We had a lot of fun with our friends visiting, but in the mean time there was still a lot of other stuff going on around here.

The okra patch is officially going crazy and needs to be constantly picked. Kelley usually picks 40-50 okra a day, every day. The good thing is that now the plants are getting nice and tall so no more bending over to harvest them.

With all that okra, we are giving some away, Kelley is making fried okra, gumbo and of course pickling it. The other day she made another 10 jars of hot pickled okra with habaneros from the garden that we have been sharing with friends. We don’t know how long the plants will stay alive and keep producing, but Ruben had a plant that he said was about three years old.

Our Hatch green chili plants are loving this environment. The other day we had a harvest of about 100 nice green chilis. I threw them on the grill and got them all roasted to perfection and then Kelley bagged them up to go into the freezer. This is about the first time we have had any real green chilies since we moved here and we can’t wait to make all the good things that come from those chilies. In case you are wondering about the heat level on these jungle grown chilies, well they are hot, very hot! It’s a good thing we both love hot chilies.

Our second banana stalk has popped out and this time there are at least 100 bananas on it. I know that because I was the tally man and I tallied my bananas. Okay,  sorry about that, anyway daylight come and me wanna go home. Okay, now I’m done. Our first bunch of bananas on the other tree should be ready in a couple of weeks, but there is only about 30 on that stalk. We should have a lot of bananas ready very soon, so it looks like we will eat as many as we can and dehydrate the rest for snacks. Of course there will also be banana bread, banana shakes and maybe even banana daiquiris for the holidays.

Other exciting news around here is that we have our first cocoa pods on our trees. There is only five about two inch long pods on one tree at this point, but hopefully the other trees will get jealous and also start producing. When mature, the pods will be about six inches long, football shape and full of cocoa beans. Once the trees get bigger each tree can produce between 100-200 pods per tree, and we have ten trees. Hopefully in the near future we will be making a lot of our own chocolate. The cocoa beans were so important in the ancient Mayan civilization that they were used as currency. So in a way, I guess money really does grow on trees.

We picked our first star fruit the other day and it was delicious! There are a few more on the tree that should be ready in the next few days or so. It is exciting for us to start seeing all the trees starting to produce and in a couple of years we should have more different types of fruits than you can imagine.

Another plant surprise was that our caladiums got flowers, we did not know this. The other day a big white lily type flower came shooting straight up from the stalk. It’s always something new with the plants around here.

Last week we were wandering around the yard and there was this horrific smell. It smelled like something had died and was rotting away. We searched all around the smell and saw nothing that resembled a dead animal. We finally narrowed it down and it turns out that it was a mushroom. The mushroom was about 5” across and looked like it had cast a net out of it. We looked it up and it turns out that it is a type of a stinky mushroom. We quickly disposed of it so that the spores don’t fall off and grow again near our house.

We have seen some pretty big bugs down here and they are all very impressive. The other day there was a big beetle up on the porch. His legs looked like something out of a Si Fi movie with hooks and spurs all over them. When you pet his back though it was smooth like velvet and I think he actually liked it. If you put him in an aquarium and fed him he would have made a great pet for a kid.

The Jeep is coming along quite nicely. We stripped it down in order to replace or repair all the things that it needed. The hood needed to be painted even though the rest of the body was in good shape.

It had cloth seats in it, but since we are leaving the top off we had the seats recovered in leather. Of course,  it needed bigger tires and rims, new shocks and a good front bumper with a winch. We also ditched the factory doors for some half metal tube doors. We still got a lot of work to do before it will be ready to be our jungle explorer, but I’m in no hurry.

In case you are wondering, no there are no places down here to buy any accessories that the Jeep needed. You can find mechanical parts such as breaks, oil pumps, spark plugs and such, but that is about all. The only thing we purchased in Belize were the tires, everything else was ordered on Amazon. The way Amazon works here is that you order your stuff to a shipping company in Houston and then it comes in a container by boat to Belize. By time you are done with duty and the shipping company’s cost it is about 25-30% on top of your Amazon price. Which isn’t bad since you can usually find good deals on Amazon.

That’s about what’s happening around here this time. Between work, plants, maintenance, new projects and the Jeep we are keeping very busy down here which make those weekend happy hours so much better.

Our long-time friends Ed and Kim came down for a tropical Belizean vacation and to see us, we assume, haha. We decided to meet them out on San Pedro with a golf cart and the room ready for them. So we waited for them at Carlo and Ernie’s Runway bar so that we could see their plane when it landed. Just as the plane was about to land we moved over to the side so we could wave to them as they got off their plane. Well, they were not on that flight, it turns out they caught the half-hour earlier flight and were wandering around looking for us. After a text and a short walk, they were sitting at the bar laughing about it and they were having their first taste of Belize.

After dropping off their luggage it was time for a quick tour of the island. A little bit of beach bar hopping, a few photos, a good meal and it was about time to call it a night. After all, they had been traveling since 6:00 am.

The next day we decided it was a beach day, so off to Secret Beach for a day of fun and relaxing in the water. Nothing really beats sitting at a table in the warm Caribbean water and having your favorite cocktails served to you. Okay maybe there is something thing that could make it even better, and that would be having a lobster lunch brought out to your table in the water while the fish are swimming around your feet and you are getting your hair braided at the same time. What a great way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Caye Caulker is another island that is about a half-hour boat ride from San Pedro. Their motto is “Go Slow” so we thought Ed and Kim needed to check this place out. Not wanting to disrespect their motto, we slowly walked along the beach stopping for some juice and morning tropical mimosas. Then it was on to the split for people watching and a quick bite and a few cold drinks.

After a lazy day on Caye Caulker, it was time to head back towards the ferry for our trip back to San Pedro. Of course, we just couldn’t pass by a guy standing on the beach grilling lobsters without stopping. So lobster kebabs and a sausage on a stick made for a great snack before leaving the island.

