the many cashew trees we saw along the way to the lodge.  The scent of the fruit was in the air, and it was easy to see the cashew shell itself hanging below the fruits.  Inside the shell is the seed, which is what we think of as the actual cashew "nut" that we eat. In order to extract these "nuts", the shells have to be roasted first.  I now realize why cashews are so expensive.  Can you imagine how many of these fruits with shells have to be picked to make a can of shelled cashews?

Finally, we arrived at the lodge, and it was an absolutely stunning setting.  I knew I had picked the right place the minute I laid eyes on it.  It was the perfect place to get away from it all, with birds everywhere, a shady canopy of beautiful trees; lush, green lawn, flowers, and shrubs.  See for yourself...

We checked in, and Angie showed us to our cabana.  It was quite small and simply built but charming and perfectly fine for a short stay, with a nice tiled bath.  There was no TV or air-conditioning (though there was a fan), so this is not the place for someone who requires those amenities.  There is wi-fi, but we took a "laptop break" and didn't bring a computer since we were only staying for two nights. 

After getting settled in our cabana, we walked around the grounds and did more birding.  We were amazed at the number and variety of both shore and field/woodland birds we saw and were already adding to our life lists.  I looked them up in the Birds of Belize book and jotted down the species we identified, and Barry snapped photos.  We'll have a separate blog entry with bird photos as there are too many to include here.  

Although we hadn't made reservations since we didn't realize we should have, we asked Angie if we could have some lunch.  She kindly obliged, serving up some yummy cold pasta salad, tossed salad, and fresh pineapple slices in the lodge.  It looked beautiful and tasted delicious after our busy morning of travel.   

Not too long after lunch, the wind kicked up, and we realized those dark clouds meant business.  

We sat on the porch of our cabana as a nice rain came down for quite some time.  Once it stopped, the birds wasted little time coming out from their hiding places again, and we continued to watch them until almost dinnertime.  We also took a walk back down the road to look for more birds. (Yes, we are rather obsessive, can't you tell?)  In addition to birds, we saw several locals out and about on their bikes, especially kids riding after school.  Everyone was super friendly, one of the things we love about Belize.

We grabbed a Belikin from the honor bar and sat outside with some of the other lodge guests until 7pm, when dinner was served in the lodge.  

Dinner is served family-style, and there were two tables of guests eating.  We sat with an interesting family from Seattle with two boys and enjoyed chatting with them about Seattle and Belize while we dined on vegetable soup, two pastas, and salad.  Dessert was a piping hot bread pudding right from the oven.  (Sadly, we neglected to take photos; I guess we were really starving!)  Everything was homemade and delicious.  After showers and some reading, we hit the hay early in order to be ready for an early morning and full day of birding the next day.

To be continued...

If you've been reading our blog for awhile, you know that we usually do some bird-watching on Sunday morning.  Sometimes we walk, sometimes we ride our bikes.  We'd been mostly walking lately, so this morning we decided to ride, since we can get farther north past more of the golf-cart traffic that way.  Although we didn't see many new birds, we ended up riding farther north than we ever have before and had a great time doing it.  

We started off riding north on the beach from our condo.  It was a gorgeous day after a cold front came through last night, whisking the humidity away (so rare for here) and bringing a great breeze and cooler temperatures along with it.  

Once we got up to Indigo condominiums, we shifted onto the road since we have some favorite birding spots up in that area.  The beach offers mainly shorebirds, where the road provides a better variety, from various wood-warblers to flycatchers to Plain Chacalacas.  We stopped a few times along the way to check out birds, like these:

Near Matachica resort, we ran into a huge puddle in the road. This area has had more rain than farther south lately, and there had been a very high tide not long ago as well, so high water from the lagoon just to the left certainly didn't help matters. We wouldn't be able to travel this way any further as I wasn't willing to ride through this puddle.  We did watch a local man do it, but it didn't look easy or pleasant and was quite deep.

So we back-tracked to Rojo Lounge, which is closed in the morning, and cut through to the beach.

We rode north on the beach for awhile until we found another cut-through to go back to the road, which was passable once the big puddle had been avoided.  

We continued to stop occasionally to check out birds we'd see or hear along the way, but this was fast becoming more of a bike ride than a birding ride.  We had only been as far as Blue Reef Island Resort before, but today we decided to try heading a bit farther north.  Surprisingly, the road was dried up (except for a few muddy areas), and we were able to go quite a bit farther north.  We didn't see another soul.  I always get a little nervous when we get into "uncharted territory", but fortunately, it was fine.  We felt like real adventurers, though, since we'd never been up this far.

