February 11
Life in the jungle: I did a little yard work first thing. It’s my day off but I prefer to give Andy his mornings to make breakfast etc. Jamie spent the night on the hammock so they made fry jacks which are an unhealthy favorite breakfast that I haven’t had in forever.
I then had to run up to the village as the government (roads department) suddenly showed up and was grading the road in the village. I needed to talk to someone about more work on my section of the road. The conversations never go anywhere but you still have to bug them. After that, I basically did nothing for the rest of the day. This had been a busy week.
Saul delivered my lawnmower this afternoon. He picked it up about a month and a half ago because I snapped the push handle. My grass has gotten very tall since then.
A huge Meso-America Slider turtle
February 12
Life in the jungle: Today was a trip to the city and it was a pretty hot day. Amongst picking up supplies my priority was a Belize police record for my next immigration interview later this month. I had to pay $25 USD for the quick service or wait a month (which I don’t have).
In the market, I found some imported mangos for $1.50 USD. I discovered right at the end of last year’s mango season I really like mangos. Mangos is virtually the only food in my life (50 years) that I have changed my mind about liking later in life. This afternoon I cut a portion of my front lawn.
I posted Unlocking a Source of Happiness: Why a Satisfied Life Trumps Success to Substack, Medium, LinkedIn, and my website.
February 13
Life in the jungle: I started my morning chopping in the coconut field. After breakfast, I worked on my goal-coaching blog posts. In the afternoon I did a video chat with someone living in San Pedro who was interested in my goal-coaching posts.
Malley Apple – I would be unsuccessful germinating the seeds
February 14
Life in the jungle: First thing this morning I chopped in the coconut field. Andy went to the city and borrowed a van to purchase a fridge and water vat. Then we picked up 50 xlg sacks of manure and 20 sacks of charcoal all for soil making. Later I cut grass. This evening, I set up the new fridge. Getting it to fit turned into a major headache
I posted Unveiling the Unexplored: Why, When Considering All Your Options, Remember You Haven’t to Substack, Medium, LinkedIn, and my website.
As of this evening, I have no goal-coaching blog posts written or short reels left to publish. [I would indefinitely stop posting goal-oriented posts or continue to pursue anything goal-coaching-oriented. I am simply too busy.] And now that Andy has gardening materials, and we are into the dry season. I have just become extremely busy with foreseeable projects. Tonight told Andy he needed to start cooking our suppers. We cook for ourselves for breakfast/lunch, but I have been doing all the cooking for supper (by choice) since Andy arrived in early November. Andy actually enjoys cooking (I don’t) and he would prefer to eat supper earlier. So, Andy is officially promoted to chief cook.
[Over the next few weeks, I would push myself so hard every day that I would be too tired to work on blog posts in the evenings and would completely run out of written and video content to post. Blog writing would come to a standstill. But I would edit a video each morning before breakfast and still be consistent with short video content posting.]
A van load of manure and charcoal (biochar)
February 15
Life in the jungle: I had to go back to the city to pick up my police record. It turns out I don’t have a record because I have never been in trouble with the law. Who would have guessed? I then had the long walk to Belize Customs. I have to pay duty on the bike that I rode here from Canada as part of my residency application. They originally said $180 USD. I was about to try to talk him down when I was certain he then said $100 USD except when he handed me my receipt it showed $150 USD. I asked, “I thought you said $100?” He replied no, $150. I was pissed but the receipt was already printed. All the hard stuff I needed completed for my next residency interview is completed.
I never get on an empty bus
It was a hot day in the city with a lot of walking. Returning home I started digging up the house septic. Water has been seeping to the surface for weeks now. I think I am in really big trouble.
Septic water was seeping up through the ground
February 16
Life in the jungle: I started my morning chopping in the coconut field. I noticed a lot of the citrus trees I bought two years ago at the Agriculture fair that have been struggling ever since have died. I then went up to the village to get some 50 gallon drums for a new septic system.
In the afternoon I started digging around the old septic and things got messy. I basically discovered that the whole system has now failed and I have no more septic system. What a mess.
This is bad. And that’s a lot of septic water that is going nowhere fast.
February 17
Life in the jungle: This morning I bypassed chopping in the coconut field and went straight to the village for some 4″ PVC pipe to divert the septic runoff away from the house. It took the better part of the whole day and another trip to the village but I have the septic system temporarily set up. I need to bury two barrels but the hole (that was started) is filled with 4″ of septic water and who knows how much mud. And I need to dig a 40 ft waist-high trench for the drainage pipe.
Septic is being diverted away from the house, but this is not good.
February 18
Life in the jungle: Today is my down day. I did do a little housework and I cleaned up my loft and went through all my camping and bike touring gear to make sure I am good for equipment for my upcoming canoe trip (April 7 then pushed to May 22) and future bike tour rides in Belize. It rained almost all day.
I stayed up a bit late this evening and researched raising meat rabbits. Andy needs a fresh and regular source of animal manure. I came up with a future layout adding two larger chicken coops and numerous rabbit hutches.
February 19
Life in the jungle: I started my morning chopping in the coconut field. The field is now ready for the bushhog (to cut the grass). After lunch, I headed to the ponds to cut grass. The grass has not been cut at the ponds since early December and then only the two outer mounds got cut before I broke my lawnmower back in December. I cut the center mound, the front entrance to the ponds, and the front of the ponds before I hit a stump causing the lawnmower blade to bend into the inner frame of the lawnmower. This evening, I finally got the next Belize blog post Part 62 published. I am extremely behind in my blog writing and posting.
A Cashew and Starfruit tree in the coconut field
Belize Part 110 (Jan 26 to Feb 3)
Of Note: At this time I am currently 11 months behind in posting my Belize blog posts due to having no internet for the first 18 months of living in Belize.
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of words or people that may or may not be part of this blog post. This glossary will be at the bottom of every blog post for Belize.
Wayne – He is the son of the original owners of the farm (both owners are deceased). The original farm was two – 30 acre parcels minus two – ¾ acre parcels for my house. In 2017 Wayne sold me 40 acres of land from the original 60 acres (one 30 acre parcel plus 10 acres from the second parcel). Wayne lives in his parent’s house and has a few cows on his remaining 18 acres of land.
The ponds – I have two large (300ft long x 50ft wide x 10ft deep) ponds on my 30 acre parcel of land which is basically a jungle. I have about 60 coconut trees (mostly mature) around the ponds. In my first two years of living in Belize, I also planted about 250 assort fruit tree seedlings (Lime, jackfruit, custard apple, pomegranate, and avocado).
The coconut field – I have about 400 coconut trees planted (various growth states) on about 3 acres of cleared land of my 10 acre parcel. I have planted about 350 assorted fruit trees (lemon, starfruit, mango, soursop, cashew, lime, orange) all raised from seed since my arrival in Belize in 2021.
The river lot – my house sits on an ¾ acre lot. I have a second joining ¾ acre lot that allows me river frontage on the Belize River. I call that my river lot.
The dry – Belize has two main seasons. The rainy season and the dry (no rain). The wet is obviously the rainy season.
Chopping – using my machete to clear brush, vines, weeds, and unwanted trees. Generally, when I chop I am removing unwanted vegetation around my baby fruit trees.
Andy – A fellow Canadian who rode his dirt bike from Canada to Belize. When I offered him the use of an apartment that I recently built and the use of my greenhouse Andy decided to stay in Belize permanently and start a hot sauce company here.
