Full day here in Placencia; a southern beach town in Belize. It’s a booming place with large condos and houses being constructed. We almost didn’t stay in Placencia during our journey, the hotels here are more expensive than any other area we have experienced. The home of the Guinness world record for the narrowest main street...a sidewalk...this place is best explained as the feel of any California beach town, with an art and hippy flair. Many ex-patriots come here to run their “dream businesses on the beach”. The Belizeans here have pretty much been priced out of their land and are found as workers in the ex-pat run hotels and bars here. There is a definite division in economic status.
We joined the locals and tourists watching 7 manatees during mating season. This mating process lasts all day. There were 6 males and one female per one of the locals. We spoke to a fisherman bringing in his catch of mullet snapper. The Belizean fish authority makes sure all the fish is transported properly on ice and only permitted species are in the catch.
We’ve listened to a lot of ex-pats talk about their experiences here. Like when sugar or flour is limited. I guess when the Mississippi floods, it affects the wheat crops sent here to be ground into flour. I told them to start storing up soon, because we have had horrid flooding currently in that area.
The prices of food are a bit higher here than other parts of Belize. We were told the best food prices are in the Cayo District where many things are grown.
Today, during our travels, our rental vehicle started a loud clunking sound. Though we were worried that we could incur “issues”, it turned out as a great experience. The company had us take the truck to their mechanic here in town, it’s just a sway bar linkage issue but we are good to keep going.
We left the last three days of our mainland trip free of reservations so we can revisit the place which tops our list of possible retirement places. We’ve decided to head back to the Cayo area of Santa Elena/San Ignacio.
As it is customary to stop and offer rides to those needing them...we transported the maid, the maintenance guy, and the morning waitress to their little towns on the way to Placencia today. One gal has 7 kids, she got such a big laugh when I told her she needs to watch more movies or read a book.
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