A Belize Overview

I'd met Jeff two weeks before just briefly while he was on a business trip and he learned that I had traveled a lot. With that in mind, he asked me if I would be willing to go to help round out the party and throw some Central American knowledge into the trip. Immediately I ordered all the books and maps I could find on Amazon and I began to tirelessly study. The trip was less than a month away and I wanted to learn as much as I could before I went.

I'd been to Mexico and South America lately but I hadn't been to Belize since I was young with my parents as they were there as missionaries in the mid 80's. I found out a local Mennonite guy who lives just down the street from me actually spent about 25 years in Belize and had intimate knowledge of the roads, land, and people. After pouring over a map and talking with him for a couple of hours and getting the contacts that I thought were important, I was on my way. After a quick layover in Houston where I met up with the guys, we were on our way. Jeff is a financial investor and overall a really easy-going and nice guy that seemed to have a great understanding of markets in the banking system. Willard, who we call Willie, was a very strong, serious man, ex-military who proved to have a vast knowledge of herbs, safety, and government systems. And last but not least, Joseph, a tall gangly kid, the only one of us who is not married and does not have children, and seems to have an uncanny knowledge of cattle and agriculture for someone who is 22 years old.

After securing a small sports utility vehicle at the airport outside of Belize City, we decided to spend the couple of hours of light that were left and go exploring in the old capital of Belize, Belize City. The City is home to more than 78,000 people and lies just 5 feet above sea level on a small bump jetting out just a couple miles from the land.

Discovered by Spaniards in the 1500's, it quickly became a hot spot for famous pirates and was later settled by European lords who held vast plantations and were heavily involved in the slave trade. When the slaves were set free in the late 1800's they moved along the coast in several of the towns where the majority of the black Belizeans reside today.

Mayan Empire

Some 3,000 years ago a people group moved in the central America who called themselves the Mayans. They quickly became a ruling force spreading out through central America building more than 900 pyramid temple buildings in just Belize itself.

Today Mayans live mostly in southern Belize and have integrated in to the Belizean culture so that many of the Belizeans are a mix of Spanish, Mayans, and Africans and are a very pleasant people that seem to co-exist with no racial tensions.

Mennonites

Continuing west out of Belize City on day two we passed some signs for the famous Spanish look-out. Dodging various rules placed on them by governments, some 3,500 Mennonites settled in Belize over 50 years ago. Mennonites old world skills in farming, furniture building, livestock and poultry, have given much to the Belizean people, and today there are over ten thousand supplying nearly all of the milk, eggs, chicken, and a good percentage of the building materials and produce. In return the government allows them to nearly govern themselves, building and maintaining their own roads, and paying taxes to themselves and Belizean government. Their relationship with the Belizean government and people has been mutually beneficial.

As we drove through Spanish Look-out, the central hub for many of the progressive Mennonites in the country, we were amazed at what dedication and hard work can do to a piece of property. The hills were rolling green with 100 acres of cattle here and 50 acres of pinto bean or corn there, then out of the blue, a shiny new 3 story building that has a sign out front that read "Michelin Tires".

Language

There are basically five languages spoken in Belize. In the northern part of the country, which is predominately Mexican, Spanish is widely spoken. The central part seems to be a mixture of English , Creole, German, (spoken by the Mennonites) and Spanish. In the southern part the Mayans speak Mayan with a mixture of the others also. On the books, English is the official languages and it is widely spoken and is spoken well. But from day-to-day everyone speaks Creole, which is a form of short English which I found quite crude and unbecoming.

Political Climate

When England and Spain were splitting up the Americas the lines were drawn by the European countries for Belize, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, etc. and through the years the countries have grown with their own distinctions. But after England pulled out of British Honduras in 1981 and they changed their name formally to Belize, Guatemala has shown rising interest in taking their country. Because Belize has excellent ports on the Caribbean side and their military is completely defenseless, they appear to be fairly easy bait. Guatemala flexed it's muscles a few years ago preparing a form of strike against Belize but within 24 hours there were several thousand US and British troops coming to their aid.

Belize has six districts. Each one has elected officials responsible for representing the people in the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives and the Senate of nominated members, make up the National Assembly which debates and passes laws. People's basic rights are protected by an independent judiciary. National policy is decided by a Cabinet of Ministers who are members of the National Assembly. Together, the Cabinet and the Public Service carry out government services and administrative functions. Each district has main towns where elected officials are responsible for municipal services. Village Councils and Alcaldes are also elected. Every citizen that is 18 years or older can vote. Much like the United States, Belize has two parties that struggle for power. Each make promises before elections, some that are possible, some that are not possible to fulfill, and the party power shifts from elections to elections depending on which party is perceived to be the least corrupt. Many Belizeans say the only organized crime in Belize is the government, so what else is new.

How do they make money?

I don't know if it's exactly possible to determine where all the money comes in because a lot of the money that comes into the country via tourism is not taxed. But on the books, agriculture is #1 which is mostly oranges, bananas, sugar cane, tilapia, and shrimp, which are farmed in the Belize district which is the delta surrounding Belize City. More recently oil was found and an Irish company has been extracting it from the ground.