The next day it was time to head back to the mainland and up to the jungle so Ed and Kim could check out where we lived. There are so many different things to see and do up where we are that there just isn’t enough time to take it all in. If you have never seen a Mayan Ruin before then this is a must-see and do when visiting Belize. Xunantunich Mayan Ruins are very impressive, very close to us, plus you get to put your car on a hand crank ferry to cross the river. After getting a guide and learning all about the history of the Mayans, Kim got to climb to the top of El Castillo, the highest structure there. Ed didn’t want to climb to the top and I had done it before so we stayed at the bottom and took pictures. Kim and her guide made it to the top and was very proud of herself, as she should be.

Another thing on their list of things to do was to take a class in making chocolate. So it was off to AJAW Chocolate for the history of how cocoa played such an important role in the Mayan empire. It is a very fun and educational class where you get to peel the beans, make a hot chocolate drink, taste some dark chocolate and even grind the beans on a natural stone the way the Mayans did.

On their last day, we decided to go for some pizza at one of our favorite spots, Guava Limb Café. Since this was their first time here they asked Kim if she wanted to make our pizzas, and of course, she jumped right in. The one she chose to make was our pear, bacon, and Gorgonzola cheese pizza… and it was delicious.

A couple of days after Ed and Kim left, our friends Bob and Kim arrived. They rented a car so they did most of their exploring on their own. They went cave tubing on the way up to our place, went to Xunantunich Ruins, made chocolate, hit the big outdoor market, the Raptor Center, Cahal Pech Ruins and even did a pontoon boat tour for the whole day.

They wasted no time squeezing in as much fun as they could while they were here. We did have plans to take them up Mountain Pine to show them Rio On Pools, caves and some waterfalls, but after a couple of real big rains we decided that the road was going to be way too muddy and unsafe.

Kelley, Kim and Bob had a great time on the jungle cruise pontoon boat. I had planned on going along but I had some kind of stomach bug and thought it was best I just stayed home. Lots of waterfalls, swimming, and a great BBQ lunch all surrounded by the beautiful jungle. Since it has been raining quite a bit lately the lake has filled up and there were a lot more waterfalls to explore than when we went a few months ago. They also saw monkeys, iguanas and even a few crocodiles around the lake.

On the way there they saw an emerald toucan on the road. This was the first one that Kelley had ever seen. Unfortunately, something else saw it also and mother nature took over. A hawk swooped down and that was the end of the toucan.

 When they got off the boat there was a big tree that had fallen and was blocking the road. No problem, just hook it up to the truck and tow it out of the way. It all added to a great day of fun and adventure.

As always there was a lot of great fun, food and friends and we believe everyone had a great time, I know we did. We hope to see them back down here again for another visit, after all, there are a whole lot more sites and adventures to be had in Belize.

 

The rains have come so we thought we’d show off some of our plants that we have worked so hard to get to this point. In the past few weeks we have gotten upwards of nine inches of rain. I know you are probably thinking that it must be a muddy mess down here, but it’s not. The rains usually come in the late afternoon or in the middle of the night and the next day is filled with clear blue skies. This is great because we haven’t had to water anything for quite a while now. With all the rains you can really see the difference in how much greener and more growth there is in the hills. Of course, all of our plants are loving it too, and you can literally see how much they have grown each day. So this blog is going to be all about our plants.

First I’ll start with some mushrooms. Last time I had mentioned about some tree ear mushrooms that we fried in oil. They were okay but nothing spectacular. Well, they started popping up all over so we decided to do a little more research on them. I guess they are called wood ear mushrooms and they are sold dried in the states as black fungus. They are used in a lot of Asian dishes, especially hot and sour soup. We decided to give them another try and Kelley made some hot and sour soup and a couple more recipes and they were quite good. So I guess since they are not always available, we need to harvest all we can find and then throw them in the dehydrator so we will have a supply until they come around again. We are glad we dug a little deeper and gave them a second chance because they really are quite good when cooked right.

The zucchini, yellow squash, and green peppers are doing well. The hatch green chile plants are getting waist high and are loaded with peppers. We have been picking a few big ones that will make some great chile rellenos. It’s been a long time since we have had chile rellenos, in fact, we almost called Sally to see if she would deliver. Green chilies like this are almost impossible to find down here, all they seem to have regularly are bells, jalapeños, and habaneros.

The zucchini patch is doing well so we decided to try something we have been wanting to try for some time now. Stuffed squash blossoms. They are supposed to be delicious, we’ll let you know.

The 100 or so okra plants are starting to produce well and they usually need to be picked just about every day. Currently, there is only enough for some deep-fried okra and gumbo, but that is changing rapidly. Once they really kick in, Kelley will be canning her pickled okra with some fresh habaneros. They are delicious!

We can not say how happy we are with all the steady rains. During the dry season, we watered at least every other day and saw very minimal growth, it seemed like we were just keeping the plants alive. Then the rains come and everything just seems to get bigger overnight. The banana plants are getting more bananas and are shooting up more stalks that seem to grow a few inches daily.

Our lime tree with the one lime now has more blossoms and a lot of new growth. Looks like we actually might get some margarita mix’ns in a few months.

The coffee plants are doing well and are getting more and more berries on each plant. Maybe in a few months, we might have enough to make a pot of coffee for the morning after the margaritas.

Pineapple patch #2 is doing well. No new pineapples showing yet, but we know it will happen soon. Patch #1 over by the house is growing a little slower because they are mostly in the shade. With the 50 plus pineapple plants going there will be some tropical rum drinks in our future.

The starfruit tree is now over six feet tall and has three starfruits on it. There are a lot more blossoms, but we seem to think the tree needs to get a little bigger before it gets too many fruits on it.

We also planted some turmeric roots. They seriously had leaves on them within a week of planting the root. Dried turmeric is used in curry powders and is very good for your health, so we are picturing some curry lamb in our healthy future.

