Off to BEL, the power company to see if we could get an estimate on how much it would cost to run power approximately 2500 feet. They were very friendy, opened us a temporary account and told us that a technician would give us a call in a couple days to meet us out at the property. That went smooth, so off to the bank to see about opening an account. We did some research and thought we had all the papers required, but it turns out we still needed one more. Oh well that will have to wait till next time.

Now it was back to the home builders to get some more ideas. They had about 5 or 6 houses that they were working on in all phases of construction. There was one there that was ready to be delivered that was the exact size and layout that we will use for our small casitas. If it wasn’t already sold, Kelley was ready to write a check right then and now.

There was also a larger house that they were working on that is about the same size that we will be using for our main house. All the houses that the Menonite’s at Linda Vista build are made from dried hardwoods. What we are thinking about is hardwood floors, vaulted wood ceiling, drywall on the walls (that way we can add some color) a big porch on three sides and natural wood on the outside. Of course this all changes every time we go out there or see another idea on pinterest . I’m sure it will be just right when the time comes to place our order.

After spending a lot of time at the property we decided that the original clearing where a small casita was going was actually a better location for the big house. Just across the driveway we found another spot that will be perfect for a small casita once it is cleared. Ruben liked the new spot as there is a small creek that sometimes runs behind it that he said will be great to listen to while sitting on the porch. It took Ruben about a day to cut all the underbrush and take out some of the trees, and he did it all with just his machete. He is truly amazing!

After a few days we still had not heard from BEL, someone suggested that we need to keep on them. So back to the office to see if they had a better idea of when they might be out to survey the property. It turned out that the first person we talked to went on vacation and never gave the papers to the technician. This time we talked to the head guy in charge and everything went great. He pulled up google maps, measured our road, set a pole every 150′ and gave us and estimate. At this point the papers have to go to Belize City to the head office to be approved and could take a few weeks, but with the holidays I expect it will be a lot longer. He also stated that there is a good chance that BEL might kick in a percentage of the instalation cost since there are other possible customers on that line. We were very excited with the quote he had given us, plus if BEL kicks in some and if we can get some of the other lot owners to chip in this could turn out to be very inexpensive.

We stopped in the village of San Antoino that is a couple miles from our place to check out the Post Office. It’s basically a one room little store that receives mail once a week. No address or PO Box needed just our name, the town or village and a stamp and they say we should get it. It’s a good thing that almost everything is done on line these days.