i believe that they now are having serious problems with a rather nasty poisonous snake. the building boom built a lot of nice houses in their habitat. being good belizians these snakes are not leaving and seem to be adjusting well to suburbia..........the bite from one of these snakes is worse than the rattlesnake in the US. Belize went from a handful of bites a year to the point that it is a common occurence, everyday. when a lot of the forest was cut down the snakes moved to suburbia. twenty years ago it was a happening place, lots of ex-pats moving down there, cheap land, gringoes were a novelty and very welcome. from what i here the novelty has worn off for the natives...........it is also a long, expensive flight to the states. DR to miami on the other hand is less than a 2 hour flight, 4 to NY. DR is also big enough that you can actually get in the car and drive to someplace, unlike other carribean islands where you can circle the whole island in an hour.