Earlier in June, I started building a new cabana with help from a local named Steve and his crew.
July 1
Life in the jungle: Steve showed up with a helper, and we finally tackled my house roof. The plan was to remove the old zinc roof (about 25 years old) and replace it with the new zinc that arrived the other day. The plan was to then put the old zinc on the new cabana, as the zinc was still very usable.
That being said, I was quite fearful, as removing your house roof during the rainy season could end very badly if it decided to rain. And, I knew it would become a big job from the start. I also knew removing the zinc would cause irreparable damage to the upper exterior (plycem) wall, that is, the back wall from the loft (above the kitchen).
Sure enough, because of the damage caused, Steve had to make a special trip to the lumber store to get more plycem. Removing the zinc also revealed a roof that was not properly built from the beginning. There was no way to rebuild it, but we were able to improve the framing to a semi-quasi-acceptable roof.
I have lost count of how many situations I have come across where my ex-property manager (who built the house) did a horrible job. It was a very long day. I had been stressing over this day since the rainy season started. But fortunately, for a very busy day, overall things went pretty well.
We have one small section of plycem to complete, though this section is in a very challenging spot due to the pitch of the roof on the other side of the house.
I actually got quite a bit of sun on my face, and while there was a point where the sky looked like it would rain, somehow, I knew the clouds would move on. I ate my first meal of the day at 7:45 PM.
There were some short showers this evening. The river level dropped. I thought, given the flooding in the country, I was the river would topgallon from recent heavy rains.
Replacing a large section of my house roof.
All this exposure during the rainy season is very scary for me.
July 2
Life in the jungle: Steve showed up with a helper. We finished the house roof and put the old zinc on the new cabana. Steve’s jobs here are now done. I was feeling a fair amount of pressure to get this job completed. I thought for sure things would go sideways trying to do these jobs during the rainy season.
Afterwards, I headed to the village to pay a few bills. I also got two Buddha Belly bamboo stalks plus almost 200 cuttings from Nelson. Budda Belly bamboo is an exotic, ornamental type of bamboo. No rain today.
Roof installed on the newest cabana
July 3
Life in the jungle: I couldn’t get out of bed this morning. Part of me is exhausted from the last few days. When I did get going, I planted the two Buddha Belly bamboo stalks I got yesterday. I then did a final clean-up of the last few days’ work.
After an early lunch, I had no choice but to take an hour nap in the hammock. It actually helped. I spent the rest of the afternoon filling about 200 planting bags with dirt for the 200 bamboo cuttings.
The last part of the day, I dug a little bit of dirt into trenches. I still have all the trenches that were dug at the end of May, only half-filled with dirt. No rain today.
I planted my two Buddha Belly bamboo stalks
July 4
Life in the jungle: First thing, I planted the 200 Buddha Belly bamboo cuttings. I then basically spent the rest of the day finishing Andy’s compost toilet. I started the framing of the room for the compost toilet back in early April. I now just have to hang the door. A little rain last night, none today.
200 Buddha Belly cuttings
The compost toilet is required as a backup because, during the rainy season, Andy’s toilet does not work very efficiently due to groundwater saturation.
I am confident that his 100 sq ft apartment (now 120 sq ft) is the smallest home with two toilets in the world.
A new compost toilet for Andy’s apartment
July 5
Life in the jungle: First thing, I mixed half a bag of cement and made three forms for a passion fruit trellis. Recently, I have been building trellises for passion fruit around my house.
After lunch, I worked on painting the first new cabana (kitchen) floor. It’s almost getting confusing how many cabanas we have now. There’s the one Andy lives in, the one we built in March, that will temporarily be used as Andy’s hot sauce kitchen, and then the third cabana we just finished building the other day.
The last part of the day, I installed some of the cabbage palm lumber on my rear deck. I started this deck almost two years ago. Over a year ago, I ran out of a special type of lumber that I recently acquired the other week. No rain today.
I found out today that Nick Molnar died on June 21st of a seizure. Nick was my reptile wholesale manager back in 2000-2002. He had been living in the Mindo Cloud Forest in Ecuador for the past decade. We last chatted on November 20, 2023. I never know what to say about a person after they have died. Reading a news article about his death, it would appear he had a passion for conservation that has since been lost to me.
July 6
Life in the jungle: I mixed another half bag of cement and made two trellis forms and four patio stones. I then framed the trellis for my Dutchman pipe vines.
I took my Sunday afternoon nap, and nothing more was accomplished today. There was a brief but strong rain shower that came through at the end of the day.
Building trellises for Passion fruit and my Dutchman pipe vine
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 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 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.
