Yesterday morning we headed out to the property to meet with Tony, the guy with the scraper that could remove all the stumps from our newly made road. He is also the guy that will bring in at least 10 loads of gravel to lay down after the stumps are removed. Other good news is that they had already started digging the ditch for the water line, which is being dug by hand.

Thought they would use a backhoe, but we were told that this way they can employ more people, so it all makes sense. After getting Tony all lined up we decided that we should head up to some secret local swimming hole to cool off that Lucy from Crystal Paradise told us about.

A little bit up the dirt road we decided we should get more gas in the car since we were heading off to the middle of nowhere. So we turned around and went to our little San Antonio station to top off the tank. As we pulled up there was a small pick up with two 55 gal barrels in the back. We thought they were filling up the tanks in the truck, but just the opposite… they were siphoning the fuel into 5 gal buckets and then pouring it into the tanks for the pump. Never seen that before but it got us in and out of the jungle without any problems.

Finally found the spot on the river, nice little sandy beach, small pools and even a natural water slide that Randy and Luke enjoyed. Mostly cloudy all day and the river water was very cool and refreshing, a very welcoming thing since it has been so hot.

On the way back from the river we stopped at the Malfunction Junction (which is only two miles from our property) for a couple cold beverages.

Kelley and I ordered our usual Belikin and Randy & Stacy ordered what would become their new favorite drink from Belize. It is coconut rum, water and fresh Jamaican lime juice. A Jamaican lime looks like a bad orange and taste like a sweet lime. It was so good that they got some for the next day to go.

The next day found us heading to the zoo so Luke could finally see the monkeys that we kept telling him about, he was not disappointed.

Lots of animals up  close and personal, unlike any zoo in the states. All the animals there are native to Belize such as Jaguars, Spider Monkeys, Howler Monkeys, Toucans, Deer, Parrots and Tipars (or mountain cows, the national animal of Belize).

After the zoo a quick lunch and then off to the airport so the kids could head back home.

Working our way back towards San Ignacio we were stopping at all the hardware stores looking to order a culvert pipe for the entrance to the property. I’m sure this is what everyone does on vacation. After a drive to the airport and searching for a culvert with no avail we thought it was time to reward ourselves with a cold beer. Pulled up to a little roadside place and ordered up a bucket of their finest. The table next to us was a bunch of creole men laughing, joking and enjoying the same. As the sun started to settle one of the men decided it was time to remove the umbrellas from the tables, just as he was doing so the wind caught it and pulled it down to the ground.

All at once everyone at his table started laughing and calling him Mary Poppins, before it was all said and done his new name for the evening was Rasta Poppins. Fun was had by all.