May 20
Life in the jungle: Today, I took a water taxi out to Caye Caulker for a few days of rest and relaxation. I intentionally chose Caye Caulker over San Pedro because there is less to do, such as hunting for crocodiles. I really need to do (mostly) nothing for a few days.
I checked into Go Slow Hostel. It seems that there is only one other guest here who was also on my water taxi leaving Belize City.
The first thing I did was lie in a hammock. In the afternoon went looking for something to eat and walked around a bit. I booked a snorkeling trip for tomorrow morning. I showered and napped until 8:30 pm.
At about 9 pm, I headed out to discover that much of the island was pretty closed down for the night. I expected more bars to be open. I stopped by about half a dozen bars looking for a 501 or Land Shark (brand) beer, and to my surprise, I couldn’t find a bar serving those brands. So, I walked back to the hostel and went to bed.
Today, I also sent out almost 200 birthday wish thank yous (from May 18).
Plain fry jacks. My favorite.
Caye Caulker
May 21
Life in the jungle: The other week, I noticed a lump in my armpit. I have never had anything like this before. The cream the pharmacists recommend seems to be working as the lump is finally disappearing.
Yesterday, I booked a snorkelling tour with Salt Life Tours. We were the first boat out. We made two stops looking for manatees. At first, I thought the tour guides were BS’ing us about the possibility of seeing any. The second stop was a score. We saw two manatees and jumped in the water.
This is the first time I’ve seen manatees in the wild, but my second time experiencing them. Last year, during my Belize River multiday canoe trip, we had a manatee explode through the water under our canoe as we entered Haulover Creek.
Manatees
We then headed to a place called Coral Garden, and I saw three Green Sea turtles. I just hovered above them and watched. I feel like they must be one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet. I could have watched them all day. I once saw a sea turtle in 2002 from a far distance in the Florida Keys. Just seeing the sea turtles made this year worth it for me.
Green Sea Turtles. Sea turtles are probably my most favorite animal in the world.
We made a few other stops, including Shark Ray Alley, and saw tons of nurse sharks. Unlike my first experience with snorkeling last year on San Pedro, this tour company doesn’t chum the water.
On the way back, we stopped at a (famous) tarpon sanctuary where the tarpon eat fish from tourists’ hands. We also visited a stingray beach, where I also saw a Robin fish.
Later in the afternoon, I revisited the stingray beach and the tarpon sanctuary on my own and also discovered a seahorse sanctuary (but saw no seahorses). All in all, a very good day!
Tarpon Sanctuary
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May 22
Life in the jungle: First thing in the morning, I took a fairly long stroll around the island for photographs. I revisited the sea horse sanctuary, but I saw none.
After an outrageously expensive breakfast, I took a long nap. Mostly, I didn’t plan to do much of anything until I leave tomorrow morning.
I did edit 20 short reel social media videos in the afternoon and evening. I was actually hoping to get about 50 done during my stay, but such is life.
Caye Caulker ambulance
May 23
Life in the jungle: First thing, I took a short walk back to the seahorse sanctuary, but I still didn’t see one. This was my third visit. I did see a beautiful miniature species of sting ray there.
I caught the 8:30 am departure back to the city. I was ready to go back home and get back to work.
The water taxi ride is a one hour ride. I couldn’t help but notice how Belize City has a way of slapping you back into reality.
Jaguar or mountain lion tracks on the road
May 24
Life in the jungle: First thing, I worked on filling some flood zone areas with dirt created from the heavy equipment job the other week.
Late in the morning, I headed to the village. I needed to find two people about jobs I needed to complete, preferably before the rainy season next week.
I need fence wiring and fence repair work done now that the heavy equipment work is done. More importantly, I need a mini excavator to dig about 350 ft of trenches asap. I need the trenches dug for water, electrical, and septic purposes. I talked to both people. Hopefully, things work out.
Later in the afternoon, I moved more dirt.
Nurse Sharks
May 25
Life in the jungle: I installed a new breaker box in the new cabana. This box will feed all future cabanas. Andy will wire it up. I then prepared for trenches to be dug next week. I had to locate any and all PVC pipes currently running underground. I also had to stake out desired locations for the trenches.
I then got in my Sunday afternoon nap. In the afternoon, I reviewed and double-checked my next cabana materials list in preparation for tomorrow.
May 26
Life in the jungle: I tagged along with Andy for his passport stamp to Belmopan so we could go to Spanish Lookout so I could purchase lumber for the next cabana. I haven’t been to Spanish Lookout since 1998. Except for the cohune and coconut palm trees, the place reminds me of 519 area code, southern Ontario.
I figured I saved at least $750 to $1,000 USD on the lumber purchased today compared to the village lumber yard.
Andy got stuck at immigration for two hours. The day was hot and became very long.
May 27
Life in the jungle: First thing, I slaughtered a broiler (meat) chicken. I then spent the whole day moving dirt. It’s sort of slow going as I am digging dirt out of my front yard (shallow) pond. The other week, when the excavator dug this particular pond deeper, some of the dumped dirt spilled back into the (dried out) pond. So, I am digging the dirt out of the pond.
Today was wicked hot. I discovered a dead broiler chicken that was scheduled to be slaughtered tomorrow. What a waste.
The largest piece of Mayan pottery I have found on my farm so far. Approx hand size.
Found as a result of being dug up by recent heavy equipment work on my farm.
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 parents’ 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 riverfrontage 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.
