January 1
Life in the jungle: Last night, my allergies hit me hard, and then the New Year’s Eve fireworks started. I think I can now imagine what it might sound like at night in a worn, torn country. The fireworks were ridiculously loud.
It started raining at 6 AM this morning and rained for 12 hours straight! So much for finally getting back to building the greenhouse floor expansion I had planned for yesterday evening. I wrote Belize blog Part 147. My day kind of dragged, but I edited the Utah portion of Chapter 9 of my 2019-2021 bike ride book (6,000 words).
A small juvenile Red-cheeked mud turtle showed up on the driveway
January 2
Life in the jungle: Things are soaked and wet out, and very coolish temperatures today. I spent the whole day working on a blog post about the frogs, toads, and tree frogs of Belize. I believe the post is about 85% completed.
Lots of birds calling this morning on my Merlin app
January 3
Life in the jungle: I woke up at 5 AM to rain. January is the start of the dry season, and we are as wet as can be. I continued working on my amphibian blog post, spending the whole day finishing and even getting it posted — Belize’s Amphibians: An Essential Guide.
January 4
Life in the jungle: While last week I basically finished chopping and clearing my river lot, I still need to chop along one of the fence lines. So that is what I got out of the way first thing this morning.
After lunch, I went back to editing my bike ride book — I got Chapter 9, the Arizona section started. But it was slow going, as I lacked motivation. There was no rain today.
Someday my river lot will look like a park
January 5
Life in the jungle: First thing, I shared my amphibian blog post with 20 Belize Facebook groups. I then spent the morning chopping a large clump of Ginger Crepe plants. I have a lot of Ginger Crepe growing around the house, as it is a pretty dominant plant once it gets established. I spread it a lot around fence lines because it produces large flowers and attracts a lot of hummingbirds, including Long-tailed Hermits.
Basically, I chop the plants at the base and dump large handfuls of clumps wherever I want them, and they quickly establish themselves. After lunch, I basically did nothing, being that it’s my day off.
Yesterday, I messaged a guide who does the Victoria Peak climbs. He replied today, saying that they don’t start the hikes until March. Climbers are required by Belize law to have a guide to climb to the peak. I inquired about the price. The blog I used for my research said $250 USD. Apparently, the price is now $600 USD for non-Belizeans! I’m so pissed.
Who in their right mind would pay $600 USD for a view? I imagine anyone who climbs to the top is awed by the view. Me, I would be furious that I paid that much for a view. It’s not like the guide carries your stuff for you or does your cooking. There are not a lot of challenges in Belize that would push my limits the way I push them, such as a bike tour through a Canadian winter, or through a desert at 46°C (115°F), or paddling 300 kilometers down the Belize River. I have never done a hike like this, and now I can’t —I’m pissed.
Ginger Crepe blooms – they attract a lot of hummingbirds
Spreading hundreds of Crepe Ginger plant cuttings over 100’s of square feet
January 6
Life in the jungle: First thing, I headed to the village for groceries. On the way, I took a stop at the ponds. I need to put a few hours of work there. In the village, I realized I had forgotten my wallet. That’s a first in three years. After I got home, I slaughtered a rooster and a broiler (meat) chicken.
After lunch, I realized I might as well go back to the village to pay for this morning’s groceries and get that out of the way. It was kind of late when I got home so I just spent some time doing yard work. No rain today.
Desert Rose blooms
January 7
Life in the jungle: After a mostly unproductive Monday, I was determined to get some outside work done today. And then at 6 AM, it started raining! So, I posted Belize blog Parts 128 and 129.
It rained on and off all morning. As much as I wanted to work outside, it wasn’t practical. I wasn’t motivated to write new blog posts or edit my 2019-21 bike ride book, so I kept posting older blog posts. I am determined over the next six months to catch up on the backlog created by not having an internet connection for the first 18 months of living here in Belize.
In the afternoon, I posted Belize blog Parts 130 and 131.
January 8
Life in the jungle: There was rain throughout the night and this morning. First thing, I shared my Welcome to My Website blog post with 16 Belize Facebook Groups. I want to increase my website traffic and have created a monthly schedule to regularly share my main blog posts to the various Facebook Groups on a regular basis.
Thanks to the rain, I went back to editing my 2019-2021 bike ride book. I was able to edit 2,700 words from my American Southwest chapter before lunch. After lunch, I continued to edit the chapter. The skies remained overcast, and it threatened to rain, but no more rain came.
Heliconia Flowers
January 9
Thirty days ago, I started setting my alarm at 5 AM and going to bed by 9 PM. I never in a million years thought I would be that guy getting up that early by choice. For most of my life, I have felt like it was blasphemy to even set an alarm for 7 AM. But, from the first morning, I felt and could see the difference. When I used to set my alarm for 6 AM, I often dragged myself out of bed; now I am pretty quick to be out of bed by 5:05.
I now get what I need to get done first thing and am ready to feed the chickens at the crack of dawn and start my first job for the day, wasting no daylight hours.
First thing, I chopped at the ponds. It wasn’t a long morning, as mostly what I needed to do at the ponds was cut the grass with a lawnmower. Unfortunately, my lawnmower has been broken for quite a few months as I am waiting for parts.
After lunch, I headed down the road and chopped along the edges. The road is becoming very overgrown. There was no rain today.
Apparently, this is Cookeina, a genus of cup fungi. This particular fungus is known as Red Ear and Scarlet Elfcup.
Belize Part 147 (Dec 23 to 31)
Belize Part 146 (Dec 17 to 22)
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 a 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 season (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.
