Part of the plan with our trip was to look at some potential real estate in Cayo Belize. After All this was our first trip to try and find our retirement home. We had both agreed that we would go look at some options there but not jump on anything as we still did not know if Belize was right for us. This was to be a research only trip. Raymond reached out to Kellar Willams Real Estate and had an appointment booked to look at some homes. This is where we met Ginny.
She arrived at our airbnb around 10am to go look at some house options. We had a quick chat on Cayo and what it was like living there. She took us to get Coconut water downtown San Ignacio. This was my first time drinking from a coconut. It took me a few minutes to get used to the texture from it but it was rather refreshing. Ginny advised that most people will start their day with it as it has natural electrolytes to help against dehydration. Which is a big thing in Belize
She took us through part of Santa Elena to the road that goes to Cristo Rey. The first house we visited was in a gated echo village called One World Village. The property was nice. The backyard looked over the Macal river high on the mountain. The house was made from metal which was something new to see. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and living space. It had a car park and on the other side was a garage or storage shed. Something was telling me that this was not our home. However I did get a feeling this area could be home. I loved how there was a breeze outside. You were outside of town but not too far that you could not walk into the shops and Market. Each lot had privacy. I felt comfortable here.
We headed next back to San Ignacio where we made a quick stop into Recinos Wine House. Raymond bought a couple bottles of wine and we had a quick chat with the lady working there. We made a promise to ourselves that we would go back next time and have lunch there as they were getting ready for a large group of people for lunch.
We headed toward Bullet Tree. Where we would look at 2 more homes right next to each other. The first thing I noticed was the air was humid and just hot. There was no breeze. The ground was extremely wet and I noticed more bugs flying around.
The first house we looked at was a simple wooden home, had a lovely garden and an enclosed deck, But again there was no feeling of being home. The second house the owner was home in and it was a little difficult to look around. It again was a wooden house with a very basic design. The walls didn’t even go to the ceiling allowing for very little privacy. It looked like the grounds had been flooded with water recently as well. It was actually so wet we could not go around outside. Our concern then lay with how bad it gets during the Rainy Season. Another home not for us.
The birds were chirping and singing like crazy here. I actually took a video for our families back home to let them hear how amazing it sounded. I was falling in love with the west even more with every little aspect of it. We drove further down Bullet tree road where we looked at a home on a large lot. They had fruit trees and a lot of citrus trees. We did not get to see the actual house. Again though it was in the valley and it was hot.
We headed towards the mountains and looked at a piece of property there. We could not get on the property but we were able to see it at a distance. It looked like a pretty decent piece of land but not being able to see the home had us concerned. Another place that did not feel like it was for us.
We followed Ginny to a little roadside eatery called Amy’s Diner. This is where I had my first authentic Belizean meal of rice and beans, stew chicken, with plantain and vegetables. I had a fresh Lime juice to go with it. It was delicious. We ate and talked about the places we saw and discussed our feelings on each one. I felt a little defeated as I was starting to feel Maybe the jungle area was not going to be home. We left our lunch with Ginny. After talking to her during lunch I felt like I had known her for years. Since we were so close we headed to Xunantunich ( I will go into more detail about that excursion in my next blog).
Discussions when we arrived back at the airbnb that evening.
Both of us liked the area of One World Village
We were not fans of the lower land Area as we felt it was much hotter
Both felt safe and welcomed in San Ignacio
None of the houses suited us even the one in One World
Raymond reminded me that this was still only a research trip and if Belize was for us we would later find a home here. Plus we still had to go visit Corozoal Town and see what it was like there. But honestly at this point my heart was in Cayo District.
