Last but not least... Corozol Town

My last sunrise picture from the dock in Dandriga

I reserved the last two days of my trip for Corozal Town and environs partly because I figured it would take at least half a day to drive from Dangriga north, and because on the day of my departure I would need a couple of hours to get back to the Belize airport.  I also had a sneaking suspicion that the only two areas I would ultimately be interested in would be San Pedro on Ambergris Caye and the area around Corozal… it turns out I was right.

The day before leaving Dangriga I received an email from Penny at Serenity Sands, the B&B I stayed at outside of Corozal, with directions on how to get there from Belize City.  Her directions were perfect and it would have been even better had I followed them, but that is another story I will relate a bit later.

I awoke to another glorious Belize sunrise in Dangriga, had a late breakfast and headed out of town back past the Garifuna museum and the district hospital on the Hummingbird Highway back towards Belmopan.  From Belmopan I picked up the Western Highway to Belize City and then the Northern Highway to Corozal Town.  With all these highways it sounds like the transportation network of Belize is top rate – believe me, the roads barely meet the standards of the second-rate county road I drove on every day to get to my house back in Montana.  Still, for a country of around 300,000 with very little tax base, the roads meet their needs and are certainly better than the ones I drove on in Burma.  Many of the graded, gravel roads are so smooth that I had no problem driving comfortably at speeds of 60 to 70 MPH.

Turn left, not right

Belize is not big on road signs.  Even when there is a sign, distances are never included and you almost have to be on top of it to read it; I finally learned that if I see green signs in the distance I needed to start braking immediately so I could slow down enough to read them.  As Penny noted in her directions, there is a "T" intersection after you pass Orange Walk and by turning left you will to continue a fairly short distance through a number of small settlements right into Corozal.  But only if you turn left.  Turning right, as I found out, takes you through Libertad followed by miles upon miles of sugar cane fields.  Now this would not have been so bad had I followed her other suggestion of filling up the gas tank before leaving Belize City.  Oops.

So after driving on “roads” surrounded by cane fields for another forty-five minutes and sweating bullets over the possibility of running out of gas (no AAA our here!) I finally came across two women walking down a road in the middle of nowhere who got the Gringo pointed in the right direction.  I filled up the gas tank at the Texaco station on the edge of Corozal.

I like Corozal Town. It’s active, full of small businesses, restaurants and stores. There is a feel of progress and hope that was definitely lacking in Dangriga. I drove around for a while just enjoying the town before finding the road to Consejo, which would also take me to Serenity Sands.I got checked in, walked around the property and then got back in the Suzuki Jimmy and headed four miles further down the road to Consejo; about seven miles total from Corozal.  Consejo is more a community or collection of houses than an actual town.  There is the Millennium restaurant (which I had dinner at on Saturday night) the Consejo Shores development, St. Leo's church, a small store, Casablanca Hotel by the Sea (that looked totally vacant) a small immigration and customs station for the water taxi that goes back and forth to Chetumal, Mexico but little else.   Nonetheless, it is very pleasant and less than half an hour from town.  I immediately noticed that the houses here seemed a bit larger and were better maintained than many areas I had seen.  After nosing around a bit, I drove through Consejo Shores until I found an office and walked in.
 

Serenity Sands from the beach

One of the things I value greatly is honesty.  If you’re straight with me you gain my trust and respect; with that comes the ability to do business.  The lady I met at Consejo Shores didn’t try to shine me on or convince me to buy today.  She told me about the lots for sale, the houses that were for sale, the history of the development and very candidly said that the golf course was nothing more than a rustic, amateur 9-hole course.  Oh, she would have loved to sell me a lot or help sell one of the existing homes, but she wasn’t pushy and answered any question I had without deflecting or making things seem more than they actually were.

Consejo Shores isn’t a gated, luxury resort style development; it has the look and feel of a nice neighborhood anywhere state-side, but in a fantastic tropical location close to the amenities we all require.  If you need fancy restaurants, night clubs, the opera or the ambience of Buenos Aries or Miami… you’re in the wrong country.  If you want good neighbors, a relaxing environment and proximity to the necessities, I suspect Consejo might fit the bill.

Having quick access to Chetumal is important because if you can’t find something locally, you are likely to find it in Chetumal.   The population of this southern Mexico city is about the same as the whole country of Belize – around 300,000.  In addition to specialty shops and good health care, there are big box stores such as Wal-Mart (actually the Mexican version, Bodega Aurrera), Office Depot and Sam’s.  I have also heard there is a Home Depot but have not been able to confirm it.  In addition to Chetumal, the Belize Commercial Free Zone is only miles from Corozal and has many stores with discount prices and this is a favorite place to buy petrol.

Feline buccaneer Jack Sparrow

I could see that I was losing the light as the sun dropped further in the western sky, so I drove into Corozal and wandered around.  There is a large, well lit soccer field with bleachers on the north end of town that was full of youngsters at practice.  The central part of town has a nice plaza complete with a fountain, large market area and, as in most towns, there were many Chinese grocery stores and restaurants (forget learning Spanish -- I should learn Chinese).

After driving up and down the streets for 30-40 minutes, I began looking for a restaurant.  Penny had recommended several but I forgot the names so I just drove around looking for a combination of a nice looking place and one that had a decent number of patrons.  I settled on Patty’s and lucked out.  I had a great rib dinner with salad, tortillas and beer for $18.00 BZ including a generous tip.  The bar tender kept me regaled with stories of local color and made sure I was well cared for.  I also met a couple from Iowa who was also staying at Serenity Sands; we spent time later in the evening and the next day talking and comparing notes.

Back at Serenity Sands I learned that there is a film crew staying on the property that will be filming in and around Corozal for the next few days.  I was also introduced to Jack Sparrow, one of the two cats on the property.  I had met the two dogs and other cat earlier.  Jack was a rescue cat who lost his left eye as a kitten, hence the pirate moniker.  Penny provided directions on how to find Sarteneja the next day (without driving through the cane fields) and I headed up to my second floor room for a good night’s rest.