The flowers and colorful tropical plants we have been putting around the house are really taking off. The purple knights we put around the porch to form a hedge are starting to bloom. They were green for the longest time, but now they are starting to get their purple flowers and once they do the bush will be completely purple.

A while ago we put in a  few caladium plants and they all looked like they just died. I guess we can’t expect every plant we put in to make it, or can we. Once the rains came they started to come back stronger than ever and are getting new leaves daily. As fast as they are growing we should have a good patch of them very soon.

The heliconias or birds-of-paradise are doing well and are starting to bloom. The orange heliconia (which we dug up on our road) is starting to get a bunch of blooms and the lobster claw also has new blooms coming out.

Lobster claw.

The table used to be a plant and we plan on planting our ass around it so I’m including it in this ‘all about plants’ episode.

A while back I had mentioned that we purchased some big round slabs of wood in hopes of making some outdoor tables. Well, I finally got around to making one. After a lot of sanding and a few coats of varnish, it was looking good. For the legs, I wanted to use wood logs or stumps, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I opted to make some out of 2 inch flat steel and give them a good coat of brown paint. This was going to go out back near the BBQ, but we decided that it might work better on the front porch. That way we could eat or play games out there and get a better view of the wildlife. Okay, so that now leaves me four more round slabs of wood, do we make more tables and open a jungle restaurant, have something carved on them as a sign, cut the middle out and call it a donut, or cut it up and use it in the smoker. The possibilities are endless, maybe after sitting around this one for awhile something will inspire me. If it inspires you to come and sit around it and help us come up with an idea, then please do so.

Since friends and guests are starting to come down for a visit I thought I’d throw together a rough guideline to help with your travel plans. This will not be a very exciting blog, but hopefully, it will give you some information about visiting.

Most flights down here from the west coast use Houston or Dallas as a hub before heading directly down to Belize. There is only one international airport in Belize and it is in Ladyville (Belize City) with the airport code being BZE. There are four major carriers that fly here daily and they are Southwest, United, Delta, and American but, keep in mind that there is usually only one flight a day. A flight from Arizona to Texas will usually take about 2 hours 45 minutes, then after a brief layover, it will be another 2 hours 15 minutes before you step foot in Belize. If you are flying Southwest (where there are no assigned seats) head to the back of the plane when you board in Texas. In Belize, they open the back of the plane and you will exit a lot faster.

From the airport up to our place it is about a 2 ½ to 3 hour drive. Your options would be to rent a car, take a shuttle or catch a hopper plane to San Ignacio. The best option in our opinion would be to rent a car so you can go check out all the sights. A lot of the flights will not get into Belize until later in the afternoon which means you might have to drive in the dark part of the way, especially during the winter months. I do not like driving the roads in Belize when it is dark because of people or animals on the roads, plus there are a lot of speed bumps that will sneak up on you and will literally launch your car if you don’t see them. When we fly in and I know we can’t make it up to our place before dark we will usually stop at Cheers for the night. Cheers is a great place to stop for a good meal and a cold drink plus they have 3 small nice clean cabins that they rent. They are about a half-hour drive from the airport, very inexpensive, plus you can get a good breakfast the next day before you head up to our place.

Once up at our place there are lots of things to do and explore. Check out Toucan Hideaway on Facebook. There I have listed different things to do in the area along with distances from our place. Keep in mind that we are about a half-hour drive from San Ignacio where there are stores and restaurants. Up here in San Antonio, there is a little store and a fruit stand, but no restaurants or gas stations.

The grocery stores in San Ignacio have just about anything you would need. If there is something you have to have let us know and we will let you know if we have seen it. As for the restaurants, you can get anything from stew chicken with rice & beans, pizza, burgers, BBQ, Chinese food, Indian food, steaks, fried chicken, and the list goes on. No need to worry if you are a picky eater there is something here for you. Plus we love to cook and we can make just about anything that sounds good.

After exploring around the jungle awhile I’m sure you will want to head over to the beach, after all, you will be on the Caribbean. There are a few options for getting to the beach, it just depends on what you want to do. The first choice for most first time visitors is San Pedro out on Ambergris. San Pedro is definitely a party town where everyone drives golf carts and there are more beach bars than you can imagine. There are a lot more options here for accommodations, fishing, diving, and other watersports compared to other spots in Belize. To get to San Pedro you will have to head back to Belize City and either catch a 20-minute flight or catch the ferry boat out to the island.

Caye Caulker is another island that is a lot quieter than Ambergris. Their motto is “Go Slow”. It is a small island with a few beach bars and a few accommodations. It makes for a great day trip by water taxi from San Pedro.

Another option for the beach would be Placencia or Hopkins down south.  The great things about these towns are you can drive there, they are laid back compared to San Pedro, plus you get to drive down the Hummingbird Highway. Placencia is a bigger town than Hopkins with a lot of expats and a lot of big projects going on. Not a whole lot of beach bars or public beaches but you can always find one that is cranking out that Caribbean music and serving great cocktails.

Hopkins is about as laid back as you can get and they have great beaches. There is not a whole lot to do in Hopkins except relax. Of course, there is fishing, snorkeling, river cruises, and cultural classes in cooking and drum making. But for the most part, it is just kick back and recharge yourself.

Just like anywhere accommodations range from the very nice with all the amenities to the very simple shack on the beach. We have stayed at quite a few places on the beaches around Belize or have had friends stay there, so if you are thinking about booking a place in a beach town let us know and we will pass on what we know about it.

Just a few things you might need to know.

Your passport must have at least six months valid before it expires.

The exchange rate is 2 BZ dollars for every 1 USD.

US currency is accepted everywhere.

There is no place outside Belize to exchange your Belizean dollars. Spend them at the airport to get rid of them.

Shorts and T-shirts and flip flops and enclosed shoes and maybe a hat is about all you need.

Sunscreen and some bug spray just in case.

Drinking water is safe in Belize.

Gas is very expensive here around $5 USD per gallon.

All prices listed in stores and restaurants are usually in BZ dollars.

