Prices

We have made shopping here a game.   Of course you can nickel and dime yourself to death but it is fun to see where you can get the best price on various items.    We find more stores almost daily and enjoy comparing prices with our normal shopping. 

(I am going to be giving you prices in Belize dollars so, to compare with US dollars, you have to divide by two.)

We shop for all of our fruits and vegetable at the stands on the street.  Bananas are five for a dollar, oranges are four for a dollar, and a pineapple sliced and cut into pieces cost us six dollars once, seven another time and eight the last time—all at the same place. 

Tomatoes range in price from $4 to $5.50 a pound.   Eggs are twenty five cents each as long as you have your own carton.  If you don’t have your own carton, it will cost an extra fifty cents.

We were paying $5 for a loaf of wheat bread but have now found a bakery where we buy it for $1.75.  Milk is $3.25 a liter (that is about $6.50 for a little more than a half gallon).

You want to avoid name brands.  One of the worst examples was this box of Post Raisin Bran:

That’s right, $38.95 Belize dollars for a box of cereal.  We have found Post Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds for $6.50 and it is wonderful.

Gail got sick again and needed some Benadryl.  We found a box of twenty four tablets for $14.

Here is a short list of a few more examples:

28oz jar of Peter Pan peanut butter--$16.25

180gram jar (6.3 ozs) of Nescafe Dolca Tamano Economico (Instant Coffee)--$9.70

400ml jar (13.5 ounces) of AXION El Verdadero Arrancagrasa (Liquid Dish soap)--$2.60

10oz bag of marshmallows--$3.80

Betty Crocker Cake Mix

Snacks get expensive (the main reason Gail makes our own salsa and we buy locally made tortilla chips for $6.50)

And, unless you are buying Caribbean rum or local Belikin beer ($48 a case as long as you have your own bottles and case.  Otherwise you add twenty five cents per bottle and $5 for the case), alcohol is atrocious.  Dick Armstrong likes Yellow Tail wine.  He might not like it so much here since it is $79.50 a bottle.

I did find a bottle of local gin for about $20 but it has a strange taste.  And, the tonic here is colored pink so you don’t confuse it with soda.  It seems strange drinking a pink gin and tonic.

In addition to all of this, there is a 12.5% sales tax on many things.  However, I do not see that this is consistently applied. It is not on everything and some things have it included in the price.

I hope this gives you an idea of some of the ins and outs of the game of shopping and why you have to be careful. 

Hammock

The other day a hammock showed up between the palm trees down at the beach.  Of course the first person there was Gail.

She looked so comfortable that as soon as she left I took a turn.

It is at a perfect spot because it is in the sun in the morning before it gets too warm and in the afternoon it is in the shade.

And., at night, it is right under the moon.

Belize Christmas 2010

Christmas Day started out very slow.  Some of the people went fishing off the dock and fed the Pelicans.

Some decided to go snorkeling for a little while.

Our neighbors who run the tour company were getting ready for a big day of taking people diving.

We planned on having a BBQ picnic where everyone brings something to fix on the grill and a dish to share.  By mid-morning people began to gather around the pool.

I took the computer down to the Palapa and hooked up the speakers to make sure we had Christmas music.

We started the grill around noon and by 1:00 it was full of wonderful food—t-bone steaks, lobster, beef tenderloin, chicken, a whole urkey, grouper, and on and on.

Everyone ate and drank to their hearts content.  Here are some candid pictures of some of the folks.

Even the dogs enjoyed the food--Cookie is the one on the left. Effie is on the right.  The two belong to Wolfgang, one of our neighbors.  They are both good dogs and friends with everyone.

After we finished eating, some of the people rented jet skis and took Cookie for a ride (Cookie loves to ride the Jet Skies).

Gail and I posed for a picture by the Christmas tree so we would have one for the family album.

The day ended with a few folks staying up to play games—Farkle and Dominos mostly. 

It was a great day with many new friends.  Everyone was calling and Skyping with family. 

Gail and I spent time in the morning listening to the church service from the Bella Vista Community Church via the internet. 

This is truly a new environment for us.  We love many aspects of it and have decided to do it again.  Maybe the next time we won’t leave quite so early in the year so we can be closer to family and friends at home during the holidays. 

Gail and I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did and that we all allow the feelings that the birth of Jesus instills in us to guide us throughout the coming year.

