Rooted in Nature, Adventure Lived.
Welcome to Belize Jungle Life! I’m excited to invite you to join me on this personal journey of the adventure of living in the jungles of Belize. Through my blog, I share my adventures and experiences of living the jungle lifestyle—immersed in a jungle, while encountering incredible wildlife like jaguars, howler monkeys, and boa constrictors, and discovering the magic of nature every day.
If you find my content helpful please consider:
About
My website
Welcome to the Safari Arie website as I attempt to document my jungle living lifestyle in the jungles of Belize.
The genesis of this website was to document my bike ride adventure from Canada to the bottom of Argentina. However, let’s just say I got about halfway down before time caught up with me, and I had to abandon that dream to pursue another – the dream of living in Belize.
Ideally, a website has a single focus to attract a specific target audience. However, mine does not have a single focus. Instead, my main focus is living life in the jungles of Belize and the daily adventure that naturally occur. As a result, this website has become a hodge-podge of many subjects and themes.
Some of the categories of content that can be found here includes the following:
➡️jungle lifestyle guides to help others live in the jungle
➡️ documentation of my day-to-day life and struggles in the jungles of Belize
➡️ Belize flora and fauna that I come across in my day
➡️documentation of my 26,000 km bike ride across Canada, the US and Mexico to my home in Belize
➡️assorted blog posts on bike touring in general
➡️personal journaling of how I interpret my life (a form of therapy) and thoughts about reflection and wisdom
➡️my poetry
Expanding on these categories
Jungle Lifestyle
Living 4 years in the jungle has given me a few insights and lessons on calling Belize home. I have recently creating guides and instruction on living in the jungles of Belize. Living in the jungle is not easy. If jungle living is calling to you, I strongly suggest you browse my posts.
Life in Belize
My first visit to Belize was in 1997. Later, I bought a house in the Community Baboon Sanctuary in 2003. As of now, I live in Belize on a 42 acre farm in the village of Scotland Halfmoon. Every day is an adventure and I do my best to document it along with lots of photography.
Belize – Flora and Fauna
On any given day, I come across creatures that I have never seen before, as well as creatures that I see on a regular basis. Typically, one of two things happens: either my favorite photos get lost in the hundreds of photos I take on a monthly basis, or, after getting help with identifying an insect (for example), I have forgotten what it is six months later. Therefore, this page helps me keep my best photos all together and serves as an easy reference for me to re-identify an unusual insect or creature that I have found again.
2019 – 2021 Bike Ride
On November 12, 2019, starting from St. John’s Newfoundland, I embarked on a journey, biking 12,340 kilometres across Canada during the 2019-20 Canadian winter and Covid-19. After that, I continued south through the USA biking almost 8,000 kilometres along the Pacific Ocean and Southwest. Then, upon entering Mexico at Mexicali, I biked another 6,000 kilometres south and across Mexico to Chetumal, arriving at my home in Belize on November 25, 2021.
Bike and Camping
Biking 26,000 kilometres gave me some insight to a few challenges and experiences about bike touring in general.
Personal Journaling and Reflections
This category is a work in progress, and at this point, I’m not sure what this will look like or where it’s going. To be honest, the internal works of my mind is not a pretty sight. In a addition, I also enjoy collecting quotes of wisdom and reflection, especially those that inspire better questions. With that in mind, I hope to explore that here as well.
Poetry
For me, my poetry is largely an observation of an emotion and not a cry for help, as most people would assume; therefore, I rarely share my poems on social media anymore. I don’t need words of comfort because I simply wrote a poem.
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For better or worse this is about a guy named Arie Hoogerbrugge.
Who is Arie Hoogerbrugge?
Arie was born May 18, 1973 and raised middle class in the small town of Grimsby, Ontario Canada with 2 younger brothers.
The following terms in one form or another reflect who Arie is as a person.
Christian, introverted, passionate, alone in the world, risk taker, socially awkward, a thinker, broken inside, adventure seeker, organized, a farmer, lover of beauty, mindful, complicated, reptile and amphibian lover, freedom first, unorthodoxed, despises stupidity, podcast lover, accountable, poet, generally misunderstood, tree lover, probably foolish, minimalist, conscious, entrepreneurial, trusts no one, impatient, hard worker, blogger, single, old fashioned, ex-truck driver, cheap Dutchman, stubborn, loyal, serious personality, goal oriented, cyclist, lazy, romantic, fussy eater, photographer, unbalanced lifestyle, neat freak and has many failures and regrets in life.
Thanks for stopping by
Arie Hoogerbrugge “May your greatest dreams and goals be ahead of you; not behind you.”
Stay in touch
Belize Jungle Lifestyle Guides & Content
The Fer-de-Lance Snake of Belize: A Complete Guide 🐍
Living in the jungles of Belize means sharing your space with some of the most fascinating—and sometimes dangerous—wildlife. Among them is the Fer-de-Lance snake (Bothrops asper), also...
What I Wish I Knew Before Moving to the Jungle in Belize
Living in the jungle of Belize is a dream for many—but it comes with unexpected surprises. I had visited Belize several times before moving here full-time, so not everything was new. Some of what I...
Jungle Safety in Belize: What You Need to Know Before Moving to the Jungle
Living in the Belize jungle sounds like a dream—lush greenery, the calls of howler monkeys, and the freedom of an off-grid lifestyle in Belize. But along with its beauty comes a reality that every...
Recent Blogs:
The Fer-de-Lance Snake of Belize: A Complete Guide 🐍
Living in the jungles of Belize means sharing your space with some of the most fascinating—and sometimes dangerous—wildlife. Among them is the Fer-de-Lance snake (Bothrops asper), also...
What I Wish I Knew Before Moving to the Jungle in Belize
Living in the jungle of Belize is a dream for many—but it comes with unexpected surprises. I had visited Belize several times before moving here full-time, so not everything was new. Some of what I...
Jungle Safety in Belize: What You Need to Know Before Moving to the Jungle
Living in the Belize jungle sounds like a dream—lush greenery, the calls of howler monkeys, and the freedom of an off-grid lifestyle in Belize. But along with its beauty comes a reality that every...
The Ultimate Guide to Hurricane Preparedness in Belize
With My Story of 23 Days Without Power Learn how to survive hurricanes in Belize with real-life tips, personal experiences, and a complete preparedness checklist. When you live in Belize, hurricanes...
🐸Creatures That Find Their Way Into Homes in the Jungles of Belize🐍
Living in the jungles of Belize is a dream for many. The lush greenery, the sound of howler monkeys at dawn, and the incredible biodiversity all around make it an unforgettable experience. But with...
The Most Dangerous Animals in the Belize Jungle: Fact or Fiction
I cringe at my post title, “The Most Dangerous Animals in the Belize Jungle.” Ultimately, the title’s job is to make you click on it. But there are about half a dozen high-traffic websites recycling...