BUG OUT TO BELIZE Sustainable Living Guide to Escaping Politics, Consumerism, Big Brother

325 Pages·2017·23.19 MB·English

BUG OUT TO BELIZE
Sustainable Living Guide to Escaping Politics, Consumerism, Big Brother and Nuclear War in
Beautiful Belize

By Lan Sluder
Lan Sluder

BUG OUT TO BELIZE Sustainable Living Guide to Escaping Politics, Consumerism, Big Brother and
Nuclear War in Beautiful Belize

By Lan Sluder

Published by Equator, Asheville, NC. Printed in the United States.

ISBN: 978-0-9994348-5-7

Text and design © Copyright 2018 by Lan Sluder. All rights reserved.

Parts of this book have appeared in different forms in other works by Lan Sluder, including Easy Belize,
Lan Sluder’s Guide to Belize, Lan Sluder’s Guide to Mainland Belize and Lan Sluder’s Guide to the Cayes,
Coast and Beaches of Belize.

Photos by Rose Lambert-Sluder, except where noted. Front cover photo by Black Day/Shutterstock.

Websites: www.belizefirst.com www.bugouttobelize.com www.amazingasheville.net

Notice: This work does not purport to give legal, medical, tax or other professional advice. Rules,
regulations and other information changes frequently. Seek competent professional counsel and perform due
diligence before acting on information contained herein.

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Bug Out to Belize

Table of Contents
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................. 3
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN .......................................................................................................... 5
An Introduction: Are You Worried? ................................................................................................. 6
The Consumerist Society ................................................................................................................ 11
Is Big Brother Watching? ............................................................................................................... 16
Political Exhaustion ........................................................................................................................ 19
You, Nukes and Belize ................................................................................................................... 20
QUICK LOOK AT BELIZE ....................................................................................................... 26
This Is Belize .................................................................................................................................. 27
Overview of Places in Belize .......................................................................................................... 34
Getting Along in Belize .................................................................................................................. 39
What You Need to Know: Belize A to Z ........................................................................................ 42
BELIZE: SOLUTIONS FOR YOU? .............................................................................................. 62
Self-Sufficient Living in Belize ...................................................................................................... 63
Farming and Ranching in Belize ..................................................................................................... 77
Homes and Land in Belize .............................................................................................................. 89
Building in Belize: On or Off the Grid ......................................................................................... 100
Working for Pay or Running a Business ....................................................................................... 111
Your Money and How to Hold On to It in Belize ......................................................................... 119
ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN BELIZE...................................................................................... 126
Taxes in Belize .............................................................................................................................. 127
What Things Cost in Belize .......................................................................................................... 131
Crime and Safety in Belize ........................................................................................................... 137
Can You Own Guns in Belize? ..................................................................................................... 142
Health Care in Belize .................................................................................................................... 145
CHECK IT OUT ................................................................................................................... 156
Check-It-Out Trip to Belize .......................................................................................................... 157
Driving in Belize: Road Update .................................................................................................... 170
Belize City .................................................................................................................................... 179
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Corozal District .................................................................................................................... 190
Orange Walk District ........................................................................................................... 203
Western Belize/Cayo District............................................................................................... 212
Dangriga/Hopkins and Stann Creek District ........................................................................ 234
Punta Gorda and Toledo District.......................................................................................... 246
Caye Caulker ........................................................................................................................ 258
MOVING TO BELIZE ..................................................................................................... 269
Options for Living in Belize ................................................................................................ 270
Getting Your Stuff to Belize ................................................................................................ 277
APPENDIXES .................................................................................................................... 290
Appendix A: Belize National Parks ..................................................................................... 291
Appendix B: Recommended Reading .................................................................................. 304
Appendix C: Belize Attorneys ............................................................................................. 317
Appendix D: Belize Websites .............................................................................................. 321
About Lan Sluder ................................................................................................................. 323
Goodbye to All That?........................................................................................................... 325
Lan Sluder

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Bug Out to Belize

Photo by Gage Skidmore/Shutterstock

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

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An Introduction: Are You Worried?
Are you concerned about the direction your government is taking? Do you believe politicians are taking
your country down the wrong road? Do you worry about your own future or that of your children? What about
if the unimaginable happens? A deadly disease caused by a new or mutating virus sweeps the world? A severe
drought, crop failures or other climate-change event that changes the familiar circumstances of where you now
live? Religious wars? Or, heaven help us, political leaders overreact or make a mistake and unleash thermonuclear
weapons?
Or, do you simply want to escape the ever-growing commercialism of so much of the world? Do you want to
live a simple, satisfying, self-sufficient life, growing your own food, building your own home and living life the
way you want it?
With things getting a little crazy in the United States, in parts of Europe and in Asia, not to mention some
other parts of the world, maybe it makes sense to find a little place to hide out and hole up until the worst is over?
Or, are you simply a prudent person and want a little insurance against the worst-case scenarios actually
happening? Perhaps nothing will happen, but just in case....
While no place is ever going to be 100% safe, and no place is 100% perfect, it’s just possible that you can
find a small, obscure corner that offers a better chance of escaping some of the potential problems of the modern
world.
Could that place be Belize?
Here are a few of the reasons why you may want to consider Belize as a option to where you are living now, or
at least as that insurance policy:

Belize is where most people aren’t. With only around 385,000 people in an area the size of the state of
Massachusetts (population about 7 million), Belize is one of the least densely populated countries in the
Western Hemisphere. Outside the cities and towns, you can often drive for miles without seeing another
human being. In that regard, Belize is like a little, subtropical Alaska. Or like Florida 75 to 100 years ago.
Belize’s low population density means that you can find a place away from other people and do your own thing.
In case of some political, social or military calamity, Belize has little strategic importance to any of the world’s
powers. In the case of a nuclear accident or war, while prevailing winds at times do bring poisons down from the
U.S., Belize has the most extensive cave systems in Central America for escaping radiation.
Belize is a place to escape frantic consumerist society. In Belize, you won’t find Starbucks, McDonald’s
or Walmart. Global franchise businesses are almost unknown. That can be frustrating when you’re trying to find
a cheap home appliance or a quick meal, but on the plus side you don’t need to spend your life accumulating
stuff.
Belize has a low-voltage government. Big Brother won’t make it here, if for no other reason than that the
Belize government doesn’t have the resources to create Big Brother. Belize has its share, some would say more
than its share, of red tape and nosy bureaucrats. Yes, there are politicians with their hands out and
government functionaries that want you to do this or don’t do that, to get a permit

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or pay for a license. Only a few decades ago, it wasn’t this way in Belize. You could do almost anything you
wanted to, and nobody in the government would know or care. That has changed to some degree.
But here’s the good thing, Belize is such a small country, with such a small population, and, to be frank,
most Belizean pols and bureaucrats just want to go along and enjoy life, maybe getting a little piece of this or
that, so as long as you stay under the radar you won’t be much bothered. At the worst, you may have to grease
someone’s palm a little. And there’s another plus to government in Belize: Along with Costa Rica, Belize has the
most stable political system in the region, so things are unlikely to change much.
Belize is out of the nuclear zone. Belize is too small and insignificant to be a target for any country or
terrorist’s nuclear bomb. Thinking about the unthinkable, the worst that would happen is that an ICBM would
veer off course and accidentally hit Belize or nearby. Or radiation might be brought by wind currents to Belize.
But the good news is that Belize has natural bomb shelters, in one of the largest number of cave systems in
the hemisphere. Also, it’s relatively easy to quickly build an underground shelter to protect you, your family
and your friends from most of the effects of nuclear blasts and radiation.
English is the official language of Belize. You don’t have to learn a new language to live in Belize,
because English is the official language. You don’t have to struggle with grammar and syntax in an
unfamiliar tongue. While Spanish and several other languages are widely spoken in Belize, and many
Belizeans are bi- or trilingual, everything from street signs and newspapers to official government documents
are in English. From your first day in Belize, you can shop, dine, chat and gossip without having to thumb
through a dictionary or cast about for the right verb ending.
Belize has a warm, sunny, frost-free climate, perfect for self-sufficient living and off-the-grid survival.
Belize has a sub-tropical climate year-round with no real need for furnaces or other things requiring lots of power
or special equipment. You can live in an old tee shirt and a pair of shorts. It has 200 miles of shoreline on the
Caribbean and hundreds of islands in the sea with all the fish, lobster, conch and other seafood you could
possibly eat. Healthy food like mangoes, bananas, pineapples, papaya, avocados and other fruit grow everywhere.
There's fertile land for farming, with little need for chemicals, and you can grow up to three crops a year.
As the Maya have shown, building materials such as thatch and limestone are readily at hand for simple
houses. Yurts and similar tent-style accommodations are an option for some. You can put up a simple frame
house or a pre-fab Mennonite house without insulation or other cold-weather construction.
It never frosts or snows in Belize. The climate is similar to that of South Florida. As long as you’re
comfortable with warm to hot temperatures, perhaps tempered by cooling breezes from the sea, you’ll like
Belize weather. You’ll never have to pay for heating oil or natural gas again.
Newcomers are welcomed to Belize. Belize is not a Never-Never Land where everyone loves everybody in
perfect harmony, but the fact is, by and large, Belizeans are as friendly a bunch of people as you’ll ever find.
Belizeans take people one at a time. Whether you’re black, white, brown or green, short, tall, fat,
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ugly or beautiful, rich or poor, you’ll find acceptance in Belize. Your neighbors will say hello to you on the
street, check on you if you’re sick and share a joke with you over a Belikin at the bar. Of course, they may try to
hit you up for a loan. For the most part, Belizeans genuinely like Americans (and Canadians and Europeans).
At the official level, the Belize government welcomes retirees and others, especially if they bring some
resources to the country. The Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Program (see the section on this and other
options for living in Belize) is administered not by a bureaucratic immigration department but by the Belize
Tourism Board, which usually provides approvals quickly.
Belize is great for those who love an active outdoor lifestyle. Belize offers relatively little in the way of
cultural activities — museums, art galleries, theatre, the arts. But it makes up for it with a wealth of options
for those who love the outdoors. You can garden year-round. The saltwater fishing is some of the best in the
world. Boating, diving, swimming and snorkeling can be as close as your back yard. For the more adventurous,
there are caves and ancient ruins to explore, rivers to canoe and mountains to hike.
If you’re bored in Belize, it’s your own fault. Belize is a natural wonder. You could spend the rest of
your life just learning about the flora and fauna of the country. Belize is home to thousands of species of trees
and flowers, hundreds of kinds of birds and butterflies. The culture of Belize is wide and deep. The
history of the Maya in Belize goes back thousands of years. You can take trips to the enchanting corners of the
country, to the high hills of the Mountain Pine Ridge, to the endless caves of the Chiquibul wilderness, to the lush
rainforest of Toledo, to the many islands in the Caribbean Sea and to the 190-mile long Belize Barrier Reef.
Belize isn’t the cheapest place in the world, but if you’re smart you can live in Belize for less. Belize is
not the cheapest place to live, and in some areas of Belize an American lifestyle will cost U.S. prices or even
higher. Overall, however, many expats in Belize say they can live larger than back home, enjoying some
luxuries such as a housekeeper, a gardener or nice meals out. Investment income, pensions and Social
Security checks seem to stretch a little farther in Belize. While some items such as gasoline, imported foods
and electricity cost more in Belize, other things including medical care, housing, insurance and household help
are significantly cheaper in Belize than in the U.S., Canada or Western Europe. Although Belize has a few
million dollar houses and condos, you can rent a small house for US$250-$500 a month, set up a made-
in-Belize Mennonite cabin for US$20,000, build an attractive new home for US$75,000 to $175,000 and
buy a waterfront lot for as little as US$75,000 to
$100,000, although you can pay much more. In this book we’ve concentrated on areas of Belize where living
is cheaper, and we’ve avoided the areas, such as Ambergris Caye and Placencia, where real estate and rental
costs are higher.
Belize offers the chance for a healthier lifestyle. As discussed in detail later in this book, Belize does not
have the high-tech, state-of-the-art medical care available in the U.S. or even in countries like Mexico or Panama.
But the Belizean lifestyle can be very healthful. You eat fresh fruit and unprocessed food. You walk more
and ride less. You stay outside in the clean, unpolluted air rather than