Shop the duty-free shops in the airport for alcohol. You are allowed three or four bottles per person at duty-free.

Rum is cheaper in town than at the duty-free.

Most everyone here speaks English.

We recommend Tropic Air for flying to the island or anywhere else in Belize.

A few places we would recommend.

Crystal Car rental at the airport is the best. The all-wheel-drive Chevy Equinox is a very comfortable car with good mileage. The Jeep Patriot is another option just make sure you get the 4 cyl as it is much better on fuel. Crystal will also give you a cell phone and an ice chest to go along with the car. Do not waste your time with the GPS as they don’t work great for these roads.

If you think you want to spend the night on your way up here then definitely stop at Cheers. Very clean rooms for around $65 a night plus the restaurant there has a great chicken fried steak and cold beer.

If you stopover at Cheers then the next morning you will want to go to the Belize Zoo. It is a small zoo and rehab center with nothing but native animals. You can get up close to jaguars, monkeys, toucans, crocodiles. and even tapirs. It’s definitely worth the stop if you have time.

In Hopkins, Jaguar Paw resort is top-notch, with swimming pools, restaurants, and very nice rooms and beaches. Otherwise, there are more rustic places that are right on the beach. There are not a whole lot of restaurants in Hopkins, but finding food is not a problem.

Placencia has the same options for accommodations, from nice places to rustic cabins. There are a lot more restaurants and bars here compared to Hopkins.

Out on Ambergris the accommodations and restaurant and bar choices are endless.

Of course, we recommend the Toucan Hideaway. Hope this helps a little and we see you soon.

With all the recent rains, everything is growing like crazy. We always throw our fruit and veggie scraps out in the yard for the animals and we have a lot of miscellaneous plants popping up. A few months ago when mangoes were in season we threw all the seeds out there, because the Gibnuts like to chew them open and get to the inner seed. Well there were a couple that they didn’t get to and now we have more mango trees growing. For now we will just put them in some pots until we can find a new home for them.

The veggie garden is starting to produce some good peppers, okra, and squash, plus the fruit trees are starting to set fruit. We have our first starfruits on the tree with a lot more blossoms on the way and our first bunch of bananas. Everyone here has banana plants so it’s no big deal to anyone that we have bananas, but this is our first and it is very exciting to us. This plant is right in front of the guest casita, bananas for breakfast anyone? Looks like we are well on our way to having lots of fresh fruits at our finger tips every day.

Speaking of bananas, we now have monkeys. Okay, let me explain, this has been a long time in the works. Inside the house, the ceilings are over 14’ tall, which leaves a lot of empty space above the kitchen cabinets and other stuff hanging on the walls. So we had this idea of monkeys swinging around on some vines to fill up the big blank area near the ceiling. We came up with a couple of sketches of monkeys in different poses and gave them to a local wood carver who had done some other stuff for us. We wanted the monkeys to be life-size, whimsical and with no real detail to them. He had never carved monkeys before, but he did a great job and it was just what we had in mind. Now it was time to go out in the jungle and find some vines for them to swing on. We found some perfectly twisted vines that were worthy of hanging in the house, of course with the help of Ruben. So after a good cleaning and a coat of varnish the vines and the monkeys were ready to hang. They were not the easiest things to get into place, but now we have monkeys swinging in the house and filling up that big blank area.

A few weeks ago Ruben cut some new trails on the far side of the property, up by where all the fruit trees are. This time we had him cut some more trails that went from behind the house to the back of the property, down by the creek and then back towards the house. As we were walking on the new trail we were commenting about how beautiful and peaceful it really is. It makes for a great morning hike when all the birds and animals are active.

On our trek around the property, we are always looking for oyster mushrooms, especially after the rains. Today Kelley found some that she had never seen before and since Ruben was here he was able to give us a good ID on them.  According to our book, they are called tree ear mushrooms, something we had never seen before.

Ruben said that they are very delicious and are usually very hard to find. He told us that we need to fry them in oil and they will puff up and then put salt and pepper on them and they will be very tasty. Okay, so Kelley fried the mushrooms and they did puff up, something we’d never seen a mushroom do. The outside edges were crunchy and the middle was very soft. Overall they were very good, but I still prefer oyster mushrooms.

Okay, so another little food thing that we just had to try was deep-fried banana blossoms. We use to see these all the time in the Asian markets in the states and from what we understand they are a delicacy. After little interweb searching Kelley found out how to cook them and it even said that they taste like artichokes hearts. Kelley had it all cooked and called me over to try, but when I saw her spitting it out there was no way I was going to try it. She said it was one of the worst things she had ever tasted, but at least she tried it. So all the banana blossoms are safe from our kitchen.

Our Mahindra truck is great, but with it being our daily driver and our only vehicle I’m a little leery about taking it deep into the jungle off road. Which is why we have been looking for another vehicle that we can do some more exploring and not worry too much if something happened to it. We have been looking for a Jeep for a while and finally found one that will work. Jeeps like this are hard to come by down here, there’s not that many around and the ones that are, people just don’t want to sell. We finally found one that’s a 1997 with a 4.0 that runs on gas and butane and already has a 4” lift. It seems mechanically sound and just needs some minor stuff done to it. Once we get it transformed into the rig we want we should be ready to hit the jungle trails and explore new places that aren’t on the map. Can you imagine driving around in the jungle and all of a sudden a monkey jumps in and gets you a beer out of your ice chest and says thanks for the ride dude? Okay well maybe not, but it will still be fun driving around and finding new areas.

It seems that the animals around here are showing up at different times of the year, so we have started marking on a calendar when we see them. The last couple of months we saw lots of toucans, now we see only a couple a week. Same with the parrots, swarms every day and now they have thinned out.

