March 2
Life in the jungle: Before lunch, I wrote Belize blog Parts 155 and 156 and organized all of February’s photos. Before lunch, I also took a nap and woke up after 1 PM. In the afternoon, I posted Belize blog Part 152 and 153.
Pineapples at my ponds
March 3
Life in the jungle: This morning, I chopped along the road in preparation for Nelson (from the village) and his chainsaw. We need to cut back any and all trees that overhang the road so I can arrange for an excavator and bulldozer to come down the road.
I also made arrangements to purchase a plastic culvert to go in the coconut field. When we finally get an excavator to do some work in the coconut field, we will have to put a culvert in to help give floodwater a way through the field. After lunch, I washed and prepared the septic tank cover for Andy’s apartment to finally be painted.
The Yucatan Banded gecko that I found in Rancho Deloris last week
March 4
Life in the jungle: First thing, I wrote Belize blog Part 154. I then headed back to our road and continued my chopping. In the afternoon, I headed to the village and arranged delivery of the culvert and ordered two skids of cement blocks (360 blocks). I also added a faucet to the greenhouse expansion area.
March 5
Life in the jungle: The flush valve of my toilet broke this morning. First thing, I chopped along the road. The main part of this job is cleaning around trees with large branches overhanging the road so we can access those trees with a chainsaw.
After lunch, I did some painting and started giving the rear deck a good cleaning in preparation for painting.
The heat was definitely on today.
March 6
Life in the jungle: My morning was a little bit frustrating. I got a message that the bushhog was coming last night to cut the coconut field. This morning, I got a message that he was experiencing mechanical issues. I assumed it was minor, and I asked him to keep updated. There was also an unrelated issue in the village that had me needing to be by my phone. I spent my morning washing my deck in preparation for some painting.
After lunch, I decided enough was enough. I couldn’t wait for a bushhog message. I headed down the road and chopped and cleaned around trees along the road that needed to be removed. I was able to finish the whole road.
I ended up never hearing back from bushhog, which was not a surprise.
Chickens and a duck sitting on duck eggs
March 7
Life in the jungle: I stayed close to the house. I was expecting material deliveries (blocks & culvert) and possibly a bushhog, though I was still waiting for an update from yesterday morning.
I gave a fairly thorough cleaning of the chicken coops and a little painting of the house deck. After lunch, I painted and waited some more.
Andy, who had gone to the city at 9:30 AM, apparently crossed paths with the first delivery. I found this out at 3:30 PM. Except I was still waiting for that delivery, and no one had communicated anything to me??? The girl at the shop couldn’t understand why I wasn’t contacted. And by the end of the day, I still had no explanation. In Canada, I say “whatever.” In Belize, Andy and I joke that Belize is not a real place.
Currently, Canada and the US are in the middle of a “tariff war.” Today, Trudeau says to keep booing the American national anthem. There is true leadership if I ever saw it. SMH
March 8
Life in the jungle: I didn’t get much sleep last night. We pretty much spent the entire day cutting trees and opening up the road. There were four of us, including me, Andy, Jamie (internet tower helper), and Nelson from the village (who manages the farm in Rancho Delores, which I visited the other week). We got as far as the ponds, down the road.
It was a hot day, for sure. I actually had a moment where, in the middle of working, leg cramps caused me to virtually collapse. I had two more cramping episodes during the day.
The main purpose of opening up the road is to get an excavator down the road in the near future. The other purpose helps dry the road quicker in the rainy season, as the road gets more sun exposure.
The day before, this sky was not visible
March 9
Life in the jungle: First thing, I headed down the road and cut and removed eight more trees from the side of the road myself. After lunch, I took my mandatory Sunday nap. Late in the afternoon, I headed back down the road to help Andy (who had headed down a little earlier) cut and remove a few more trees. We cut another four trees together.
March 10
Life in the jungle: First thing, I headed down the road and cut down more trees. After lunch, I landed in the hammock for a couple of hours to recoup some of my energy. Later in the afternoon, Andy and I headed down the road and cut down more trees. We have made good progress on the road, and it should only take a few more days to complete the job.
Tapir tracks
We were able to discover jaguar and tapir tracks in the bush, where there is still some mud. I also found a really weird bug called a Prisopus, which supposedly is a stick insect, but looks nothing like one.
It’s called Prisopus, related to stick insects
March 11
Life in the jungle: First thing, I headed down the road to the road to cut trees. I cut down two of the biggest trees. I have to be honest; chainsaw work generally makes me very nervous. I have seen enough videos of what happens when trees don’t fall where you think they will. And when you are alone on the road… I have had a few close calls.
Chainsaw work always makes me nervous
Andy cut trees in the afternoon and found an Orange Huntsman spider. This is a cool spider, and I have never seen one myself.
After lunch, I chilled in the hammock. In the afternoon, I got a call from a guy who is going to (finally) help me build my cabana. Shortly later, he showed up and went over my plans. I have been waiting since June of last year to build this cabana. That pretty much ended my day.
An Orange Huntsman spider that Andy found cutting trees
Belize Part 156 (Feb 23 to March 1)
Belize Part 155 (Feb 17 to 22)
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.
