My Angel Trumpet is finally blooming
March 19
Life in the jungle: This morning was cool. I’ve noticed most mornings this entire year have been cool. Today, I headed to the Lands Department in Belmopan to try to get a handle on my multi-year land deeds fiascal. It was a very long day. A lot of waiting, a lot of not really understanding what’s going on. My researcher is doing a horrible job in communicating with me, the Lands Dept supervisor, who is aware of my case, but is confused about the particulars. The researcher is blaming internal departments for passing the buck between each other. I’m hopeful that my time was not in vain.
I also went to a greenhouse/agriculture store to research how to set up a water system for my tree seedlings in my greenhouse.
By the time I was back in Belize City, the next bus leaving was the 5:30 bus. I think only once in over four years have I left the city that late. It also meant reaching the village after dark and heading down my road in the dark. Of course, there was also an accident on the highway that involved a fatality, which required a detour in a country that barely has any roads.
Arriving home, it was far too late to feed the chickens, but after dropping my bags in the house, I headed to the chicken coops for a quick inspection. It was then that I came face to face (10 ft) with what was likely a Mottled Owl. While I hear owls quite regularly, except for my canoe trip the other year, this is only the second time I have seen one in Belize. Of course, I had just plugged in my phone to recharge and left it in the house, as why would I need my phone in the dark? I often consider seeing uncommon wildlife as an omen from God that I am where I’m supposed to be, so I just stood and watched the owl for many minutes before it silently flew away.
I came face-to-face with a Mottled owl last night
March 20
Life in the jungle: Another unseasonably cool morning. After feeding the chickens, I headed to the village to deliver eggs and get groceries. After breakfast, I painted a section on top of the house and the larger cabana all afternoon. The last part of the day, I did some chicken coop repairs.
March 21
Life in the jungle: This morning, I ceramic tiled the kitchen counter in the larger cabana. A couple of days ago, I did the counter in the smaller cabana. I still have to do the grout (for both of them).
After breakfast, I painted another coat on the top of the house and painted more on both cabanas. The last part of the day was spent cutting grass around the house.
Ceramic tile job in the larger cabana
March 22
Life in the jungle: After feeding the chickens, I did a little chopping near the riverbank. Last year, when heavy equipment filled in the area, they didn’t do a very clean job on the top edge of the riverbank. Until I do some smoothing out, I can’t run my lawnmower over some of the parts.
I don’t mess with my riverbank in the interest of protecting the riverbank from erosion. I have two access points to the edge of the river – one access is used for my waterline, and a second access was just a spot that was conducive to creating an access. I took some time to clean this access point.
On a trip back in August 2024, on my way to Mexico and then Canada, I was inspired to someday build a tiny church/chapel on my farm. Church is one of the only things I really miss about Canada. Unfortunately, until the day I see a regular income come to me, I don’t see this building being built anytime soon. It was while cleaning my second river access point that I realized that this would be the perfect location for me to experience “church.” I rarely go to the river edge to enjoy the river; I simply don’t have the time, and at the same time, taking time to be quiet and sit was a new routine I wanted to start in 2026.
There was about a 20-minute rain shower in the morning. After breakfast, I took my mandatory nap in the hammock. While I plan to have church on the riverbank on Sunday mornings after feeding the chickens, I thought I would get a jump on next week’s visit to my riverbank this afternoon. I just sat in silence and watched the river flow past me. I did write a poem called My First Day Back to Church.
My pew and my view
March 23
Life in the jungle: There was a very short rain sprinkle along with grey clouds this morning. This threw me off for my morning plans, so I wrote Belize blog Part 210. I then finished and published a post that I had started many, many weeks ago called – The Sacred Role of Trees in the Maya World: Life, Spirit, and Survival in the Belize Jungle.
After breakfast, I painted a coat of paint on top of my house. Then I headed to the village to deliver eggs and then head to the Community Baboon museum in Bermudian Landing to see if they are any closer to having a plan for my mahogany seedlings. They didn’t seem to be, but I felt that it was a pretty productive talk.
The museum encouraged me to apply for a microgrant to pay for the irrigation system for both my greenhouses. So, this evening, I filled out the application. I just need to get the business I visited in Belmopan the other day to send me a quote on irrigation materials.
A female Green iguana on my road
March 24
Life in the jungle: I shared my The Most Dangerous Animals in the Belize Jungle: Fact or Fiction and my invitation to live on my farm post to Facebook groups this morning. I also sent off my list of materials needed for my greenhouse for a quote.
After breakfast, I continued painting the cabanas. It’s not the most productive day as there are too many messages and comments to my invitation to live on the farm post. But I did get my greenhouse materials quote back and got my microgrant application sent off. Later in the afternoon, I did some greenhouse work.
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 Life in Belize blog post.
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.
Top-Gallon – The local term for when the Belize River floods its banks during the rainy season.
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 rainy season starts around June 1 and goes until the end of the year. It seems June, November, and December are the wettest times of the year.
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.
I arrived at my home on November 25, 2021, by bicycle from Canada. I have journaled my daily adventures every day since. Since I have arrived, I have built a 1,000 sq-ft shade cloth greenhouse, a tiny apartment that I refer to as my greenhouse apartment. I also started and am close to completion of two small cabanas that I refer to as my smaller cabana and my larger cabana. The apartment and cabanas are for visitors and people wishing to move to my farm. I’m also getting close to completing an additional 1,600 sq-ft shade cloth greenhouse.