We haven’t seen a possum in a while, where we were seeing them all the time. This month we are seeing quite a few Coatimundis and foxes around the property. We’ll be sitting in front of the garage with music on and talking and this little fox comes up about 25’ from us and just starts eating stuff off the ground. He doesn’t seem to care if we’re there or if it’s day or night, he just goes about his business. Of course, the Kinkajou’s are still up in the trees dropping stuff on the tin roof every night. Our Cohune palms are starting to drop their nuts and we know the Gibnuts love those, so we expect to start seeing them around soon. Eventually, we will learn what animals will be around by what the plants are producing.

Belize being such a young country takes their Independence Day very seriously. September 21st is their 38th year of independence from Britain and everyone here is very proud of it. The entire country goes on a three day weekend with parties, parades, and celebrations in every city, town, and village.

We were lucky enough to be coming back from town just as the parade in our little village was starting. This was not a big elaborate parade like some of the bigger cities do, but it was a perfect representation of how loyal and proud everyone is to be Belizean. San Antonio is a small village and I believe every resident was either in the parade or watching from the sidelines.

There were floats, costumes, dancers, music, and even a queen. What more would you want in a parade? The town square even got a fresh paint job and the stage is all ready for the bands. It should be a great party in the evenings that will go on for three days.

After trying for a couple of years and missing out, we finally got some tickets to see Jerry Jeff Walker at Camp Belize. Every year in January, Jerry heads down to his house in San Pedro on Ambergris and does concerts for two weeks around the island with other musicians. This year we manage to buy 4 tickets for week one (January 19-26) just in case someone wanted to join us. January is a great time in Belize, but it is considered the high season and there are a lot of people here. If anyone is interested in the tickets and joining us please let us know soon, as accommodations on the island fill up fast that time of year. Hope to see you here.

Not a whole lot happening around here in the last couple of weeks, but then again something is always happening. So here are the stories of the week.

During the day, birds are in the trees above our house picking seeds and fruits off them and letting most of them fall onto our metal roof. The last few nights things have been dropping on the roof all night long and we know it’s not the birds. Finally our curiosity got the better of us and we had to go see what it was. Turns out it is a kinkajou, nightwalker or honey bear, whatever you know it by. A very cute little critter that comes out at night and climbs around the tree tops. At this point he has been coming around for the past week or so.  Since he is only there at night it is impossible for us to get a good picture of him. So below is a stock photo just so you can see what one looks like. Cute, isn’t he!

We don’t know if it’s all the wild fruits and seeds in the trees that are ripe this time of year or maybe they are just more comfortable with us being here now, but the birds are everywhere.  Every day for the past month or so we have had a lot of toucans and other birds stopping in the trees around the house. And green parrots…every morning and evening, there are more than a hundred or so that stop in the trees and squawk and eat whatever the trees are producing. We have also been seeing more wildlife, but like most animals they are usually spotted at a distance or in the morning and evening when the light is not great, making it difficult for a good picture. Which is why we are looking into getting a better camera, something with a telephoto lens and able to take better pictures in low light. Our current camera (which we have had a few of) is an Olympus Tough that is waterproof, shockproof and takes great pictures, but sometimes you just need something with a bigger lens and more options.

A long time ago we had a nice SLR camera with all the lenses that took great pictures, but this is what you would have to do to get those great pictures. First, you would have to head down to the local store to get a roll of film, remember there was no Amazon back then. Then came the big decision… Do I get Kodak or Fuji film, what speed film am I going to need for this outing, do I want color or black & white, and finally, do I get a roll of 24 or splurge for a roll of 36? Remember we were a lot more selective when we clicked that button to take that photo, which meant that sometimes the film would stay in the camera for months before you took it in to be developed. That’s right you could not see your pictures until you took your roll of film to be developed down at the local Fotomat booth in the middle of a parking lot somewhere. And most places that developed pictures always had a special where for a couple of dollars more you could get double prints to share with your friends and family. Unless you were a very good photographer, only about 25% of your pictures were worth showing people, which meant that you now you had 75% of your pictures that were crap. And to top it off you had to have double prints made just in case they were some good ones. So, in the end, you ended up with 75% crappy pictures that take up a lot of actual space. Then came digital cameras and you could take as many as you wanted on a little memory card and then hit delete on the bad ones. Digital cameras are great, but there was something special about waiting a few days to pick up your pictures. That is your camera history lesson for the day, kids.

We have not had too much rain this year, but when we do that’s when the frogs come out. Even if it is only a short 20-minute rain it brings them out. There are all sizes and types, from little 1/2” long ones to some pretty big ones. They range in color from white, to camouflage to green, and some will just hop along around the yard where others will climb right up the side of the house and hang out on the rafters.

The other day we had Ruben cutting some trails around the property. Just simple hiking trails that loop around inside the property, mostly so we could get a better look at what we actually have and to provide us a place to take a hike in the jungle without leaving our property. There are lots of cool trees and plants along the trail but Kelley spotted one that stuck out in particular. It was a single vine about as big around as my arm that came up out of the ground about 3’ curved around and then went back down. It seemed to form the perfect heart. If we clear a little more around this vine it would be the perfect spot for some great photo-opts.

Because of where we are in the jungle, we usually don’t get many colorful sunsets, but the other night the evening sky did have some color to it. The sunsets here are nothing like the spectacular ones we had when living on the beach in Mexico, but sometimes we get one that’s pretty good. It did make a great backdrop that night when we fired up the grill.

Speaking of the grill area, I have finally finished the smoker. Little piggy is ready to start blowing smoke out his ass and into that smokehouse. Soon there will be all kinds of delicious smoked meats coming out of that thing. We have even considered having smoking parties, where everyone brings a pork belly, shoulder roast, chickens or any other meats and we show them how to prepare it and then throw it in the smoker. Then when it’s all done we can all sample everything and everyone gets to take some home. Could be a fun day of some good smoked meats and of course a few ice-cold beverages.

