About
My website
Welcome to the Safari Arie a website that is a work in progress and slowly under construction as I transition dreams and goals.
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 in the jungles of Belize and my new mission
– 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
– environmental posts about different species of trees
– 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.
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.
Environment and Trees
I am a tree lover and while there is lots of information about certain tree species already on the internet sometimes, I like to organize information that is of interest to me.
My legacy goal is to raise a million seedling trees for reforestation of rainforest and jungle in Belize.
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.
Introverted, passionate, alone in the world, risk taker, socially awkward, a thinker, broken inside, adventure seeker, organized, a farmer, Christian, 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 – Because of my current lack of internet connection updating and posting to my website is very difficult at this time.
Stay in touch
Safari Arie’s Latest News
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
10 Reasons Why Bike Touring Is The Best Way To Travel
I reached out to a online magazine in Europe called Pebbles Magazine. They asked me to do a article for them about bike touring. This the first magazine article I ever wrote. You can read it...
Recent Blogs:
Belize Part 16 (Feb 19 to March 4)
February 19 Life in the jungle: I slept in until 7 am. I spent a few hours working at the ponds. After breakfast I weed wacked some areas around the house that were getting overdue. I came across...
Belize Part 15 (Feb 12 to 18)
February 12 Life in the jungle: On my way to chopping at the ponds I saw my first deer in Belize and then I saw an agouti. I spent a good part of my afternoon with my chainsaw. I cut down pretty...
26,000 km’s later and I am still me
26,000 km's through a Canadian winter, through Covid-19 across Canada, down the USA and across Mexico still during Covid-19 and I am still me. I figured if I bike toured through a Canadian winter a...
Environment and Tree Planting
My Environmental Manifesto
If we claim to be serious about the environment doesn't a personal environmental manifesto make sense? Are the poles melting? Is climate change natural or man-made? Actually we need to perhaps be...
What does my bike ride have to do with my passion to have the planet covered in trees?
That's a real good question and in many ways I would say nothing. That being said if there is a away to connect the two dreams and goals I will figure out how along the way. I guess the bike ride...
How I plan to save the planet
Little did I know back in grade 9 the first small seeds of my greatest passion were being planted. No pun intended but from all the way back then a secret passion that I was not even aware of was...