September 25Life in the jungle: First thing, a few sprinkles fell, and things were super foggy. I took this as a cue to work on my blogs. I wrote and mostly completed writing a post on the Fer-de-Lance snake.
After lunch, I headed to the ponds to finish chopping. Fortunately, it was only light chopping, but I don’t know if it was the humidity, but in no time, I was soaked in sweat and drained. I pushed through because it was light chopping, but when I got home, I had to rest for the better part of the rest of the afternoon in the hammock.
I slaughtered a duck when I fed the chickens at the end of the day.
Pepper & Saucy get very lazy in the rainy season
September 26
Life in the jungle: It took a while to fall asleep last night. My monkey mind would not let me sleep. Not good when your alarm is set for 4 AM
I started another new blog post about dangerous creatures of Belize and did laundry. I then headed to the village for groceries. Our road is really getting overgrown. After lunch, I couldn’t get motivated to work outside. I’m just not motivated to be outside right now. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there is a lot of mud everywhere.
I did a tiny bit of work on my Fer-de-Lance post. I posted looking for photos of adult snakes and information on antivenom in Belize. I only have photos of baby Fer-de-lances. I received a few personal messages. I also kept working on Belize’s most dangerous animals blog post. The motivation for this post is that there are a bunch of high-traffic websites that are posting incorrect or sensationalized information on dangerous creatures found in Belize.
I slaughtered a broiler later in the day.
A baby Red-cheeked mud turtle in the yard
September 27
Life in the jungle: I spent the whole day working on and publishing my post called The Most Dangerous Animals in the Belize Jungle: Fact or Fiction.
There was a lot of heavy thunder all day, but the rain never came.
September 28
Life in the jungle: I realized that I never posted my Creatures That Find Their Way Into Homes in the Jungles of Belize, so I did that. I then finished a downloadable hurricane preparedness checklist for my hurricane blog post. So I was also able to post that post.
In a week, I have written and posted five key blog posts (plus one more almost complete) on jungle creatures and lifestyle:
- Managing the Rainy Season in the Belize Jungle: Tips for Daily Life
- Exploring Belize’s Black Howler Monkeys
- The Most Dangerous Animals in the Belize Jungle: Fact or Fiction
- Creatures That Find Their Way Into Homes in the Jungles of Belize
- The Ultimate Guide to Hurricane Preparedness in Belize
With a Fer-de-Lance blog post on its way.
I also wrote Belize blog Part 186 this morning, and then decided on and started writing What I Wish I Knew Before Moving to the Jungle in Belize blog post. It’s written, SEO and AI optimized, and ready to be added to my website.
I have a duck mystery. I noted a few days ago that one of my original female ducks that was incubating eggs under a broiler rearing box (4x4x4ft) went missing. Last night, with a flashlight, I looked under the box, no duck, no eggs. Did a snake get her? It would have had to be a very large boa constrictor, and I feel like I would have found that snake digesting nearby. Did an opossum get her? First, I think she’s too big for an opossum to take down, and secondly, I don’t think an opossum would drag her far. Because there were no eggs that I could see, I wondered if her eggs had hatched, and to give them space from the other ducks, she took them a short way into the bush.
But then this evening, when I went out to feed everyone, there were seven ducklings wandering around, but not the missing mom. But another female duck got upset with me for collecting up all the ducklings. So this is a whole other clutch of ducklings. These ducklings walking around with everyone else suggest that there is no sense to the theory that the mother duck took her ducklings somewhere else.
I usually take a Sunday morning nap, truthfully, with a 4 AM morning alarm. I’m now scared to take that nap for fear of having difficulty falling asleep at 8 PM. No rain today.
I found some ducklings wandering around the yard
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September 29
Life in the jungle: I started researching how to convert blogs to YouTube. This resulted in me becoming mentally exhausted, which resulted in me in my hammock. After lunch, I resumed my research. I actually found a video that mentioned an AI option on Capcut that I wasn’t aware of.
I did a bit of a deep dive, and it looks like a viable option for me. I need to have a YouTube strategy. While I have posted at least 400 short reels, I haven’t done any long-form video content since I arrived in Belize. Between YouTube being the number one platform and the problems I have had with my blog posts being shared on Facebook groups, I need to plan forward.
September 30
Life in the jungle: I attempted to use a jungle lifestyle blog post in an AI video. Needless to say, it went badly and made it clear that this was not a path forward. I reflected on the process, and I think I have an idea moving forward.
I headed to the village for four broiler chicks. I should have ordered them a few weeks ago. Hopefully, we don’t run out of chicken.
Today was not really very productive; I mostly watched YouTube videos about trends and how to think about creating content. I know this is something I need to take seriously moving forward. But by the end of the day, I think I have a YouTube vision.
At the end of the day, I slaughtered a broiler (meat) chicken.
My Dutchman pipe vine is starting to produce lots of flowers
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.
