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Belize update. Unfortunately, as I found out on my recent trip, Belize is no longer a secret. But that hasn’t changed the raw beauty of the place. Small towns and plenty of undisturbed jungle and shoreline make it a fantastic place to watch the night sky. Walking along Placencia’s dirt road one moonless night, I sprained my neck while tallying up the shooting stars and constellations. And the sky at Chaa Creek, outside of San Ignacio, was so intoxicatingly brilliant that I almost missed dinner one night. If you’ve got a little telescope, bring it to Belize. Placencia, a 16-mile peninsula on the southern coast of Belize, was hardly known a decade ago, when you could only get there by boat or plane. No longer. Although you can still find the occasional good deal, and while it is far less developed than Ambergris, this strip of white beach has certainly been discovered by the speculators. Paved roads and services are still a rumor, but real-estate agents and developers are carving up the land right now. The gamble for anyone seduced by Placencia is this: Will prices continue to climb, and even if they do, will this place be half as interesting when condos, hotels and vacation homes clutter the shore? Many people on the trip spoke darkly of the years to come, when construction sites and huge trucks would turn the peninsula into a dusty, noisy mess. Then again, it’s a long strip of land and certain areas may be ignored for years or even decades. One traveler on an Internet bulletin board had this to say about Placencia: “We hesitate to even tell you since it’s so tempting to try to keep this little ‘secret’ to ourselves. We literally didn’t wear shoes for a week. Go!” Playa de Piratas Properties has three subdivisions in progress: Paya de Piratas with 16 85’ x 100’ lots sharing a 200’ strip of beachfront; Buccaneers’ Retreat with larger lots; and Smugglers’ Landing on the lagoon side, with a boat dock and canal frontage for each lot. Prices range from $23,500 for an inside lot to $100,000 f or a beach-facing property. This agency’s other listings include 254 acres of beachfront for $3 million. Call (501)623180 or E-mail: plyadpirat@btl.net . New Town, 3 miles outside the increasingly popular Hopkins Village, has 100’ by 300’ lots starting at $36,000—beach frontage is more expensive, as always. Call Diane McCoy at (404)370-0202 or E-mail: dtmccoy@mindspring.com . Look for my full report next month. --- Ken Layne, Placencia, Belize |