In case anyone is interested about the smoker, here it is. The smokehouse is made entirely out of non-treated hardwood. The framing is Nargusta (same as our house) and the siding is Santa Maria (same as our kitchen cabinets). Pine would have been a cheaper choice, but all their pine here is chemically treated and that would not be good for the meats. The fire pit is an old water pressure tank that has been turned into a BBQ grill that looks like a pig. As for the wood, we are finding small bags of different smoking chips from the states, such as hickory, mesquite, and apple. Those work great in our electric smoker, but those would not even come close to what I will need for the big smoker. We have rounded up some allspice wood, but that is a little hard to come by and I am saving that for something special. Mostly here they use hardwoods like craboo or oak for cooking and they both should work great in the smoker. At this point, we have someone working on getting us a truckload of craboo and oak so soon we should be ready to get that thing fired up.

We didn’t think we had any more room, but we found some space for a couple more paintings. Jorge Landero is a great artist who has done most of the paintings in the house and the casita and we love his work. Jorge is a good friend that we see around town and he will always let us know when he has some more paintings done. Of course he will, he says we are his best clients.

The other thing is that he lives across the street from Remo’s where we go on Sundays to see friends and have a few beers. So, of course, our curiosity always gets the better of us and we have to go see his latest works. This time we found two beautiful paintings that would fit in the house nicely, but seriously we believe we are now out of wall space. When you come down, if you would like to go see what he has to offer then we can go see him. After all, the canvas will roll up nicely and fit in your suitcase.

That’s about what’s happening around here this time. We’ve got a few friends coming down in the next few months, hopefully, we will see more of you down here soon.

 

We have been working hard around here and it was time for us to take a break and just relax for the weekend. So Hopkins here we come. Hopkins is only about an 80-90 mile drive from us, so in a couple of hours, you can be sitting on the Caribbean shore enjoying fresh seafood and having cocktails with little umbrellas in them.

This being the slow season, we found a wonderful place, beachfront for about a 1/4 of what you would pay in the high season. The second story condo we got was part of Jaguar Reef Resort and it was huge, I mean bigger than our house, plus it overlooked the beach. I think the resort had 3 pools, at least 3 bars and they had all the happy hours figured out. The swim-up pool bar had happy hour from 2-4, then the hotel bar was from 4-6 and the dock bar was from 6-8. We did not spend all day doing happy hour, but then again we were on a mini-vacation.

While we were at the Dock bar enjoying the views two manatees came swimming by, a mother and what looked like here baby. This was the first time we had ever seen manatees in the wild and it was pretty exciting. Going on a tour to see manatees was high on our list of things we wanted to do in Belize, but this was even better.

 Of course, living up in the jungle seafood is fairly hard to come by, so we had to get our fill in while we could. We had shrimp, fish, and mussels but the one thing that stuck out was the lobster stuffed potatoes skins. Fried potatoes skins with lobster, shrimp, marinara sauce and topped with brie cheese. The only thing wrong with those was that there were only four on the plate.

We had brought with us two big ice chests with hopes of bringing back some lobster and fish for the freezer. After asking all around town with no luck we finally hooked up with Floyd. He was an elderly gentleman who said he has had a boat out for a couple of days and they should be back in a few hours. In that time we prepped the ice chest with ice and some cold beer in hopes that they had a decent catch. After sharing a beer with Floyd, here came the boat. As the boat was getting close Floyd started lining up palm fronds on the beach, it only took us a short time to figure out what he was doing. That’s right they were running the boat right up on the beach at full speed. One of the guys sitting in the boat fell all over when he hit the shore, we all laughed and then shared a couple more beers with them.

Anyway, they had a good catch and we ended up with two big ice chests full of lobsters and fish. We got snapper fillets, whole smaller snappers that we will fry in the disco, a whole Hogfish for the grill (that is supposed to be amazing), some barracuda and of course a lot of lobster. We can finally have some friends over for some decent fish and show them how we used to cook it when we were in Mexico. As for the lobsters… we might share a couple with some friends, but we are still not sure about that.

Before we had found anyone with fish for us to bring back, we had lined up a trip on the river to do a little fishing. We had never been on the Sittee river before and we thought it would be great to see it by boat. We were up at 5 am so that we could be fishing by first light.

What a beautiful river, we fished from the mouth to a couple of miles upstream. The banks are lined with mangroves and lots of other trees and birds. Captain Jack and his wife Fiona were our guides for the day and they were wonderful and very knowledgeable.

Usually, they will take tourists to do a little bait fishing for snapper and grouper along the mangroves and guarantee you will bring some fish home. At this point, our ice chests were already full, and Captain Jack could tell we were not novice fishermen. So we told him that we wanted to target Snook and Tarpon since neither one of us had ever caught one before. We did see a couple of tarpon on the surface and even some more manatees, but no fish. Just the boat ride alone was worth the trip just to see the river.

On the way back to the marina there is a small cut in the mangroves that goes into a big lagoon. Jack was telling us that from January to May the lagoon fills up with the bioluminescence and the whole lagoon glows at night. He said that there is a spot in the middle of the lagoon that is shallow and they will take you there to get into the water.

We did ask him “what about crocks in the lagoon” and he said that they don’t go in there. Not sure we believe him, as he was also telling us about one that comes to the marina every night that they feed. I guess if no one has ever been hurt while in the water with the bioluminescence then it will never happen, right?

Jack was telling us that the river is navigational up to seven miles upstream, even at the marina which is a couple of miles in there are some boats in the 50’ range. He was also telling us that there is a small private island about a half-hour boat ride offshore. Where they will take you for a day of snorkeling, fishing and will do a beach BBQ of what you catch. This is definitely in our future, anyone else interested?

It was a great three-day weekend getaway, especially if you go during the off-season when everything is a lot cheaper and less crowded. We would definitely recommend exploring the Hopkins area, I know we will be back for some more river fishing and a private island BBQ. Hope some of you will join us next time.

