Alright! Who derailed my travel thread with all this sex talk?
Oh, wait…
Uh, nevermind.
So - back to the topic at hand - is it possible to drive to Belize? I mean, I know geographically it’s possible, but I’m wondering if my car and I would make it through Mexico with our hubcaps intact, so to speak.
We’d be happy to take you in Japan, but I fear that you couldn’t live off the interest of $100,000 here. There are beaches (though tremendously packed), and you could easily teach English.
Really the only advantage would be the possibility of a rat-style manservant, but hey.
A real suggestion would be Los Cabos in Mexico. Nice beaches, safe, a lot of good land and an up-and-coming area, not tremendously far from the US, and a really nice movie theater.
Belize and such may be nice, but taking into account the distance to a modern nation might not be a bad thing depending on how long you want to live there.
Depending on the comfort level you seek, the Mexican Pacific coast has kilometers of fantastic beaches where you could live very comfortably on $20,000usd a year. Comfort level of course increases with expenditures.
You can live very comfortably in Cape Town on US$20,000/yr. Of course, you can’t drive here, but English is spoken and the beaches are world class. Rent’ll be somewhere from $300 - $400 for basic living, say the same for food and stuff, you’d be laughing.
The wine is great, too. And cheap.
South Africa was considered and sort of ruled out. I may not be giving it a fair shake, but I have to admit that I assume that many of the older, white residents of South Africa still hang on to racial prejudices of years past, and I could never be comfortable living in such a location.
If this is totally false, I appologize for my error, but I admit I have trouble believing that people who have hate and superiority grilled into them from a young age can suddenly change their opinions based on a change in government.
Not that many in Cape Town - it was always the most liberal city in SA, with very little apartheid-era holdouts. You’d find as much racial prejudice in America as you would here. Hell, the only place I’ve been racially abused in the last 20 years was in England. Really, despite the legacy of apartheid, very few old-style Whites are still clinging on, and that’s mostly in the sticks. Cape Town is a young person’s city, with a vibrant arts and music scene, great outdoors and nightlife, friendly people. There’s a reason I live here rather than England, Australia or Canada.
Just be sure to have that maple leaf on your backpack, though.
My friend Michelle has driven to Belize twice. She has never had any problems, but if you are serious I can get more details from her. I do know that you have to have documentaion on the vehicle.
I’ve spent a couple of months in the jungle in Belize and I do like there. Just remember that a great number of things that we take for granted are not quite the same in Belize. You drink rain water, I know that where I was we had no running water the first trip and the second trip the water wass running but came from Chetumal Bay. The big freezer where we were was propane powered - You may want to buy some solar cells. Lastly, remember that due to its location it is prone to hurricanes and tropical storms. The capital city of Belmopan was virtually wiiped out several years ago. Oh yeah, the mosquitos and spiders and scorpions and snakes.
Yes please. 
I think I’m going to see if I can sweet talk my friend from LA into driving down with me. He’ll be getting unlimited sex and a free trip to Belize, so I’m hoping it’s not too hard of a sell.
Tropical storms are a bit of a worry, but I figure I can just go visiting when storm season is at it’s worse. Mosquitos, spiders, scorpions and snakes don’t particularly bug me - I actually sort of like snakes, and don’t particularly mind the other, as long as they’re not in my hair. I hate beatles though. I hope there’s only a smalish number of beatles.
Oops - posted too soon.
So - based on the book that I purchased, it seems that electricity and running water are fairly common place in at least some locations - is this different than your expereince? I am planing on staying fairly urban (understanding that the biggest city only has about 40,000 people), and fairly close to the ocean. I’m interested to hear more about the “no running water thing” - not having a toilet could present a problem.
When I was 19, a few friends and I spent six months driving around Mexico and Guatemala in a van (we were originally going to go all the way to South America but the gas was costing too much…).
Some considerations:
The highways in Mexico are very narrow (2 “lanes”, often no markings on the road), very serpentine (which = dangerous - we once saw a fatal accident where a bus had collided with a car coming around the bend), and in places very shoddy. They also go straight through all the cities/villages on their path, which have speed bumps. Not to mention the fact that 90% of Mexico is mountains. But if you are just going down the west coast, it will be flatter. Oh, and don’t forget the stopping for construction, cows crossing the road, whatever (To my eternal amusement, I actually saw a bona fide chicken crossing the road while on my travels). All in all, it takes a long time to go a short distance. When you are factoring travel time, I wouldn’t assume more than 25 MPH average speed the whole way.
You will get shanked by various fees at border crossings. We had to register our vehicle and pay a significant deposit (I don’t remember how much) in order to ensure that we didn’t try to sell the vehicle, which was registered in the U.S., in either country (Mexico/Guatemala). Since you are planning on keeping your vehicle down there, you should consult with the customs departments of the countries you will be going through and see what you need to do. There are also lots of road tolls, but they are relatively minimal.