Note that there are still power lines way up here -- someday we'll figure out where they end, perhaps!

The shift of the wind to northwest off the lagoon brought with it a ton of mosquitoes.  Here I am dancing and dodging them, despite wearing insect repellent: 

The road got a bit sketchier, and we finally came upon a muddy area I didn't really want to cross after watching Barry fishtail across it.  So he continued up just a bit farther to take a photo of this resort (can anyone identify it?) while I waited, then he turned around and met back up with me.

We were getting hungry and thirsty (we'd brought water but had gone through it already), so it was definitely time to head back.  

As we got closer to the big cell tower, we saw lots of smoke.  We had seen small fires along here on the way north, but they had really whipped up with the windy, dry conditions by the time we headed back.  We still don't know whether these were intentionally set to burn brush or whether an errant cigarette or even a lightning strike in the wee hours sparked the flames.  Unfortunately, we knew that the small and ill-equipped fire department would not be able to do anything about them in this remote area.  They reminded me of wildfires we'd seen along the highway in Florida and North Carolina during hot, dry summers.  We just hope they burned themselves out and were glad that they would be unable to cross the sandy road.  Quite a wide area was covered, making for a hot, smoky, and unpleasant ride along this section.

Finally we left the fire behind and were able to breathe clean air again.  In order to avoid the nasty puddle near Matachica, we cut over to the beach on a small trail we found alongside the wall at Canary Cove.  I heard a dog that sounded like Kujo snarling and growling behind the wall, but he didn't come running out onto the beach to bite our ankles, thankfully.

We rode down the beach until we reached Rojo Lounge again.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of seawalls in this area, some of which come near the beach path.  Being the klutz that I am, I clipped my pedal on one of them and went down.  It wasn't a hard fall, and initially I thought I'd just bruised my right knee a bit.  But when I got home, it turns out I must have hit the pointy bone on the inside of my left ankle pretty hard on a rock, and it's now tender and painful when I walk.  Doesn't look like I'll be able to do my Monday beach run, which is too bad since the weather is finally much nicer for running than it has been.  Sigh...

Fortunately, it didn't hurt much on the rest of the ride home.  We cut back through the road by Rojo Lounge and made our way back to our condo.  There is a nice little hill on this cut-through road which felt almost like mountain biking back in North Carolina.  Fun!  

After all that riding, we actually had the best bird sighting of the day right next to our condo, of all things.  This cute Dickcissel hung around for quite some time eating something in the grass.  He was incredibly tame, and I got within two feet of him even with Paisley on the leash.  Our Belize bird book says they are transients and appear here during migration season, so what a treat to happen upon this little fellow -- a new bird for our life lists!

Originally, we hadn't thought of purchasing a dehumidifier for our condo here, figuring we'd just use the air-conditioning when the humidity became too oppressive.  We'd never needed a dehumidifier in other places we lived and just hadn't given the possibility any thought.  But a very smart neighbor who had been living in San Pedro for a couple of years recommended we bring one, so we took note.  After some research, Barry realized that we wouldn't be able to keep the A/C cycling on frequently enough to get the humidity to a reasonable level without living in a very frigid condo -- and busting our budget in the process, since electricity (called "current" here) is a lot pricier than back in North Carolina.  Since we don't even like overly air-conditioned spaces and didn't want to live in the cold even if the budget allowed, a portable dehumidifier started looking like a very smart option.  

When doing our research, the main negatives of using a dehumidifier mentioned by reviewers were the heat and noise the unit generates in use.  We figured the noise wouldn't bother us too much, as we've always preferred to sleep with a white-noise machine rather than hear the various things that go bump in the night, including our first Boston Terrier, Pepper, who snored like a truck driver due to her little squashed face, bless her heart.  Paisley has more of a snout and is much quieter, but the white-noise habit has persisted.  We always turn on the A/C or fan when we stay in hotels to keep the noise from the hall and surrounding rooms down as well.  

As for excess heat put off by the unit, that could certainly be a problem since Belize isn't really known for cold temperatures (!!), but we figured we'd give it a try and could certainly switch to air conditioning when it was unbearable.  And we didn't plan to use the dehumidifier during the heat of the day anyway, only in the evenings.  Since we live oceanfront where there is typically a nice breeze, we prefer to open our windows and let the sea breeze blow through all day long, then close up at night for security reasons.  This would be a perfect time to suck the water out of the air and dry the place out.  So, it was decided; we'd give a dehumidifier a try.

We determined that a 50-pint unit would be appropriate for our approximately 1000 square foot condo and purchased a portable Energy Star-certified Frigidaire model for $200 in North Carolina last summer.  We kept it in the original box and included it in our shipment (on a pallet) to Belize.  We figured that wasn't a huge amount to spend if it would keep our clothes, wood, and other items from molding, and keep us feeling a bit drier and more comfortable in our island home.

