December 17
Life in the jungle: This morning I noticed that the ground was quite wet, but I didn’t remember hearing any rain. I took a walk to the river and discovered that the river bank was top-gallon – but barely. Usually, top-gallon means multiple inches of flooding across the yard. Luckily, not this time. This is the third time the river has top-galloned this year.
Top-gallon refers to when the Belize River has risen beyond its banks and is flooding the surrounding jungle. The river has been high or Top-galloned for the last two months.
I finished editing and posted my Three Years in Belize blog post and shared it with a dozen Belizean expat Facebook groups.
After lunch, I felt kind of lazy. I just spent the last week in front of the computer and the last three days writing this most recent post. Any possible outdoor jobs in such muddy wet conditions are limited. I still need to remove the tree that fell on the road last week. But I like the idea of my road being blocked. It means no one can make it down here.
I couldn’t help myself; I jumped in the hammock. I wasn’t knapping long before a crazy windy rainstorm blew threw. That took care of any lazy guilt. It also took out the internet. Even when the internet reestablished itself, it was horribly slow the rest of the night.
When the lazy-guilt was too much, I did a little research on hiking Victoria Peak in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in the south of Belize. It’s been on my radar to do, and I think I want to plan it for as early as possible in the new year before I get too busy for the rest of the year.
Victoria Peak is the second-highest peak in Belize and is kind of famous as far as mountains in Belize go. It’s a three to five day hike, and not many people attempt it per year.
The river flooding increased marginally through the afternoon.
Last night, a duck got itself locked in with the chickens
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December 18
Life in the jungle: The little bit of water that was starting to flood the yard yesterday has mostly disappeared, which is a good thing. First thing I wrote Belize blog Part 145. Before lunch, I also completed an edit of Chapter 9 – The American Southwest – California Part 2 – 3,100 words of my bike ride book.
After lunch, I continued to edit Chapter 9 – Nevada. I ended up deleting over 3,000 words about the two months I spent in Las Vegas during Covid-19 and editing the remaining 3,000 words written about my time in Nevada.
There was no rain overnight last night that I am aware of but today was cool, and mostly overcast with on-and-off light rain in the morning. Right before I was about to feed my chickens, right before dark there was a long and heavy downpour. When is this rain ever going to end? I’ve noticed the last few mornings that Montezuma Oropendola birds have been quite noisy. They are by far my favorite bird calls here. I recommend you Google them for a listen.
Montezuma Oropendola birds. Photos taken earlier in the year by Andy Wilson
December 19
Life in the jungle: Today I spent the day researching blogging and learning how to use some new AI tools. I am inspired to write a few blog posts on the reptiles and amphibians of Belize. I would spend the day writing 1,600 words for a blog post about the Boa Constrictor of Belize.
Today, I got five eggs from my chickens. For many months, my chicks have been producing basically no eggs. Even the ducks only sometimes produce eggs, but mostly they don’t. [Moving forward, I would start collecting an average of four eggs a day.]
This morning was overcast with a few sporadic, short showers. The afternoon was fairly nice with a few scary clouds
December 20
Life in the jungle: Today, I finished writing and editing a 3,000 word blog post about Boa Constrictors in Belize. Today was probably the best day this week for the weather, except for a three minute sprinkle at bedtime.
December 21
Life in the jungle: First thing, I slaughtered two roosters. Then I headed to the village. I took some time to chop on the road. Specifically, to remove the tree that fell on the road the other week. I liked that the tree was blocking the road, but I also knew it couldn’t stay blocked forever. I also chopped back some spiny bamboo that was getting out of control along the side of the road.
Spiny bamboo is a bad problem along the road for obvious reasons – the spines. But it grows fast and out of control.
Mornings on my road
I finally ran into some people that I was hoping to cross paths with for weeks regarding lumber and updates to receive lumber. The updates are not promising. One stop scored me two baby Pelican flowers, also known as Dutchman’s pipe vines.
My trip took longer than planned, which was fine. After lunch, the plan was to continue with my boa constrictor blog, but in that moment, exhaustion took over me. I saw no point in pushing through the exhaustion as I had spent most of the last few weeks in front of the computer. Pushing myself would probably affect my overall motivation in a negative way moving forward. So, I headed to the hammock and didn’t wake up until 5 PM. Just in time to feed the chickens.
The common name for Aristolochia grandiflora is pelican flower or Dutchman’s pipe. It is also sometimes called calico flower or rooster flower, depending on the region. This plant is known for its large, showy, and uniquely shaped flowers, often associated with its carrion-like smell, which attracts pollinators like flies.
A few other plants spotted during my garden tour – water hyacinth blooms and salmon hibiscus
December 22
Life in the jungle: This morning I took a walk to and around the ponds. I like to do that at least once a week if I haven’t been working around them in a while. I think I heard a tapir in the bush. It sounded like a heavier animal, and I think a jaguar wouldn’t have been nearly as loud.
I spent most of the day finishing and posting my boa constrictor blog post to my website. The post is called: Discover Boa Constrictor Snakes in Belize: A Complete Guide.
I didn’t do anything for the last part of the afternoon. The weather is still cool, perfect outdoor weather. I have just been hesitant to work outside with the mud. But I am definitely starting some outside work starting tomorrow.
This evening, I put in an Amazon order. I am determined to hike Victoria Peak as early in the new year as possible. But I need some freeze-dried meals and a smaller backpack. My backpack is much too large to carry up a mountain.
Victoria Peak is found within the Maya Mountains and is the second-highest mountain in Belize, at a height of 1,120 metres (3,675 ft). The highest peak in the country, Doyle’s Delight, at a height of 1,124 metres (3,688 ft), is located 57 kilometres (35 mi) southwest of Victoria Peak. Victoria Peak is situated in the Stann Creek District of Belize, in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Belize Part 145 (Dec 10 to 16)
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 assorted 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.