We try to carry a camera with us almost everywhere we go, because chances are we will see something worthy of a picture. We do a decent job of getting some interesting photos, but sometimes it’s the ones that we don’t get that are the coolest. For example this morning it sounded like someone was popping popcorn over our tin roof. I went out to see what it was and there were about 50 or so parrots eating the seeds off a tree above the house. Then the other morning I’m sitting on the porch enjoying a cup of coffee and a dozen or so toucans land in the big tree over the casita. One of my favorite sightings was, I’m watching a lizard run across the driveway and a 3-foot harmless vine snake chasing him. Lizards can run fast, but not as fast as a hungry snake. That snake grabbed him spun around and was back in the bush before you could blink an eye. A lot of stuff happens around here, I just wish the animals would have the courtesy to wait until we get a camera.

We did get this picture! I know some of you will freak out about this and then there are others that will think it is really cool. We saw our first Boa Constrictor on the property today (which we were pretty excited about). He was a fairly small one as far as boas go because they will get up to 12’ long or so. He was very docile as he moved over the fresh seedlings tray and didn’t really seem to care that we were that close taking pictures. Of course, we have a handy snake guide to identify any snakes we see just to be safe until we get better at snake IDs. If you are still thinking ohhhh snake, how many of you had a friend growing up or even yourself who might have had a boa for a pet? As far as snakes go, these are the ones we want around here. They are pretty much harmless to humans, control the rodent population and I just read that when they are bigger they will help control the possum population. Where was he last week when that pineapple thieving possum was around? Anyway, people in Belize say that you are very lucky if you are fortunate enough to have boas around your property. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago we saw one on the road that was hit by a car and he was definitely a big full-grown snake. I mean big enough that he could probably eat your dog. Anyway, we are happy to have these creatures around here, it’s just, at first sight, they will startle you.

Well, the smokehouse is coming along and should be ready fairly soon. The problem I was having was what to use for a firebox. Sure we could have made just a cinder block pit or something simple like that, but you know us, we wanted something a little different. A friend of ours was getting rid of an old water pressure tank that the bladder had gone bad in. Perfect, this could be the fire pit for the smoker. So after I pulled the bladder out, ground off all the brackets and ground off all the powder coating it was ready to take it to a local welder. I came up with a small sketch and explained to him that it needed to have a door that opened like a BBQ, look like a pig, (curly tail and all) and have the smoke pipe coming out his ass. He said, “No problem can you come back in a week?” We were anxious to see what he had come up with, and it was perfect.

So after another quick grinding and some clean up he was ready for his coat of high temp paint. Soon we will be filling up the pig’s belly with wood, the smoke will come out his ass into the smokehouse, curing the meat to perfection, all while putting a great smell into the air. It’s the perfect cycle.

There are a lot of carpentry shops in Belize that make all the beautiful hardwood furniture and stuff. Which means every shop has a big pile of wood shavings that they need to get rid of. They will gladly give you a bucket, a sack or even a truckload for free if you just haul it away.

So we have been going to one of our favorite wood shops and loading up the truck with wood shavings. The shavings work great in the new veggie garden as well as around all the trees and other plants. And besides looking good it really helps to keep the ground cooler, weeds down and hold the moisture until the rains come.

Our oyster mushroom log is starting to give mushrooms almost daily now, we don’t know how long it will last, but we are sure enjoying them while they are here. Kelley sautéed them in butter and olive oil with a little salt and pepper and they were to die for. Hopefully, soon our other section with the common white button mushrooms will start to produce.  If they produce well like they are supposed to, then a lot of people already have their orders in for some, and if that works out then we will be putting in some more mushroom beds.

It seems that all we have been doing this last year is planting fruit trees and other edible plants that will benefit us in the long run. It has been a lot of work, but in a couple of years when everything starts giving back it will be great! A lot of the fruit trees we buy are grafted and should start to produce next year. We keep thinking that we have enough plants, but then we’ll see something that is different from all the others and we have to have it. And besides that, the prices on fruit trees and other plants are very inexpensive compared to anywhere else we have lived. For example, a 3’ coffee tree that is starting to bear fruit runs around $5usd. What we call tropical house plants in the states will set you back 2-3 dollars. Besides all the colorful, tropical plants we are adding around the yard, here is a list of the soon to be edible plants we currently have growing.

8 banana plants (4 different types)

2 peach trees

11 cocoa plants (yes this is where chocolate comes from)

27 coffee plants (that are starting to produce)

50 pineapple plants (if I can keep the critters away)

2 Surinam cherry plants

2 red raspberry plants

1 kumquat tree

1 Lisbon lemon tree

1 pineapple/orange tree (it gets oranges the size of grapefruits)

1 lime tree (it has one lime, but I know it will do better next time)

1 red grapefruit/Valencia orange (it’s grafted so it will produce both)

1 mango tree (grafted to produce two types of mangos year-round)

1 avocado tree (grafted with two types, should also produce year-round)

1 starfruit tree

1 wax apple (sorta the shape of a pear and taste like an apple)

1 Chinese plum tree

1 custard apple tree

1 macadamia nut tree

1 almond tree

1 coconut tree

dragon fruit

Those are the trees that will be producing for a long time and provide fresh fruits all year long. Other things we currently have growing are vanilla, black pepper, mushrooms, okra, zucchini, chili peppers, artichokes, basil, rosemary, oregano, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass and I’m sure there are more. If you know us, then you know that we love plants and gardening, it’s a lot of work, but it sure makes us happy.

Since I started writing this about a week or so ago, the rains have started to come, which makes everyone very happy. So far they only last for about a half-hour or so, but that is enough water for the plants that we don’t have to hand water so much. Once the rains really start, that’s when everything here really takes off and grows like crazy. The rains should have started in June and never came, so everyone here is really looking forward to some good rainy days. To tell you the truth we are also looking for a good rainy day so we don’t have to work in the yard and just have a relaxing movie day on the couch without feeling guilty.

It’s been a while since we posted anything, but in that time we made a trip up to the states to see friends, family and of course the grandkids. Everyone is doing great and we had a great visit, even though it was hot. After all, it’s Arizona in the summertime and our truck temp even registered 124 degrees outside one day. Not sure how accurate that was, but it was hot! We spent a lot of time in the pool with the kids and even got Luke out of school one day for a trip to the zoo.

