Coco Morgan's Weblog

A Search for Paradise

Hey there!

This is the blog for Captain Coco Morgan’s Belize retirement adventure.

I always wanted to live in Paradise but could never afford it. Too many obligations such as paying the mortgage and the monthly bills. When I was younger, it was my dream to go somewhere “exotic” as in tropical and laid back like the Seychelles. Or maybe France to live the good life. Didn’t happen. Reality check. So when the USA seemed to be falling just as the Roman Empire, I searched and searched for a long time to find someplace better. It had to have a low cost-of-living, be peaceful, English speaking, and be a beautiful country with friendly people. Voila, Belize. It took some convincing, but my wonderful wife Leslie came around to agree with me that Belize would indeed be a great place to live out our lives.

I so much wanted beach property and a sailboat, that it was a great disappointment when we realized that it just wasn’t practical in an area we could afford. Even though there are such places in Belize including 400 acres owned by my cousin (where we could have gotten free land), when we went to Belize in February 2008, we found these properties far too remote and accessible only by boat. Now you must realize that Belize is a third-world country. While most everything can be done, construction in remote areas is very expensive. Many Americans and other ex-pats have found idyllic beachfront property and even their own private islands.

Well we are not in that privileged class. So when we were travelling through Belize, we looked at many other types of properties. I was fortunate to have made contact with the absolute best real estate agent in Belize, Macarena Rose. She showed us a 15-acre property near San Ignacio that is on the Belize River, that also has a cash crop of coconuts and an orchard with virtually every tropical fruit tree including breadfruit (remember Mutiny on the Bounty?).

Okay, bottom line, we bought this property. And now the story unfolds.