Our Christmas Tree

The storage building here at the condos is being renovated and someone found a Christmas Tree.  It had been severely squashed and was pretty dusty and dirty.  Although the screws in the stand were rusty we managed to get it standing .  The top section had to be supported in order to get it be straight.  When we got it assembled it looked pretty sparse.  However, several of the ladies began to work some Christmas magic.  They found some old lights, garland, and went to town and bought a few ornaments.

We took the computer to the Palapa and hooked up a pair of small speakers I had packed in my suitcase.  We pulled up the radio station on the computer from Arkansas that plays continuous Christmas music and gives weather forecasts of cold and blustery conditions. 

By the time the ladies had finished with the tree, and we had consumed several Belikin beers, everyone was joining in with the Christmas carols and we had a beautiful Christmas Tree.

It doesn’t take much to make a Merry Christmas.

San Pedro Christmas

When you go downtown San Pedro there is a “town square”.  It is right on the Caribbean and has a small playground area for the children.

To prepare for Christmas the town built and decorated a large Christmas Tree in the square.

Many of the people who operate the stores downtown live above them.  So, in many cases, the Christmas decorations are above the stores.   It seems the more lights the better.

 

At the north end of the square is the Catholic Church.  One night when we were downtown they had a parade down Front Street to the church.  The people were carrying candles and singing songs in Spanish. 

When they came to the courtyard of the church they formed a large circle and the priest said something in Spanish, the people responded in Spanish, and then all went inside.  It did not seem right to take pictures right then so I went back later and took pictures of the church.

Another evening the church had a bazaar to raise money for new pews. 

They had many games for the children like fishing, and throwing balls to knock over the pins, breaking balloons with darts, etc

They had all kinds of food and we had a chicken tamale and a bacon wrapped hot dog.   They also had a large table of baked goods

The large plate of red stuff at the front of the picture had a sweet, coconut flavor and was the consistency of jello made with milk.   The desert table was a favorite of the children.

The downtown area has many restaurants and bars for the tourists. 

However, the people seem oblivious to this and continue to use this area for family activities.  There are always children present.  I can’t recall ever seeing a policeman.  And you feel completely safe.  At night, with all of the lights turned on, you can feel the Christmas spirit even though the weather is warm and you have on shorts and sandals.

We ride our bicycles home after dark and have never had an incident of any kind.  When we got home last night our neighbors had decorated their home.

It is a good feeling.

Caye Caulker Final Report

We had a great time at the Lazy Lizard but it was finally getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to have dinner before heading home.  We thought about spending the night, especially when we saw the price of the hotel rooms.

We decided we probably should eat before heading home so we found this restaurant where the seats were swings.

We saw this guy cleaning lobster so we knew our food would be fresh.

All of us ordered lobster

Except Gail-she ordered Barricuda

All of the meals were cooked on an outdoor BBQ and came with mashed potatoes, rice and a salad (the lobster and the Barricuda were hot but everything else was cold).  The lobster dinner was $20Belize and the Barricuda was $15 (that is $10US for a lobster dinner and $7.50US for Barricuda).

We finished our meal just in time.  The boat, which had come from Belize City, pulled into the dock.  It was after dark by now and the boat was packed full of people.  It made me think of what it must be like to be an illegal alien sneaking into Miami after dark on a small boat full of people.  I thought any minute they were going to stop and make us swim the last hundred yards.

Happily, at least four of us knew we were legal.

We made it home just fine and were all pretty tired after a wonderful day.

Caye Caulker cont.

One of the main things we were supposed to see on this little island was a bar and grill called “The Lazy Lizard”.  We knew it was on the north end of the island so we headed that way.

On the way we saw this advertisement for a “Dog Wash”. 

Keep in mind that these prices are Belize dollars and are half the value in US dollars.  It sounds like $1.50US beer during “Yappy Hour” would be a good deal.

A little further and we saw this art gallery with some Belizean art for sale.

Across the street was the town playground.

By this time we had walked a couple hundred yards and had worked up an appetite.  We found this guy cooking shrimp on a stick.

Finally, there it was—The Lazy Lizard!!!  It was everything we had been hoping for…..

The parking lot was full and the outdoor bar packed--and this was a Friday afternoon.

We lounged on the beach,

And swam in the warm water.

Some of the locals had parked their home near by and had put out the home sweet home sign or, maybe it was the Peace No War sign.

And, can you Belize it, one of the bartenders was wearing a Razorback shirt.

(Note the Coke bottle funnel and all of the neat Christmas decorations on the ceiling.)

Tomorrow I will report on the evening meal and the trip home.