It’s “officially recommended” that you don’t drive at night. We did sometimes, and never ran into a problem (except for once when we got a flat tire due to broken ceramics strewn all over the road. I was driving at the time and I didn’t see them until it was too late. There are no lights other than your headlights) But it’s quite literally a jungle down there and you are taking your safety into your own hands. Part of this recommendation is due to bandits, but even more practical is the concern of trucks. Like in the U.S., many long-haul truckers do their routes late at night and due to the aforementioned dangerous road conditions and reduced visibility at night, this is a potentially deadly combination.
Most of the time we spent was in Mexico. When we finally got to Guatemala, it was worse. (much worse. Guatemala is a poverty-crushed country that makes Mexico look like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) I ended up taking a bus from southern Mexico back to Mexico City from whence I flew home. One of my travel companions took a bus to Belize and did the conventional tourist thing there. (I never talked to him again, but my friend said he made it back alive and seemed to enjoy it) My other friends continued even further south, and made it all the way to Nicaragua. They returned home shortly after.
Anyway, let me know if you have any other questions I may be able to answer… I know my presentation of this information is a bit of a mess but I’m trying to convey a lot of stuff in a short time.
Electricity and running water are everywhere in Mexico/Guatemala, and I doubt Belize is different.
Sanitation on the other hand…
(you don’t even want to hear my stories of the truly foul, rank, stinking bathrooms I’ve seen. Have you ever seen Trainspotting? :))
I’m not a princess - I’m quite happy to pee on a shrubery. 
P.S. Thanks for the good info about the highways in Mexico - I think I’ll really push for someone to tag along with me. My friend has travelled quite extensively in Mexico and he has US military ID so hopefully we’ll be OK (apparently US military ID is sort of like a get out of jail free card in those parts).
I’m not sure how long ago Rigamarole took his trip to Mexico but I can assure you his information is no longer the case. Yes there are plenty of mountains in Mexico hence many twisty roads. But at the beginning of the 90’s a new system of roads, mostly 4 lane or wide 2 lane, most are toll roads, have been built and these are very similar to the highways in Canada or the USA.
The Secretary of Tourism also operates a fleet of vehicles known as the Green Angels, which are specially equipped trucks with mechanics who constantly patrol the highways to assist motorists in case of breakdowns. Their service is free, you pay for any gasoline or spare parts etc. If they can’t get you running again they’ll even assist in getting you to the next populated area.
That’s a relief. I think I’d like to make it to Belize with a minimum of adventure in that department.
I was there late 2004. I did say that they were mostly toll roads. That doesn’t mean they are good roads. I’d like to know what part of the US has highways “very similar” to the ones in Mexico.
Not saying that this service doesn’t exist, but I certainly never saw them, and upon entering we didn’t get the memo with their contact info.
The toll roads between all major cities are mostly 4 lane divided highways and they are well maintained. The non-toll roads are also similar to many state highways I’ve driven on in the US. Some have a wide shoulder, some don’t. Also all vehicles travelling the toll roads are insured, it’s included in the toll.
Maybe I’m wrong but I sense a touch of sarcasm here. I’ll bet there are a whole lot of things you didn’t see in your one trip to México. How do you know you never saw one if you don’t know what they look like? FYI just dial 078 to reach the Ángeles Verdes.
Another thing you apparently missed were the periféricos or bypasses around cities and towns. Maybe your Spanish wasn’t up to the task of understanding road signs?
Some are decently-maintained, some are not, toll roads or not. But your assertion that they are “mostly 4 lane divided highways” is flat out wrong. In which states? We traveled all down the east coast, to Oaxaca by way of Veracruz, some jaunts to Mexico City (and one to Guanajuato for the Cervantes festival), back to Veracruz and then south by way of Chiapas to Guatemala. In all that time, only occasionally was the highway anything other than 2-lane unmarked (usually the ones branching out from Mexico City are, for a ways). True that we avoided the more costly toll-roads, as we were doing extreme budget travel. But these are not available everywhere.
That’s great information. Like I said, we never got the memo when we entered Mexico that this service was available.
Another occasional thing, often there is no choice. (again, especially on the particular routes we were taking)
No it is not flat out wrong. If you would take the time to read my post you would see that I said the toll roads are well maintained and mostly 4 lane. Since you “mainly avoided” these roads how would you know?
And no they’re not available everywhere but they do run between the great majority of the main cities.
Again if you drive the toll roads most cities and large towns have a bypass. If you were driving some of the more isolated routes and traveling through small towns then yes, the hwy usually runs through town. Just like many state highways in the US that are also “Main Street” of the towns they pass through.
One more point. In your prior post you said factor an average of 25mph. That is completely off the mark. I can drive a 2 lane libre (non toll) from Guadalajara to the coast over some very high mountains, a distance of 310km (200 miles) in 4 1/2 hours. I can take another route through Colima on the toll road which is 50km longer and make it in 3 1/2 hours.
So driving through Mexico should be no problem then? Yes?
None at all. In fact once you’re here you may deside to stay.