August 10
Life in the jungle: First thing, I slaughtered a broiler (meat) chicken, a duck, and a rooster. I then planted three Moringa and an Annatto shrub (Ricardo seasoning) seedlings in the coconut field.
My Sunday morning nap came a little later than I hoped for. After a late lunch, I felt unmotivated, so I returned to my hammock. Being that today is my guilt-free day off, I didn’t get frustrated at my lack of motivation.
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August 11
Life in the jungle: Last night, insomnia hit. Once a month or every other month, it hits. I’m not sure if last night’s was related to yesterday’s extra nap. First thing I slaughtered another broiler (meat) chicken, a duck, and a rooster. I then hit the hammock. I was frustrated with myself for doing so, but I didn’t want the rest of the day to drag from exhaustion related to a lack of sleep.
I was actually planning to go to the city this morning. Last week, an Amazon package arrived for me. The freight company (US Belize Trade) gave me this expensive freight charge that, at the time, I didn’t give much thought to. But when I compared it to my usual freight charges, which are usually about $135 USD (including customs clearance), this charge was almost four times more. With time last night to look at the numbers, I realized there was no way I was paying this charge. It was far cheaper to abandon the package.
I messaged them, not expecting a reply on a Sunday evening. They actually replied, but not to my question as to why the freight charge was so expensive. So, I told them to keep the package, expecting a response, but I got none. I will happily walk away from my purchase of $150 USD, then let them rip me off, but I was expecting some kind of negotiation response. I figured maybe whoever was on the other side of the messages needed to confer with someone, so I figured I would give them a day to figure it out.
I feel like this is the 30th time I have been ripped off or attempted to be ripped off in this country. I am often amused at tourists who post on Facebook Groups about how they want to move here because the people are so nice. They sure are nice here, some of the nicest, but move here and deal with the other half, and you will discover a whole different country within the country you visited on vacation. Anyway, I suspect this may be why insomnia hit me last night.
After lunch, I laid out the format and questions for my complimentary 30-minute video chats with prospective Belize jungle lifestyle and bike touring clients for this consulting business I am trying to get up and running.
Black-tail Cribo snake
August 12
Life in the jungle: I headed to the city to track down a surveyor that I had tracked down over a month ago about my old surveyors. He was supposed to get back to me over a month ago and has since stopped responding to my messages. I will never forget one of the first things he told me when we met. When I told him I was Canadian, he mentioned that he got his education in Toronto, and one of the things they taught him was about honesty and integrity in this business. Oh, the irony.
On the bus to the city, I sent the following message to U.S. Belize Trade:
I send this message only because I find myself in the city this morning.
You are attempting to charge me almost four times the freight on my current order. Before I allow myself to be ripped off in this country again, I will happily give up on my package. That being said, there is still an expense to me that demands restitution.
So, this goes only one of two ways. I pay the usual $100 BZ for freight and $70 BZ for clearance, and we go our separate ways. Or I get restitution via online reviews. You will see from my profile that I am extremely active on Facebook and a member of virtually every Belize expat group, including Belize Business Review.
Freight questions are very common in these Groups. Historically, I scroll past. How you wish to proceed will determine if I continue scrolling or share my experience (every time) moving forward.
I am not looking for negotiation or explanation, just “deal” or “no deal”. Or no response is fine by me.
If you choose to respond – “deal” I need to know by 11 AM to have time to catch my bus back home.
Regards
Arie
Like I wrote in yesterday’s blog entry – the nicest people in the world live here.
First, I met with the surveyor. He had many apologies for not getting back to me. But he said that he found my stuff, and he said that the reason that things were not completed is that they were waiting for a government approval that my (then) lawyer was dealing with, but it never happened. He also said that, from how long ago the job was started, there was now another approval required by the government, and I would need to get someone else to help with that. He said he would email everything and the next steps to me. The conversation was hopeful, but in my experience, 98% of hopeful conversations in this country turn out to be disappointments. [The surveyor continues to give me unnecessary grief.]
The freight company reluctantly agreed to my demands. They were pissed. After getting my packages, I was frustrated with myself for having to go to such lengths, and at the same time, frustrated because, looking at my packages, I realized that I still overpaid on shipping.
Returning home, I asked Andy what the freight should have been looking at my two boxes. Right away, he said $60 BZ each. I had to blackmail and still paid $85 BZ each. Whatever.
After feeding the chickens at 4:30, I went back to the village. On the road, I caught a smallish Black-tail Cribo snake. I was finally, after six months of waiting, able to pick up an iPhone that had been promised to me. I need this iPhone to be able to start my Belize and bike tour consulting, as my current cell phone camera lens is cracked. I ended up coming home in the dark.
Black-tail Cribo snake
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.
