From August 2 until August 23, I took a much-needed vacation. I spent a part of the first week traveling by bus from Belize to Monterrey, Mexico where I spent the remainder of the week. I then flew to PEI, Canada, and spent two weeks visiting with family.
Part 1 and the link to Part 2 of my Mexican adventure can be found HERE.
Part 1 and the link to Part 2 of my PEI adventure can be found HERE.
August 24
Life in the jungle: Last night, I slept in the hammock because my bed was already made up for a guest of Andy’s who is arriving this afternoon.
First thing, I cleaned up and got all my chicken coops back in order after being gone for three weeks. While I was in Mexico and Canada, Andy finished tiling and grouting the kitchen counter and installed the sink for his kitchenette. His apartment is now ready for me to start building shelving; so, we planned out all the shelving I needed to build for his apartment. His apartment is only 10ft by 12ft so all available space needs to be efficiently used. I also drew up the diagrams to figure out all the lumber that I needed.
After I had my shopping list completed, I headed to the village for groceries and lumber. Only to discover that the store’s delivery vehicle is broken down until sometime next week. That kind of screws up my plans for the next week. While biking home, I witnessed a turkey vulture walking on my road, sticking his head in the grass, and then pulling out a dead Tropical Racer snake. Shortly thereafter, it started to lightly rain, which turned into heavy rain just as I walked in the door, and rained for quite a bit.
Andy’s guest showed up, and they went out for dinner, so I had the farm to myself. There was more rain in the evening.
Turkey Vulture on my road
August 25
Life in the jungle: It rained last night, and it was lightly raining this morning. I chopped in the coconut field. After a late breakfast, I chilled in the hammock for a bit as today is my day off. Later in the afternoon, I posted my second PEI blog post and got 95% of Belize blog Part 101 posted. Andy’s guest went home this afternoon.
August 26
Life in the jungle: Last night was some really heavy rain and some thunder that sounded like the sky exploded. I was planning on going to the city this morning but it was still raining. I chopped in the coconut field instead. After lunch, I headed to the ponds to inspect and replace any damaged papaya plants. I also planted eight pineapple tops. I got stung twice from a wasp nest. One on the finger and once on the forearm. The sting on the finger was the hottest sting I have ever felt down here.
When I got home, I removed my bike gloves (that I wear while chopping). My hand and forearm were completely swollen. Eight hours later, my hand and arm were still swollen. On a positive note, the papayas were looking really good.
Left hand, right hand after a wasp sting
August 27
Life in the jungle: Today was a trip to the city. It was a hot one, but there was no rain today. After getting home, I put a coat of primer paint on two kitchen shelf units that I built months ago. These shelves were built months ago to accommodate Andy’s growing collection of kitchen appliances for his hot sauce making and bottles of hot sauce. I just never painted them yet. My hand had improved since last night but was still quite swollen even into the evening. I am pretty shocked by the reaction I had to this wasp sting.
August 28
Life in the jungle: After exiting the bathroom, after waking up, nausea overtook me, and I went straight back to bed. I woke up fine, but five minutes later, I was officially sick. Around lunchtime, I finally threw up. Except for my required chicken care duties, I spent the entire day in bed.
I still like the fact that Passion flower plants grow here like a weed
August 29
Life in the jungle: I woke up feeling like I had just spent 24 hours in bed and had basically eaten nothing during that time. Other than that, I felt fine. Because I was in a slightly weakened state, I only did some chicken coop cleaning and yard work. Before breakfast, I put a coat of black paint on the shelves that I primed the other day.
After breakfast, I thought I should take it easy in the hammock for recuperation purposes until I realized I was just being lazy. So, I chopped in the coconut field until the humidity overtook me. Then I put a primer coat of paint on Andy’s kitchen counter, and then I went back into the coconut field to chop for another hour.
August 30
Life in the jungle: Insomnia hit until almost 3 AM last night which really messed with my morning. First, I put another coat of paint on the shelves. Then I headed to the village to pick out lumber (for delivery) among other supplies. It’s the lumber I need for Andy’s apartment shelving. The lumber selection was pretty bad today. I also picked up four broiler chicks.
After a really late lunch, I realized I had grabbed some wrong-sized PVC pieces for Andy’s sink. Between a bunch of other distractions that was as far as I got with my day. No rain today.
A dead boa on my road
August 31
Life in the jungle: A full long day from about 7 AM to 10 PM (with meal breaks) building and painting shelves and installing the exterior plumbing for Andy’s apartment kitchen sink. I put on another coat of paint on the shelves I started painting the other day. My lumber was delivered and I cut it all up for multiple apartment shelf projects. I built Andy’s main shelf system for his apartment and got a coat of primer paint on it. I also put a coat of paint on my bathroom cabinet and shelves. No rain again today.
September 1
Life in the jungle: Today I built another shelf for my house to accommodate more of Andy’s hot sauce supplies. I also painted a coat on his apartment shelf. I was too tired to eat breakfast, after lunch I never really left the hammock all afternoon. In the evening, I painted primer on the shelf I made this morning. I might have worked a little too much on this, my day off. No rain again.
September 2
Life in the jungle: I probably should have cut grass all day but I need to finish building and painting shelves. First thing I made Andy’s bathroom shelf and his under-the-kitchen counter shelf. Basically, all the shelves are now completed. After lunch, I painted the rest of the day. I painted the trim of Andy’s kitchen counter, all his wall shelves, and his bathroom shelf. I also painted that bookcase that I made for the house to accommodate more of Andy’s hot sauce supplies. No rain today.
My living room has become quite cluttered to accommodate shelf painting
September 3
Life in the jungle: First thing, until lunch I painted Andy’s kitchen counter and shelves. I am getting close to finishing these small painting projects. After lunch, I finally started cutting grass around the house. They are calling for a possible tropical storm coming, and it has been well over a month since I cut grass. I lost a good hour repairing the lawnmower after it stalled out on me midway through the job. There was some rain early in the morning, later in the morning, and lots more late tonight.
Can you see the Black Howler Monkey exploring in this tree?
Belize Part 129 (July 24 to Aug 1)
Belize Part 128 (July 18 to 23)
Of Note: At this time I am currently 6 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.
