DAY 5 After Hurricane Dean Report - Corozal, Belize
Things really are improving in Corozal, slowly but surely. Today electricity has been restored to more areas of town -- but not all, by a long shot -- and more homes have running water service. Mark's mom, Patti, was able to reopen her restaurant today, one of the first to be able to do so.
More basic food items are reappearing on store shelves, though still, I'm told, at high prices. Mark says people are shopping "like in the old days": going to town, buying only enough food for one day, and going home to cook it (repeat daily).
It appears that land-line telephone service is down again in parts of town, but with the restoration of power people have been able to recharge their cell phones. There are still only a couple of people with Internet access, so no email for the time being.
One random bit of news: I heard that one of my favorite restaurants in Chetumal, Las Botanas, was heavily damaged -- not "blown away" completely as I was originally told. It was located on Bahia Boulevard, right on Chetumal Bay; many of the expats called it "the Monkey Bar" because the owners had rescued a tiny little monkey and built it a house in a tree behind the restaurant. I'd heard the monkey had been relocated recently to the Chetumal Zoo, but I don't know if that's true or not.
I'm assuming that since the volume of inquiries is dropping off now, that most of you have by now been able to contact your friends and family in Corozal. I'll keep making updates if I receive new info, but hope to return to my normal blog topics soon.
As always, feel free to email me: margaret (at) localgringos (dot) com.
--Margaret (a.k.a. MaggieBelize)
More basic food items are reappearing on store shelves, though still, I'm told, at high prices. Mark says people are shopping "like in the old days": going to town, buying only enough food for one day, and going home to cook it (repeat daily).
It appears that land-line telephone service is down again in parts of town, but with the restoration of power people have been able to recharge their cell phones. There are still only a couple of people with Internet access, so no email for the time being.
One random bit of news: I heard that one of my favorite restaurants in Chetumal, Las Botanas, was heavily damaged -- not "blown away" completely as I was originally told. It was located on Bahia Boulevard, right on Chetumal Bay; many of the expats called it "the Monkey Bar" because the owners had rescued a tiny little monkey and built it a house in a tree behind the restaurant. I'd heard the monkey had been relocated recently to the Chetumal Zoo, but I don't know if that's true or not.
I'm assuming that since the volume of inquiries is dropping off now, that most of you have by now been able to contact your friends and family in Corozal. I'll keep making updates if I receive new info, but hope to return to my normal blog topics soon.
As always, feel free to email me: margaret (at) localgringos (dot) com.
--Margaret (a.k.a. MaggieBelize)
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