THINGS TO BRING

If you're coming to Belize to live, there are things to bring and things to dump.  We had a huge estate sale in Colorado and dumped a lifetime of accumulated stuff.  I gave my technical library of 1500 books to Colorado Tech.   I threw away three dumpsters full of journals and technical papers. (See CASELab.)  Charlotte sold and gave away her string of Peruvian Paso horses; the tack to dress them and work them, and a barn full of manure forks, shovels, rakes, ropes, feed barrels & buckets.   Horses were her leisure life, and she left them behind.

I kept most of my tools, and I am sorry about the ones I sold (a drill press and a radial arm saw.)  Charlotte was angry with me for keeping the tools.  "I divested myself of EVERYTHING and you're keeping all these tools.  It's not fair!"

She went to the farrier as he was dressing our horses' hooves.

  "We're going off to Belize, the last frontier, and I dumped everything, but Rick insists on keeping all his tools," she told him, expecting some sympathy.

  "Oh, you've gotta have tools!" he said. "That's the one thing you really need on the frontier, eh?"

[Actually, she still feels that we had an agreement to divest ourselves of everything we could, and I violated that agreement. If you are a married couple, you will have to work out this agreement for yourselves.]

So, anyway, I brought a lot of tools.  I will talk more about them in another article, but they have been comforting, although generally replaceable.  There are a number of things which we brought down that are very hard to find here, and we are glad we brought them.

Our good (new) mattress.  We had just recently bought a $900 pillowtop mattress/box springs, and we couldn't abide to give it up.  We left the box springs, but picked out a trailer that would hold the mattress.  Now we find that good innerspring mattresses are impossible to find here.

The syrup bottle.  Hungry Jack syrup comes in a 24 oz. bottle that you can put in the microwave and heat up.  I could never get one here, and it is a joy to me every time we have French toast.

The grill/griddle.  Coleman makes one for a camp stove, but it fits perfectly on a gas stove.  It turns my stove into a diner kitchen!  Together with the big spatula, it makes cooking fun.

The shovel.  Before I left Houston, I bought a very nice shovel at Home Depot.  It was about $12.  (They had cheaper ones but this was really nice.)  When I got here, I found that they don't use long handled spades much.  D-handles, maybe.  Square ended shovels for mixing concrete (on the street.)  People saw us digging in the yard with our shovel and wanted one, so we've created a need, but the ones the hardware stores got in are not nice.

Heavy Extension Cord.  100 ft, black, 20 amp,   Runs the charger, and a host of other tools.  Provided power to the trailer until I got it wired, and to the shop until I got it wired.

Battery charger.  2/10/50.  Used to start the Scout again and again.

Books.  We brought about 30 books in the trailer, and then our shipment of stuff had another 300 or so.  A hundred technical books to backup the teamwork book I may never finish.  All of Charlotte's favorites - Louis L'amour, Dick Francis, Robert Parker.  There are no new pocket books for sale in Belize.  (After they get out of school, Belizeans don't read anything but the weekly papers.)  All our friends are bringing books to us.  You can bring books to us, if you come.  They become part of a collective expat library which we all share.  Or you can give them to the library.

Plastic containers.   We brought a variety of Tupperware and Rubbermaid containers and we're glad.   Things spoil or get buggy here, and we are happy to be able to protect them.  The cat food (actually puppy chow - catfood is virtually nonexistent) is in a bin with a nice tight cover, which mostly protects it from the cats!

Ziploc Bags.  Cheap bags abound, but good ziploc bags are hard to find and expensive when you find them.  We brought about a year's supply, and should have brought more.

Sewing Machine.  An almost new Singer, virtually unavailable down here, used for making curtains, taking the sleeves off of tee-shirts, turning pants into shorts, and a wide variety of homey projects.  Charlotte loans it out to Teresa, who is eternally grateful.

Good Stainless Ware.  Pistol grip knifes, Onida pattern. A joy forever, virtually unavailable here.

Pictures.  The pictures of our kids and grandkids, our favorite old horse.  Irreplaceable.

