Basil Jones Central Information page 4.

INFORMATION SECTION

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Beginning just north of Basil Jones, is the newly designated World Heritage Site, Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve, covering some 41 square miles of the northern most part of Ambergris Caye and its associated reef tract. There, at the northern end of Ambergris Caye, the ancient Maya made channel, known as Bacalar Chico, dug for the Maya boat traders sometime between 700 and 900 A.D., is all that separates Ambergris Caye, Belize and Mexico. In places the channel narrows so dramatically that it is barely wide enough for a boat, with Belizean mangroves and Mexican mangroves intertwining overhead, you can reach out and touch mangroves from both countries at the same time. To the north, in Mexico, they've dug their own channel to allow larger boats including a Ferry from Chetamal to Xcalak. To see Xcalak channel click Xcalak Aerial Photos page)

Morning Glory with runners up to fifty feet, growing at Basil Jones,

For years there has been talk of a bridge spanning Bacalar Chico that would reconnect Ambergris Caye with the Costa Maya of Mexico. After the area became part of the reserve, the bridge was put into question. But most people now feel that access to reserve can best be served by a bridge or perhaps the Ferry that runs from X'calak, Mexico will begin service to North Ambergris Caye at the San Juan Maya site and the new Park Visitors Center located on the former Pinkerton Estate. The ferry would dock at the Center's concrete jetty, complete with walkway, and from there roads can connect the north end with the south.

Growth is happening, though once slowly, now the pace has accelerated. Nova Shrimp is growing, Basil Jones Resort may open eventually and could have a couple of hundred guests and staff living with them. From here things will just keep progressing, but the North End can never be as busy as San Pedro, because the reef "dead-ends" at Rocky Point and prevents all the boat traffic. Our Neighborhood or portion of Basil Jones will sit empty for the moment, but some Neighbors plan on building homes in 2005 or 2006, while others are considering cabanas first and a home later, around 2010 or 2011. And the saga continues....

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