Our 1st Visit

[MIKE ANDRESEN]

My husband & I are have made our arrangements to visit Belize; spending 3 nights in Corozal, 3 nights in Placencia & 4 nights in Ambergris Caye in late April & early May. We plan to visit some of the listed Expat night spots in each location but was wondering if we could arrange to meet up with some of the contributors of IL? We have visions of having to go to these Expat locations & having to make a public announcement, “Any Expats Here?”; not our preferred way of finding Expats.
I can provide more specific info via private email, mattlm2@yahoo.com
Looking forward to the trip, Laura & Mike

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Laura & Mike,

You can find me at Wine de Vine on Friday nights, from 6-8 PM, in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. The Friday night wine tastings are a social event that we hardly ever miss. It’s a great time to connect with our local friends, but we also get together with people for business there. Send me an e-mail the week before you are coming, to be sure I am on the island. I expect to be here until early June, when I head to Cancun for the IL International Conference. Otherwise, you will meet interesting expats at Wine de Vine on Fridays. There are also tourists there. Try to arrive 6 PM and pend the next two hours there so you have a chance to talk to a variety of expats. Most people mingle, as the local expats know one another. So don’t be shy. Go out of your way to introduce yourself to people. Many visitors do this when they are interested in moving to the island.

Another good place on Ambergris Caye to meet expats are the Sundays BBQs on the beach. Popular places expats hang out include Estels (next to the town square), and Caribbean Villas, south of town. There is a sailing club there where expats hang out and watch the kids sail while they enjoy a Sunday BBQ lunch. They often have live music on Sundays, as well.

I am the only correspondent working for International Living in Belize. So in the other towns no one is “obliged” to go out of their way to assist IL visitors. That being said, if other expats who wrote articles see this post they can respond on this forum. In Corozal a great place to meet expats is at the Jam Rock, which is a major expat hangout. Go for lunch and spend the afternoon there and you should meet a variety of people.

In Placencia I’d recommend that you go to the coffee house, Above Grounds, in the Placencia Village. Keith, the owner, is a very pleasant, friendly fellow. And you will see plenty of expats hanging out, enjoying their coffee. Another place to check out is Mangos, at Maya Beach. This is a bar scene, so go in the evening. But it is mainly populated by expats and when I’ve visited it was clear that everyone was friendly and having a good time. Personally, I prefer to meet expats who are fairly sober if I’m going to ask them a lot of questions.

Also, Laura Diffendal has written an article for International Living about her life in Placencia. She and her husband Dave own charming, small guest houses on the beach in the village – the Caribbean Beach Cabanas of Placencia. You could look her up, or consider staying there. Laura writes a blog about her transition to Placencia. She and Dave have only owned their business for a year or two.

Another approach is to join the open Expat Forum and start asking questions on the Belize page. Ask if any of the expats living in each of these regions are willing to meet with you. Typically there are a few people in each expat town who enjoy being ambassadors, even though they receive no compensation for their time. You can’t assume these types of contacts are experts, but they will give you their personal opinion.

[MIKE ANDRESEN]

Thanks so much for the info Ann. We will be in AC on May 1 for 4 nights.
Looking forward to the trip & gaining more knowledge
Thanks, Laura & Mike

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

If you have the energy to make it to Wine de Vine on Friday the 1st, we should be there. I hope to meet you! We will have friends visiting, who may be with us. But be sure to introduce yourself. I can introduce you to some expats who are there.

[DAVID L.]

Laura and Mike,
I didn’t get your message about visiting Consejo (Corozal) until yesterday. I hope you are having a great trip. We took the same path (Placencia, Ambergris Caye and Corozal) a year ago March. We found Placencia a little to far away from things and the sand flies were not a bonus. Ambergris Caye was very nice but a little to built up for us especially near the airport. We found Corozal much more to our liking. It was very close to Mexico for great shopping (just a day trip), It is on the bay instead of ocean which helps protect it from extreme weather, and the home prices are very reasonable. We have settled (as well as anyone can be) on Consejo Shores. CJ is an established community of 40 years. It has all the infrastructure already in place and a large expat community (US and Canadian). Houses on the water are about $300,000 and one lot off about $175,000. Naturally prices can vary depending on pool, rooms, lot size, etc. It also has a 9-hole golf course. We are headed back for 2 weeks the first of June, probably to buy a house we have been looking at. our realtor (Karen Wilkinson at winbelize@gmail.com) has been a great asset with information and guidance. If you email her just drop our names, David and Lynn Lawson. I think it will help!

BTW, this will be our 22nd move including one to Iran (of all places – whole different story attached to that one!).

Good luck. Le’s stay in touch since it seems we are in the same mpving stage as you.

David and Lynn

[BETH B T.]

My granddaughter who is in her 20’s lives in New York so certainly has the ability to get around. She and some friends are planning a trip to Belize. She asked me for some suggestions since my husband, daughter & I visited last year. We were looking for a place to live though and that is not where a 20 something wants to go for a vacation. Any suggestions?

[MARTIN &KRISTINA L.]

Hi my husband and myself will be making our first visit in early November we too are interested in meeting xpats. We are from BC canada hoping to meet other Canadians.
Email us at keleigh@shaw.ca please
Kristina and Martin

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Kristina and Martin,

Each area has a different expat hangout. You don’t mention where you will be staying. There are many Canadians in the Corozal area, as well as on Ambergris Caye.

[MARTIN &KRISTINA L.]

Hello we should be arriving from Cancun on Oct 31 or November 1 we have not booked anything yet but our plans are to stay in Corozal first then Ambergris Caye and maybe Placencia
We are thinking about taking the Bus from Cancun to Corozal and thoughts on that ?

[KENNETH SCHMITT]

I’m responding to the member who’s granddaughter in her 20’s will be visiting. We met lots of people in their 20’s at Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch Resort in the rain forest just south of Belmopan. See http://www.cavesbranch.com. This is an adventure resort at which people go to do many kinds of adventure tours every day. For breakfast and dinner the staff seats everyone at 8-person tables, and you’re assigned a different table for each meal. You get to meet lots of different people this way, talk about what you’ve done and what you’re planning plus get to know each other. It was a wonderful place that we thoroughly enjoyed!

Ken Schmitt

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Good suggestion about Ian Anderson’s Cave Branch, Ken. Other places where I have seen many younger tourists are on the cayes. Both Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye are a big draw for young tourists, as the water sports are fantastic, the view gorgeous, and there is a lot to do at night, as well. Placencia is another hopping beach town with things to do.

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