Oversized Sheets.  King or Queen - if you need 'em, bring 'em.

Digital Camera.  The Government classifies this as a luxury and there's a 100% plus duty on it, if you have it shipped in here.  You can bring one in as personal luggage, however.  If you think you need one, buy it before you come.  

Peanut Oil.  Scarce in the states.  Nonexistent here. You need it to revitalize the five-year-old peanut butter we get here.  (Mix it in and voile! real peanut butter!)

THINGS WE WISH WE BROUGHT

You can bring these things in one time with minimal duty (or perhaps duty free, if you're on the QRP program) and then you pay through the nose if you ship them in later or buy them here.

A big reefer/freezer combo (over/under is best.)  Icemaker will probably never get hooked up, but you can buy ice for a dollah a bag and you need a place to keep it.  The reefer is full of cold cokes, bottles of water and (optional for some) beer.  You can buy one here for double what you'd pay in the US.

New washer.  Features are not important, but durability is.

Dishes.  We thought we could find locally made pottery and dishes, either here or in Mexico.  So far, all we've been able to find are the cheap Chinese variety. [UPDATE: (April 2001)  They have a big Expo in Chetumal in October and they have all kinds of crafts, kitchen stuff, etc., etc.  We got a whole set of nifty mexican pottery -- big plates and bows -- for a low low price."

Plastic Baskets.  Milk crate style, or smaller.  Good for storing things (drawers store critters.)

Down Pillows.  (Huh?  What's a down pillow?)  

An Oak Toilet Seat with Brass Hinges.  [Update] Read about that here. 

THINGS YOU DON'T NEED

A dishwasher.  A great timesaver in the states, but we're not trying to save time here! Most homes are not set up to handle a dishwasher.

A clothes dryer.  Another great timesaver, handy when it rains. However, most of the time, after a good spin, clothes dry in less than 2 hours.  A dryer might be handy, but boy is it expensive!  Power costs double what it does in the States, gas is bottled, delivered to your door, but expensive nonetheless.

Icemaker.  Sounds like a good idea, but you need rain water, at least, and ideally, filtered rainwater, to feed it. If it costs you $400US, plus another $100 to install, plus the “current” to operate it, you might be better off buying ice for 50 cents a bag. 

Iron, Ironing Board, Coffee Maker, Range,   All available here, at reasonable prices. Not a big variety however.

Toiletries, Insect Repellents, Dish Soap, Cleaners,  Available here, or in Mexico, at reasonable prices.

Drugs.  Antibiotics, OTC drugs, Non-controlled drugs are generally available at the local drug stores here and in Mexico for reasonable prices.   Some specific drugs are hard to get.  Ibuprofen -- available at Sam's by the 1000's -- is  expensive here. [UPDATE: (April 2001) Someone on the net might tell you the drugs down here are of inferior quality.  Au Contraire. They are the same drugs you get in the US, sometimes in a box printed in Español -- remember that Mexico has 100 million people and US drug companies address that market enthusiastically.  However, the drugs do cost a little more -- sometimes double.  As I often say: "Belize is a good place to be healthy"]

GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT STUFF

If you have a pantry full of stuff, bring it, but don't buy a lot of stuff to bring.  Liquids keep well, but powdered things cake up, because of the humidity.  A big container of garlic powder becomes a solid brick.  Bisquick and the like get full of weevils.  Cans rust.   Powdered things should be put in plastic containers, and cans should be used soon, before they rust and spoil.  You can buy most of these things down here.  Here are some things we haven't been able to find:  Powdered Horseradish, (a Japanese specialty)  fresh mushrooms, Good Seasons Salad Dressing Mix, Chicken Gravy Mix.  (However, chicken consommé mix  is plentiful and cheap.)    Bottle stoppers for coke bottles.  (You can't find those in the states, either!) Rubber bathmats and stickon nonskid strips for showers. Fabric Band-aids.  Real Q-tips in large quantity packages.  Glacial Acetic Acid. 

Sr. Ric