February 23
Life in the jungle: In the morning, I got a bunch of odd jobs out of the way. The main job was to add another water faucet behind the chicken coops. I will have to move my collection of seedlings shortly to make room for when an excavator comes later in the year. I am running out of space in my yard, and the seedlings need to be close to a water source and out of the way.
After lunch, I spent as much time in the hammock as I could. In the evening, I packed for Rancho Delores tomorrow. A friend from the village, Nelson, is allowing me and taking me to spend a few days out there to explore a 2,000 acre farm he manages. I actually visited this farm back in February 2022 for a few hours when Nelson’s father managed it.
The sky desperately wanted to rain today, but thankfully, it didn’t. Hopefully, the dry season will prevail this time.
February 24
Life in the jungle: I headed to the village to meet up with Nelson, to head to Rancho Delores. He lives on the main road, and about 150 feet from his house, I startled a mountain lion. I couldn’t believe it. As I was looking over my left-hand shoulder to see if I could safely veer into the oncoming lane to turn into his driveway, I heard a loud rustle in the vegetation on the right of me. I turned my head just in time to see a mountain lion jump into the thicker vegetation of the jungle. I was about 15 feet from him. I love living in Belize!
Reaching the farm in Rancho Deloris, I spent most of the day riding on the bumper of a tractor, following and cleaning a trail through the jungle.
My accommodations & view
Tonight, I am sleeping in a two-story house on top of the highest point in Rancho Delores. From the second floor, I can see the Digicell Tower in Bermudian Landing, and at night, I can see lights from Hattieville and the lights in Spanish Lookout.
During the day, we saw fresh tapir tracks. At the house, I spotted an endangered Crested Guan, a Plain Chachalaca, and a male Summer Tanager. Apparently, Crested Guans are fairly common on the farm. In fact, many of the endangered animals found in Belize are fairly common on the farm.
Tapir tracks
The house has no electricity, and in the evening, I discovered that the house is also totally infested with scorpions. With a flashlight, in less than two minutes, I found about half a dozen scorpions in the ceiling trusses of the roof above where I would be sleeping.
After dark, I did an hour-and-a-half walk through the jungle trails and came across a Yucatan Banded gecko. I also saw a few Pauraques.
No rain during the day, and nice weather, but a short rain shower at about 10 PM.
From my night walk. The birds are Pauraques
February 25
Life in the jungle: The morning was overcast, but that cleared up before lunch. Before lunch, we worked on cleaning some rows of bamboo. On the farm, they grow about nine species of bamboo. The bamboo species range from ornamental to construction-grade bamboo. After lunch, we cut down some jackfruit and breadfruit trees growing on the farm that were not healthy. There are a LOT of jackfruit and breadfruit trees on the farm.
Lots of Jackfruit on the farm
Tonight, I did another hour and a half night walk through some jungle trails. I noticed that I missed the Howler monkeys I have on my farm. Apparently, Howler monkeys occasionally visit this farm.
Lots of bamboo on this farm
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February 26
Life in the jungle: The other night it was pretty cool, but last night felt cold at about 14C (57F). From my time on the farm, I am also covered in bug bites. The worst bug bites that I have experienced from as far back as I can remember. My body looks like I have the measles.
Wooden bowl manufacturing
We left Rancho Deloris just after lunch. I had to make a separate trip to the village to be able to carry the plants and cuttings I collected from the farm – Lobster claw heliconia, Red ginger, and Madre de Cacao. I also got some Mahogany, Calamondin lime, Bilimbi tree, and Annatto (Recardo seasoning) seeds.
Our road is drying up quickly.
Lobster claw heliconia – I was allowed to dig up some young shoots from the large clump of plants.
February 27
Life in the jungle: I went all the way to the city to get some calcium hydroxide because a store representative told me they carried it. But they didn’t. Rrr! I am looking for this to be able to water-glass eggs for preserving purposes.
I then headed to the medical clinic for my blood results. A few weeks ago, I had some blood taken and tested. It turns out that my cholesterol is 209, and they prefer to see no higher than 200. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t drive a truck still. Other than that, I am good to go.
Returning home, I worked on moving most of my seedlings behind the chicken coops. My seedlings are in a bad spot when an excavator eventually comes to the farm to do some work. Also, I have a bunch of extra seedlings, specifically lime seedlings that have been sitting around for a long time. They are now going to Rancho Delores in a few weeks.
Red Ginger – I was able to gig up some young shoots from this plant also.
February 28
Life in the jungle: Today, I stayed pretty close to the house. I worked a little bit on the chicken coops, and I finished my passion fruit trellis I started the other week. I moved a bunch more seedlings behind the chicken coops. I also planted quite a few seeds into cups. I planted some passion fruit, Recardo seasoning, a few different flowering plant seeds, and 50 Mahogany tree seeds.
There was some unexpected rain during lunch.
Sometimes I discover a random nest of chicken & duck eggs
My passion fruit trellis
My seedling collection moved to a new temporary home
March 1
Life in the jungle: First thing, I headed to the village for groceries. Most of the rest of the day was spent planting seeds and replanting a few older seedlings.
Seeds planted included 82 mahogany, 30 Calamondin limes, and 15 bilimbi trees. For the moment, my seed planting is finished.
In the last hour before dark, I was able to finish the last of the chopping in the coconut field. I am now ready for the bushhog.
I planted quite a few seeds in the last few days
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Belize Part 155 (Feb 17 to 22)
Belize Part 154 (Feb 12 to 16)
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of words or people that may or may not be part of this particular 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 at the end of 2023. When I offered Andy 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.
