May 7
Life in the jungle: First thing, I headed down the road and finished yesterday’s chopping off. A heavy equipment company is coming in a week, and I want to make sure the road is 100% ready for their trucks.
Then I mixed half a bag of cement and poured the two forms for a new passion fruit trellis I dug the other day.
Then Andy and I headed to Ladyville for an ATM visit. Returning home, I took a much-needed nap. I was still tired from yesterday. I did odd jobs with the remainder of my afternoon.
May 8
Life in the jungle: First thing, I slaughtered two ducks. Which was a mistake, they were too young and barely had any meat. I then mixed half a bag of cement for more patio stones. Then, Andy and I headed to the city for one last ATM withdrawal for the impending heavy equipment work.
Returning home, I worked on the steps for the new cabana. The excavator guy confirmed this afternoon that they will arrive on Tuesday morning. Things continue to be very hot.
May 9
Life in the jungle: This morning, I mixed cement for more patio stones. I then framed the passion fruit trellis that I had made footings for.
After lunch, I took a nap in the hammock. Later in the afternoon, I went back to work on the cabana deck step. I realized that I needed some lumber to complete the job. I headed to the village with my bike trailer. Three 1x6x8ft and one 1x8x10ft pieces of lumber on the bike trailer is a fairly heavy load to pull.
May 10
Life in the jungle: First thing, I mixed half a bag of cement to make more patio stones. I then finished the new cabana deck steps.
The new cabana has steps now
After lunch, I took (another) nap. I’ve been pretty tired lately. I have been working pretty hard this dry season, getting essential jobs done. Mostly, I am now waiting for the excavator to show up, and then the next round of essential work is needed. Wisdom dictates get some rest when an opportunity presents itself.
In the afternoon, I set up the passion fruit trellis and planted four passion fruit plants.
There was a tiny bit of rain in the morning and a little rain this evening.
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May 11
Life in the jungle: I mixed half a bag of cement for more patio stones and dug one hole to add another footing to the new passion fruit trellis.
After lunch, I took a nap, and in the afternoon, I figured out my lumber needs for the next cabana. This cabana will be 12x12ft with a 4ft deck. The last cabana was 10x12ft with a 4ft deck. Moving forward, any new cabanas built will be at least 12x12ft.
May 12
Life in the jungle: I started my morning with the usual mixing half a bag of cement for more patio stones. I then reset a portion of cement blocks that were part of the floor area of the chicken coop area. Often, blocks have to be reset months later from some initial shifting.
After lunch, I worked on some touch-up painting on the new cabana.
The excavator was first confirmed for tomorrow morning, but at the end of the day, they somehow realized that the excavator was too big to cross our local bridge. So tomorrow, instead of arriving, they will switch out for a smaller excavator in the city that can cross the bridge.
May 13
Life in the jungle: First thing, I mixed half a bag of cement for more patio stones, and I also poured a footing for the passion fruit trellis.
Exhaustion overtook me related to really bad allergies in the last month or two. I thought I was just taking a short nap, but I woke up hours later.
I did a little bit more painting in the afternoon. The interior of the cabana is finished painting, except for the floor.
May 14
Life in the jungle: I mixed more cement for more patio stones, and I worked on my passion fruit trellis.
The heavy equipment guys showed up late. They got the bulldozer hooked on the bridge coming into Scotland Halfmoon. They showed up at 2 PM and worked until 6:30. They were going fairly quickly and got a good-sized start done quickly. It’s almost a shock to see them here. After four years of being in Belize, this job is finally being done.
I need a pond dug and the river lot filled in to turn the river lot into usable land. I need a pond dug in the coconut field to fill in an area where Andy can expand his hot pepper plants. I need another pond dug in the coconut field to fill in space for possible future houses. And I need the sides of the road bulldozed to open up the road more to facilitate the road drying quicker in the rainy season.
With the heavy equipment on location, I should be messaging the Victoria Peak tour guide to see about any last-minute hikes left in the year. But a few days ago, I got a good-sized sore in my armpit. Not really sure what it is or how I got it.
Filling in the river lot
May 15
Life in the jungle: The excavator and bulldozer guys got the river lot about 98% finished today. They went digging for water in the pond and probably dug about 35 feet. We did discover a trickle of water coming out of the side of the pond. We will see what happens.
I also had them dig out the small pond in front of the house. By making the pond a little deeper, the water will stay in the pond longer (into the dry season).
I also started laying some of my recently made patio stones on and off throughout the day. I am expanding my driveway to help deal with rainy season flooding and mud.
A pond was dug to create a new hot pepper field
May 16
Life in the jungle: Today was a full day. The river lot was finished. I also had the dozer smooth out the road allowance area in front of the house.
We also got the new hot pepper field pond dug and land filled; a culvert put in the coconut field, and another pond started in the coconut field.
I never even ate today. The excavator was trucked out at the end of the day, and the bulldozer has one more day of work (on Sunday).
Putting a culvert in the coconut field
May 17
Life in the jungle: Today, I went to the city (by bus) to pick up my bike. I brought the bike in with Andy a week ago for a tune-up. I also attempted to figure out my armpit sore through a pharmacist. I only got vague answers and some cream. [The cream would end up doing the job.]
I am so exhausted, I am having difficulty figuring out left from right. I was considering hitting the hammock straight away, but Verna Mae gave me a bag of Mallay apple seeds. A month ago, she gave me a bag of seeds. I found out a week later that Malley apple seeds need to be planted 24-48 hours after extraction. So, I had no choice but to plant them now.
When I arrived home, I discovered that Pepper was loose (escaped the yard), and I discovered five missing duck eggs out of the chicken coop.
Malley apple & seed
May 18
Life in the jungle: This morning, when I woke up, I had turned 52. I have no problems saying that I am glad to be 52 and not 22.
This morning, I did a little chicken coop cleaning and yard work. I was expecting the dozer guy. There was some back-and-forth communication, and at first, they canceled for today. I took a nap, and then they arrived unexpectedly. They got most of the coconut field completed, but I want more material spread tomorrow.
I also had the bulldozer scrape a strip along each side of most of our road. They didn’t move any dirt but scraped off any vegetation (bushes or trees) to help widen the road to help facilitate the road drying quicker during the rainy season. The operator finished about 80% of the road. He worked until 6:30 PM. It was a very long day. I am utterly exhausted.
Cleaning the side of the road & getting another pond dug out in the coconut field
May 19
Life in the jungle: This morning, I watched my youngest ducks take their first flights from my window.
The dozer started at 6 AM and finished the road and including being down for two hours finished the coconut field by lunchtime. I was led to believe the cost of everything would be at least $12,000 USD. Everything came to a hair over $6,000 USD. This is a project I have been trying to get started and done for the past four years. It’s hard to believe it’s done.
In the afternoon, I took a nap, and in the evening, I prepared for some R&R on Caye Caulker tomorrow.
This happened this morning.
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.
