January 17
Life in the jungle: Today was my weekend getaway to San Ignacio. After an hour and a half bus ride to Belize City, it took another two and a half hours to arrive in San Ignacio. I arrived at 12 PM and checked into the Yellow Belly Backpacker Hostel by 12:30 PM. This is my second stay at this hostel.
I spent the afternoon wandering around San Ignacio, taking photos, including visiting the cemetery. After a few hours, I returned to the hostel for a multi-hour nap.
In the afternoon, Andy sent me a few amazing photos from our riverbank. He had photographed a massive eight foot plus crocodile on the opposite side. I’ve never seen one this large, and it’s been a long time since I heard of a crocodile in our immediate area.
On the opposite side of my river bank
In the evening, I edited 15 short reels for social media. In recent weeks, I have been behind in my postings as I was behind in my editing.
San Ignacio Cemetery
January 18
Life in the jungle: The reason I had traveled to San Ignacio was to be part of a community cleanup. I had always wanted to be a part of a community cleanup, and when I saw an advertisement requesting 100 volunteers to help clean up San Ignacio, I jumped at the opportunity.
The meet-up was at 7:45 AM. Initially, things seemed a little disorganized, which was no surprise. My group met at a different nearby location, though I am not sure how I was supposed to know that. During the initial meeting to get us oriented, an expat woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was Safari Arie. She mentioned that we were Facebook friends and she had even been following me since my bike ride, though she couldn’t recall how she had originally heard of me. It was crazy that she had heard of me in Belize while I was on my bike tour.
I was put with a small group of about 10-12 people, and we were in charge of picking up garbage along Joseph Andrew Drive. Our group was finished by 10 AM, and that seemed like that was it. That was a long way to travel to help clean for two hours. That being said, I suspect that with 100 of us all picking up garbage, we must have picked up a lot. Based on some feedback messages, it seemed that the group enjoyed themselves.
Regarding something that I felt they dropped the ball on, they should have organized some group BBQ afterward to make the event more memorable and facilitate future interest in making this a yearly event. I did post that in the group chat.
Random homes in San Ignacio
With so much time left in the day, I initially decided to head to the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins. When I was there in February of last year, it was overcast, and some of my views and photos weren’t great.
I took the eleven kilometre bus ride and then walked one mile uphill to the entrance gate. When I got to the gate, I saw the (increased) entrance fee of $25 BZ ($12.50 USD), and I asked myself if I wanted to climb ruins for $25, and I thought – not really. Of course, I knew there was an entrance fee. But I guess it triggered an emotion from when I found out that it was $1,200 BZ ($600 USD) to climb Victoria Peak.
I am pretty sure that I am the only “tourist” ever to walk up to Xunantunich Mayan Ruins and change his mind and walk back.
Instead, I walked and followed the Mopan River into Benque Viejo del Carmen. I had never visited there before. So, I walked around for an hour or two and then caught the bus back to San Ignacio. By the time I was back, I was pretty tired and my legs were pretty sore. I spent the remainder of the afternoon doing my favorite thing – taking a nap.
In the evening, I edited 24 more social media reels.
The Mopan River
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church
January 19
Life in the jungle: The other week, when I had planned to come out to San Ignacio, I posted to the Facebook Group Creatures of Belize that I was coming out here and if anyone was interested in a herping adventure, I was available. I got a small response
Herping is the act of searching for amphibians and reptiles in their natural habitats. It is a term derived from “herpetology,” the branch of zoology that focuses on these animals. Herping typically involves activities such as observing, photographing, or documenting species, and it can be done during the day or night, depending on the target species and conditions. Enthusiasts often look for snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles, and salamanders, sometimes combining it with hiking or other outdoor adventures.
At 7 AM, Glen Jacobson and his wife picked me up. We headed up to Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve for the day. Everywhere we traveled was new for me, as I had never visited Mountain Pine Ridge before. Honestly, it felt like I was in a completely different country. I think I need to travel more.
We visited 1,000 foot Water Falls and then took a tour of Green Hills Butterfly Ranch, and then grabbed lunch in Santa Elena. It turned out to be a great experience. I’m so glad I posted that I would be in town. Thanks so much, Glen & Donna Jacobson! Upon my return to the hostel, I attempted a nap, but sleep never came.
One thing I learned today is that when an expat has his Belizean residency, he qualifies for Belizean rates at tourist destinations, and often a Belizean driver’s license is sufficient identification. Last week I was pretty pissed when I was told to hike Victoria Peak that it would cost me $600 USD for a mandatory guide. Now I just found out that with my residency, it would cost a more reasonable $300 USD. When I found this out, I immediately reached out to the Victoria Peak guide about this. As my residency is not complete, he said he needs to find out if a Belizean driver’s license is good enough. On a positive note, if I can’t hike it this year, I can at least hike Victoria Peak next year.
This evening, I converted today’s video clips into 12 short reels.
1,000 Foot Falls
Pink Bellied Swift
Green Hill Butterfly Ranch
January 20
Life in the jungle: Before leaving San Ignacio, I stopped in at another expat’s home and garden and picked up some plants. The other week, Patty Golden posted on Facebook about giving away some Brugmansia (Angel’s Trumpet) cuttings.
My visit was so enjoyable that went until 12:30 PM. In the middle of my visit, her husband, Sam, asked me if I was the guy who canoed the Belize River last year.
After leaving, I ended up waiting 50 minutes for the next bus. It was so late by the time I got back to Belize City that I had to take the 5:30 PM bus in the dark to get home. It’s been a long time since I took that bus. There was some rain today. It was a very long day.
Visiting towns like San Ignacio always renews my appreciation for my little piece of paradise back in the jungle – nice and quiet, and the sounds of birds and monkeys – not traffic and construction.
A large Guanacaste tree – probably the largest tree I have ever seen in Belize.
Two weeks later, the tree split and fell – not my photos
Belize Part 149 (Jan 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 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,e Andy decided to stay in Belize permanently and start a hot sauce company here.