Tourism

Tourism may put more money in the hands of the people than any other means in Belize. With multiple cruise ships coming in every week and thousands of tourists visiting the islands weekly, tourism is a thriving business. There is also a ton of interesting things within the heartland of the country from kayaking to tubing through caves to standing under the mist of the tallest water fall in Central America which is 1,660 feet tall, and this is just to name a few.

Climate and Geography

Belize lies just 150 miles south of Cancun and is a little less than 9,000 square miles total, about 65 miles wide and 150 miles long and is divided up into 6 districts. To the north is Corozal and Orange Walk. These two districts get the least amount of rain, which is about 45 inches a year. A lot of the citrus and most of the sugar cane is grown in these two districts.

Next, toward the middle of the country is the Belize district and the Cayo district. This is where the majority of the 350 thousand people in the county live. The Belize district is where most people fly into and spend their vacations in the island town of San Pedro Town. The Cayo district is where the capital Belmopan is located with about 15,000 people. As we go west on the Western HWY you come to San Ignacio. This area of Belize real estate seems to be the most expensive and it seems like the best area in Belize to live. With a much higher density of gas stations, markets, and places to eat and a whole lot less crime then Belize City. The Cayo district receives about 65 inches of rain a year. But up in the Pine Mountains they receive more like 150-200 inches of rain a year. Stan Creek and the Toledo Districts are along the south end of the country and on the coast. Stan Creek is first with it's capital being Dangriga. Dangriga is a lazy, warm town that lies about half way down the Belize coast line and receives about 160 inches of rain a year. With a culture rich in African heritage they haven't changed much in the passing decades. As we go south we come to the Toledo district. Punta Gorda is the capital of this district and is the most southern town in Belize. I would like to say something good about this town, but it's hot there and full of mosquitoes, it gets a lot of rain and it's at the end of the road.

Many factors like wind, rain, and sunshine, come together to shape their climate. In Belize these factors change quite dramatically from the dry north of the country to the much wetter southern Toledo District. You will find that there are many more rivers in the south. Also the Maya Mountains cause wet air from the sea to rise, cool, and release rain. The hurricane season lasts from June to November. Some big hurricanes like Hattie, Greta, and Keith have caused great damage in the past.

The three guys and I had an adventurous week which I would love to tell you about. Since it wasn't your adventure you would probably get bored with it so I'm going to do the best I can at sharing our opinions of what we saw and learned. What we learned right away is that the road systems are not bad which are basically the northern highway, the southern highway, the hummingbird highway, and the western highway. All are paved and you can go about 50-60 mph on them. All the small roads are dirt and can become impassable in the rainy season. As far as people speaking English, there are some Mexicans and Guatemalans mixed in that don't speak English but not much different than the United States. If you break your leg you can dial 911 just like here. My unlocked Verizon phone worked about as well there as it does here. They have a high speed wireless system and DSL. Some imported groceries cost a little more than here but 90% of what you would need to eat is grown locally and at all the local markets for about half the price of the US. This includes fish, shrimp, chicken, eggs, and a ton of different kinds of vegetables and fruits.

Land is not much different than it is here. If it's beside a river, it costs three times more, if it has a bunch of fruit trees and cleared land it cost twice as much. A 2,500 square foot home and five acres might cost you 100,000 US. Raw, virgin property away from the road with decent trees is worth about $1,500 an acre. You may re-coop half of your money if you log it. There aren't that many roads in Belize which is a real problem because there is a lot of beautiful property; it's just hard to get to.

Belizeans themselves can get property from the government, all they have to do is survey a piece off, take it in and get it approved, and either clear or plant something on half of it in 5 years. And after some time they deed it to you.

So the market prices seem to be stimulated by American and European investors.

As far as land taxes, they are broken up into several different configurations, whether it's farmland or residential or woods. But it is much less than the United States. Barely worth talking about. Income tax is about 10%. Everything is much more simple, setting up businesses, taxes, and basically just red tape is much easier.

My opinion, which is not based on personal experience of course, but from the several people in business that we talked to, it's easier to do well financially in Belize than it is in the United States. More natural resources and far less entrepreneurs per capita.

If you are an American who wants to go down there and get a job the government makes it very difficult for you, but if you want to start a business that makes things for Belizeans or hires Belizeans then they will make things very easy on you and give you tax breaks and allow you to bring in cars, tools, and equipment duty-free at their own discretion, which by the way what I've heard can be quite fickle. Belizeans work for about $15-$20 a day.

So to round things off, Belize has nearly as many rules as the US but not many are enforced. If you are violent or a menace the police might hit you in the head with their flashlight a few times and then you just get killed accidentally.

They have speed limits like we do here, but everyone hates them there like they hate them here so they are never enforced. If you legally swindle somebody out of something and you're a jerk about it instead of letting you go like the US they are liable to change the law long enough to put you in jail.

Homeschooling might be illegal but then again nobody really cares. So if you want to teach your kids school, you just do it, people do. Most of the schools we saw were Christian schools. There is a deluge of ministries down there, many of which have schools, and the overall openness and morality of the people reminded me of what the US must have been like 50 years ago.

People are corrupt like people are corrupt everywhere, the difference is that Belize is a small country and there's not an overwhelming conspiracy to push the liberal agenda.