Rooted in Nature, Roaming Free.
Empowering a life enriched by adventure, exploration, and authenticity. In the heart of Belize’s lush jungle, Safari Arie commits to sustainable practices that preserve nature’s wonders, cherishing the experiences that define our shared journey. Guided by a passion for the wild and a dedication to conservation. My hope is to inspire others to embrace the extraordinary, respect the environment, and live life fully immersed in every moment.
Ways you can support my content:
About
My website
Welcome to the Safari Arie website an attempt to document my life and what goes on inside my head at any given moment.
The genesis of this website was to document my bike ride travels from Canada to the bottom of Argentina. Let’s just say I got about half way down before time caught up with me and I had to abandon that dream to pursue another dream of living in Belize.
Ideally a website has a single focus to attract a specific target audience, my website does not have a single focus. Ultimately this website has become a hodge podge of many subjects and themes.
Some of the categories of content that can be found here includes the following:
– documentation of my day-to-day life and struggles in the jungles of Belize
– Belize flora and fauna that I come across in my day
– documentation of my 26,000 km bike ride across Canada, the US and Mexico to my home in Belize
– assorted blog posts on bike touring in general
– personal journaling of how I interpret my life (a form of therapy) and thoughts about reflection and wisdom
– my poetry
Expanding on these categories
Life in Belize
My first visit to Belize was in 1997. I bought a house in the Community Baboon Sanctuary in 2003. Currently I live in Belize on a 42 acre farm in the village of Scotland Halfmoon.
Belize – Flora and Fauna
On any given day I come across creatures that I have never seen before or creatures that I see on a regular basis. One of two things happens, either my favorite photos get lost in the hundreds of photos I take on a monthly basis or after getting help with identifying an insect (for example) I have forgotten what it is six months later. This page helps me keep my best photos all together and is an easy reference for my to be able to re-identify an unusual insect that I have found again.
2019 – 2021 Bike Ride
On November 12, 2019 from St. John’s NL, I biked 12,340 km’s across Canada during the 2019-20 Canadian winter and Covid-19. I continued south through the USA biking almost 8,000 km’s along the Pacific Ocean and South West. Entering Mexico at Mexicali I biked another 6,000 km’s south and across Mexico to Chetumal arriving at my home in Belize November 25, 2021.
Bike and Camping
Biking 26,000 km’s gave me some insight to a few categories about bike touring in general.
Personal Journaling
This category is a work in progress and I am not sure what this will look like or where it’s going. The internal works of my mind is not a pretty sight. I also like to collect quotes of wisdom and reflection through better questions. Its my hope to explore that here also.
Poetry
Most of my poetry is not exactly uplifting. Read at your own discretion.
So ultimately this is a website for better or worse about a guy named Arie Hoogerbrugge.
Who is Arie Hoogerbrugge?
Arie was born May 18, 1973 and raised middle class in the small town of Grimsby, Ontario Canada with 2 younger brothers.
The following terms in one form or another reflect who Arie is as a person.
Christian, introverted, passionate, alone in the world, risk taker, socially awkward, a thinker, broken inside, adventure seeker, organized, a farmer, lover of beauty, mindful, financially broke, complicated, reptile and amphibian lover, freedom first, unorthodoxed, despises stupidity, podcast lover, accountable, poet, generally misunderstood, tree lover, probably foolish, minimalist, conscious, entrepreneurial, trusts no one, impatient, hard worker, blogger, single, old fashioned, ex-truck driver, cheap Dutchman, stubborn, loyal, serious personality, goal oriented, cyclist, lazy, romantic, fussy eater, photographer, unbalanced lifestyle, neat freak and has many failures and regrets in life.
Thanks for stopping by
Arie Hoogerbrugge
“May your greatest dreams and goals be ahead of you; not behind you.”
***Note – After having no internet connection for 18 months I finally have internet. I am working my fastest to get up to date on my blogs. That being said I am currently over a year behind in posting my daily Belize blog posts.
Stay in touch
Safari Arie’s Latest News
Jewellery making in Creel Mexico?
As crazy as it sounds I am taking an extra 10 days in Creel Mexico to learn how to make jewellery from a jewellery making master with 30 years experience in making jewellery. Read about how this...
On June 9, 2012 I entered Mexico
Check out my US summary blog post about biking through the US and all my stats HERE
We just released our Prairie to Badlands documentary video
We just released our Prairie to Badlands documentary video from when I biked from Manitoba to Calgary last year. Check out the video HERE
Recent Blogs:
Belize Part 29 (June 2 to 12)
June 2 Life in the jungle: It rained and thundered hard last night with a power outage. Because I couldn't run a fan during the power outage, I spent the first part of the night in my hammock....
Royal Palm
Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roystonea_regia# Royal Palms are common in the area and on the farm. I have a local harvest the bark/outer skin of the tree to use for natural and...
Central American Wood Turtle
Central American Wood turtle - Rhinoclemmys areolata Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furrowed_wood_turtle Locally know as Black-bellied turtle. Reasonably common at certain times of...
Belize Part 28 (May 28 to June 1)
May 28 Life in the jungle: It must have rained most of the night and into the morning. The road is drenched and it was a wet bike ride to the bus in the rain. I bussed it to Belize City and then...
Belize Part 27 (May 22 to 27)
May 22 Life in the jungle: I was expecting to wake up to heavy rain. It never came. I woke up and went down to my hammock and ended up sleeping until 10 AM. My day was spent completing my...
Weevil
Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weevil More Belizean Creatures Green-headed Tree Snake Passion Flower