The unit includes a built-in collection bin for water, or you can attach a hose and run it to any drain.  It has wheels for easily moving it around on the tile floor.  We have a floor drain in our shower and another in our bathroom, but neither had an electrical outlet close without running the cord in front of the sinks; not very convenient.  And having the unit in the bathroom would not have been a good location for it anyway as it needs to be centrally located.  Alternatively, we could have put it on the kitchen counter and let it drain into the sink, but it's a fairly heavy unit to lift up and down twice a day, and Barry's back didn't need the extra strain.

So, we chose to put it in the middle of the great room each night, then wheel it over to the wall, out of the way, during the day.  And for months, we used only the built-in collection bin and didn't attach a hose.  This worked okay; but the bin would often fill up before we were ready to get up in the morning and wake us up with an annoying series of five beeps to alert us of the full bucket.  Barry got really tired of this.

Finally, his "MacGyver" side came out, as it always does, given long enough.  He'd found a five-gallon utility bucket that washed up in the sea (very well seasoned!) and cut a hole in it.  He then cut a short length of hose and attached it to the dehumidifier unit, then through the hole into the bucket, to hold it in place.  This worked much better, and we weren't awakened by the annoying alarm beeps, which could not be deactivated.

But it still wasn't perfect.  There was a "drip drip drip" sound as the unit ran and water dripped from the hose into the bucket.  We could just hear the dripping from our bedroom, and it was annoying.  "MacGyver" came to the rescue once again.  A plastic ruler inside the bucket allowed the water to run down into the bucket without dripping.  Brilliant, right?! 

As for the noise issue, that is just as we thought, not a problem at all.  The white noise helps to drown out any other noise coming from the condo units around us.  The unit does put out some heat and raises the temperature in the great room a degree or two, but our bedroom stays pleasant with just a ceiling fan for now, especially since the humidity gradually falls through the night as we sleep, offsetting any small increase in temperature.  As you often hear, "It's not the heat; it's the humidity" (that makes a person feel miserable), and we've found that to be true.  Thanks to our dehumidifier, we have not had to use the air-conditioning since October.  Then again, we are more heat-tolerant than folks from cooler areas in the US or from Canada.  And living here since August has only served to increase this heat tolerance.  Typically, the dehumidifier drops the humidity in our condo from the 70-79% range to 50-55%, depending on how we set it.  This makes a huge difference in our comfort level as well and also prevents mold.

The only thing we may need to work on is finding a more attractive bucket, since it tends to sit around our condo during the day -- and it definitely doesn't add to the ambiance!  Other than that, we're very happy with our decision to buy a dehumidifier and ship it down.  It really has been worth every penny we spent.  

Just some of the pretty flowers I saw blooming around our building and our side of Grand Caribe yesterday morning...

Last night we rode our bikes into town and met our friend David for taco night and half-price margarita night at Caliente.  We got a great table on the deck and enjoyed the breezes, company, fantastic food, and potent margaritas.  

On our ride into town, we passed a few golf carts.  Some friendly folks on one of them yelled out "We read your blog!"  They also said that they really liked our food photos, so we've made sure to include plenty in this posting.

Just when we were wondering if David missed the Coastal Express water taxi to town, he showed up.  Turns out they did almost miss stopping at the dock near his house north of the bridge and had to double back around to pick him up, as he furiously waved his arms!

I got my favorite dish here -- fish tacos.  These are only available at lunchtime normally, but also on Friday nights.  Barry and David both got chicken dishes.  Everything looked really nice and tasted great too!

David decided to splurge with some dessert -- he tried the flan, which looked really good.  I am definitely getting it next time.  Barry and I split a bowl of coconut ice cream that was delicious.  So good we forgot to take a photo -- or was that the margaritas talking?  

We sipped margaritas and chatted it up until about 9:15, much to my surprise as this is quite late for us, but David has a lot of funny stories to tell.  He then had to skedaddle to catch the 9:30 water taxi, so Barry and I hit the road on our bikes.

Once we got north of the bridge, we fired up our headlamps.  The headlamp I brought to Belize had died on me, so I recently got a new one and was trying it out for the first time.  The new one (Black Diamond Sprinter) is really cool as it has a red blinky light in back, and the front LED is seriously bright.  No one will miss seeing us when I'm using it!

It was a nice quiet ride back to our condo on a dark, starry night.  We are happy that the "high season" here on Ambergris Caye is now behind us.  It makes going into town so much more pleasant!