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being cooped up in a climate-controlled box all day. You go home for lunch or take a nap at mid-day. In
Belize’s balmy climate, your arthritis and other aches and pains may fade away. Many people who move to
Belize start feeling better within a few weeks. Quite a few lose weight. Blood pressure levels go down. Of
course, you can also live an unhealthy life in Belize — watching cable TV all day, drinking all night and
eating fried foods and lardy beans and rice.

Back-a-bush in Toledo, Belize with a traditional Maya house

Property rights are respected in Belize. Property rights are protected in Belize through the traditions of
English Common Law. In some countries, if you leave your house or land unoccupied, squatters can move in,
and it’s almost impossible to get them out. Legal documents may be written in a language you don’t understand.
Powerful local interests can take your property through tricky legal
— or illegal — means. In many parts of Latin America and Europe, the legal system is Civil Law based on
the Napoleonic Code, very different from the system in the United States. But Belize shares with America,
Canada and the United Kingdom a legal system based on English Common Law. In Belize, private property is
respected and protected. Foreigners can own property virtually anywhere in Belize, with exactly the same
rights and protections as exist for Belizeans. Squatters cannot take your property. The Belize legal system
isn’t perfect, and lawyers in Belize are almost as costly as those in the U.S., but it’s a better system than, for
example, in Honduras or Mexico.
The U.S. dollar is accepted everywhere in Belize. Belize has its own currency, the Belize dollar, so
technically the American greenback is not the official monetary unit of the country. As a practical matter,
though, the U.S.

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dollar is accepted anywhere and everywhere in Belize, and the Belize dollar has been pegged for decades at
the rate of 2 Belize to 1 U.S. dollar (though the rate may vary slightly if you exchange with money changers.)
Anything of substantial value, such as real estate and hotel room rates, is priced in U.S. dollars. This means
that prices in Belize are more stable for American dollar holders than they would be if the Belizean currency
floated against the dollar. It also means that in periods when the value of the U.S. dollar declines sharply
against the euro, yen and many other hard currencies, prices in Belize remained about the same as always
for Americans. Of course, during periods of appreciation of the value of the U.S. dollar, prices in Belize do not
become cheaper for U.S. dollar holders.
Belize has easy access by air, sea or land. For those in North America, Belize has the special advantage of
having easy access by air, sea and land. If you need to bug out to Belize, you can get there quickly. From major
cities in the U.S. and Canada, Belize is just a few hours away via a non-stop flight. By car, it’s a two- to four-
day drive from Texas, depending on how hard you push it. Driving nonstop (which we don’t recommend), you
could even make it in a single long day. By sea, Belize is a reasonably short sail from neighboring countries
Mexico and Guatemala. Yacht owners can make the trip across the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean by island
hopping from Florida or elsewhere in the American Southeast and Texas. Numerous cruise ships call on Belize,
mainly at Belize City and Harvest Caye off Placencia. Cargo ships make regular stops in Belize.

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