Cart Shopping, Vegas Chefs, Amazon, and Critters...

It seems like I don't plan on staying if I continue to count the days, so I'll cease announcing my days on-island moving forward.

Tuesday, we went to Road Runner Deli for lunch. It has 60+ Google reviews, all five-star. It's a little shed on the main street north of town. The owner is also the chef, working 6 AM to 10 PM seven days a week. He worked under celebrity chefs at Ceasar's Palace in Vegas for half his life, the guy can cook! But it's just him, he does all the prep when you order, so it does take some time. Breakfast is cheap, lunch is...more in line with waterfront restaurants. My garlic shrimp was fantastic, though.

After lunch we went to Captain Shark's - they sell boats, fishing gear, and are the only authorized Club Car dealer on the island. We know we need to get a cart permit to buy one, but first wanted to check pricing and see if their staff had any tips to gain a permit.

Elmer helped us and was very friendly and forthcoming. He also asked an important question: Where will you be driving this cart...? Once he heard "Secret Beach" he showed us the XRT and the Carryall - not a basic Villager or Onward, which are better suited to driving in town. These prices are in Belize, but still...we puckered a bit.

2024 New XRT - $38,500

If you think a used car is cheaper, it is. But not by much! A rebuilt 2016 was $32,000 BZE.

We then journeyed to San Pedro Town Council to find out how to get a permit. We learned we can't get a Belizean Driver's License until we have permanent residency, so at least a year there, and for a cart permit, you need permanent residency OR a business with a valid need for a cart. (Sidebar: having QRP status would allow us to get a license and a cart permit now, but there are downsides to QRP, too.)

When we bought the villa, our attorney had us create a LTD, which qualifies as a business....so the town council rep gave us a loooooong list of documents to return with, including copies of driver's licenses, passports, our LTD filing docs, property titles, proof we were current on property taxes, photos of the cart, where we can park it (must be off of the street), a cover letter explaining why we want it, and $100BZE to apply. That's gonna take a while...!

I headed home to start compiling our docs onto a USB, and then looking for somewhere that offers printing services, since our printer is....still in Houston, waiting with the rest of our stuff. My office helpers supervised.

I am glad they are comfortable in their new home!

I also caved and made a Chewy.com and Amazon order - the cats are not loving the 9 Lives brand which is somewhat affordable down here for wet food, and we thought of some items that would make our lives more comfortable here on Amazon. No U.S. businesses that I know of will ship to Belize - you have your orders ship to a freight forwarder, who consolidates orders and ships weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, depending on the company. I ship with Belizean Queen, who just started shipping weekly. It's still 3-4 weeks from order to delivery, so long gone are my days of instant gratification!

Wednesday, we were up early to head out to Secret Beach. Our land is...well...land, with trees and not much else, so we decided to photograph the parking at an adjoining business that allows us to park there. We also wanted to check out the West Caye community, which backs to our land. From Google Earth, we can see that development is coming closer to us, and hopefully, a road, so that we don't have to foot the bill for that! We spotted a tiger heron while on that trip:

When we were back at the villa, I added the photos to our file for the cart permit, then went to BelPrint to have my docs printed. This is a basic task for them, they are amazing graphic artists turning out beautiful pieces! I didn't know where else to go. Plus their logo is super-cute!

I organized all of my documents in order of the checklist and went to Town Council - and they told me I needed an official letter from the business to park on their property. It was already too late in the day, so that will have to be done on Thursday.

Back at home, I spotted an osprey eating fish on our neighbor's roof:

And we walked to Lina Point for Happy Hour, seeing these cute but cautious kitties.

We thought they were mother and son, as the tuxedo was wrapping around the ginger cat, but the ginger was male...so maybe father and son...?

Nathan caught a few small fish in the lagoon so he cleaned and cooked them for our outside cat, then kept her company over her dinner.

(That's a still screenshot, not a playable video. I just loved the way she was looking at him in appreciation.)

Thursday we again journeyed out to Secret Beach to ask a favor - to have the business manager sign an "official letter" that we were allowed to park on their property. Thankfully, he agreed, so that was the last item we needed to complete our cart permit. We turned it in, paid the fee, and now we wait - their next meeting to review applications is at the end of September, so we must continue to rent a cart until at least then.

In the afternoon, our contractors that expanded our dock came by - Hilton, and Alexis. Hilton had reached out for feedback, hearing that we were in town, and some parts have not weathered well, seeing as the project was finished this past March. On the walk-through, both gentlemen agreed and will have a warranty crew out in about two weeks when they finish a current project for some repairs. They also invited us to tour a home they are building south of town, as they would like us to use them for our Secret Beach home.

We're growing concerned for our outside cat - she eats and drinks, but doesn't appear to be putting ANY weight on - in fact, it looks like she is continuing to lose weight. We have also found a few barfs of the food we have been feeding her.

I e-mailed SAGA Humane Society to see if she could be fixed as-is, or if we'd need to get more weight on her first. They are privately funded and run on a shoestring budget; the ex-pat community has really stepped up to support their efforts and improve their facility, a new one is under construction currently.

Friday, I received confirmation that one small item of my Amazon order was delivered to Belizean Queen. This is the photo, so I presume it's in that stack somewhere...?

We went to Heritage Bank to update our address and also request debit cards for use locally. They charged us $20BZE per card. Huh. Nothing like paying money to access your money!

We ran some errands in town, including buying stainless bowls for our outside cat, then went to an early dinner.

When we came home, she was on our patio but listless; her front paws were wet and we didn't know why. Nathan said she didn't seem well at all, and it was now Friday night. I sat on the dock with her for some time, telling her if she had to go, that she was loved, and we are sorry we didn't find her sooner. I didn't want outside cats ever - the risk is too great, between vehicles, cruel people, other predators...but she came to us, needing help. It was a rough night...