Of course, while we were in the states we had to fill up on all the foods we haven’t had in a while. There were prime rib caps, artichokes, green chili, snow crab, clam chowder, Chompie’s pastrami sandwich, good pizza, and even Taco Bell. All the good things we can’t get down here in Belize. We both said that we think we gained weight while up there and who wouldn’t with all that good food. Anyway, now we are back in Belize eating good, fresh healthy foods again, but we are still thinking about how good all that other stuff was.

Well, the rains have yet to come this year and they say we are going to be in drought conditions for a while. This is bad for all of the local farmers, as not all of them have access to a watering system and depend on the summer rains to water their crops. There are rain showers every so often, but not enough to let mother nature do all the watering. If we don’t hand water our vegetables every day or so, they just won’t make it. All the other fruit trees are doing fine with only a twice-a-week watering. We did have our very first pineapple that was ready to pick, but we were a day late getting to it. Some critter (we assume it was a possum) chewed that big pineapple off the plant and proceeded to eat the whole thing right there. The good thing is that the pineapple top will get a second chance as I’ve got it in water and it’s already getting roots.

On the other hand, Kelley has been throwing her cantaloupe seeds in the yard (not planting just chucking them out there) and some have been growing and actually producing cantaloupes. People have told us before, that with all the animals and birds around here you need to plant twice as much as you think you will need because the wildlife will eat half of it. That’s fine, but seriously… that was our first pineapple.

Speaking of critters, I usually have two pair of flip flops that I leave on the front porch. One is an old crusty pair and the other is a nice newer pair. We came home the other evening and there were three flip flops on the porch, not four, and of course, the one missing was one of the good ones. Okay, so what would steal one flip flop? Is there a monkey swinging around the trees beating his chest with it? Is there a boa constrictor curled up around it trying to make love to it? We checked our camera footage hoping to find some exotic wild animal carting it off to play with it. Turns out it was just a dog, so now we don’t leave our shoes on the porch.

We are still cutting down a few more trees around the house that look like they could be trouble if we have some big winds. The nice thing is that we are using the cut trees to line the trails, driveway and basic borders around the yard. Like I have mentioned before, when old plants come out new ones go in. So there are a few more black pepper vines, cocoa, and coffee plants going in. We also found a Chinese plum tree that produces an oval fruit that is very sweet, which we can’t wait to try.

Since we are starting to get a few rains, the wild oyster mushrooms are starting to show up. You can usually find them on old logs and trees if you just look around. When we find a log with some, we are bringing those logs closer to the house so hopefully, in the future, we won’t have to go looking for those delicious mushrooms.  We recently planted a bed of the common white button mushrooms. Supposedly once they start growing in about 3 months, they should produce 25 lbs a month and keep growing for 3-6 years. Mushrooms are very expensive at the market here so hopefully, these will take off and we will have plenty of fresh shrooms.

The neighbor up the road just stopped by with a fresh pig that he had butchered. This time we grabbed a front shoulder and some more pork belly for another batch of bacon. The shoulder will be turned into some Italian sausage and some Louisiana style hot links. At this point, we are still using a small electric smoker, but next week I am starting on building the smokehouse, and once that is done we’re going to try our hand at curing whole hams.

Another project that is happening around here is the installation of a culvert on the road heading down to our property. When the big rains come, the water crosses the road making it almost impassable without a 4×4. We have asked other property owners with property beyond this if they wanted to chip in on the cost, and so far most of them are in. Of course, it wasn’t just digging a hole, put a culvert in, bury it and call it done. Everyone knows what backhoes are attracted to, that’s right… water lines. Just part of the fun living in the jungle.

Ruben stopped by the other day with a Mayan artifact that his neighbor had found. I guess he was plowing his field getting ready to plant and something caught his eye. After cleaning all the dirt off of it, it turned out to be a beautiful hand-carved pipe. It was shown to an archaeologist who was working at Pactibun ruin right next to us and he said that it was more than likely carved out of a type of black jade. Pactibun site was inhabited from 900 BC to 900 AD, obviously, this pipe is very old. It is a very detailed 3” smoking pipe of a hand with a bracelet holding a bowl. It’s an amazing artifact that was found within a mile from us, who knows what else could be hiding out there. We have acquired this great artifact and it will be proudly displayed at our home. So come on down and check it out, it’s very impressive.

Breaking News……. A very large flip flop has been found in a peanut field about a half-mile from us. There were no injuries to the flip flop and it has been returned safely to its rightful owner. The owner had this to say, “My sole has been saved!”

That’s about it for this update, have fun and be safe.

Well, we finally got the big bbq grill up and going just in time for the 4th of July weekend.  The 4th of July isn’t really celebrated here since that is the day America got its independence from the British.  However people here still do celebrate it and will wish you a happy 4th of July. For us, it was a chance to take a long four day weekend and just chill out a little.

Since we picked up the grill used before we came down here, it obviously needed a good tune-up. The big solid steel burners were clogged up pretty good and needed a thorough cleaning from the inside out. I took them over to a butane specialty store and they went to work on them and had them working great in no time. So now the question was, what will be our first meal on this kick-ass grill. Since it was a long holiday weekend, we thought cheeseburgers would be great. So we picked up a couple of fresh buns from the little bakery, got out some of our homemade bacon, grilled up some garden fresh green chilies and made the best cheeseburgers we have had in quite awhile.

The next night we used it again for some rib-eye steaks and portabello mushrooms. Our little grill on the porch that we had been using for the past year just wouldn’t get hot enough to cook things properly, but the big one sure does the job nicely. As soon as the steaks went on you could hear the sizzle, and when I flipped them, there were grill marks, we have not seen grill marks on a piece of meat in a long time. Then the next night we cooked a pizza on it that turned out great too, we are still having the pizza oven built, but this will work in the meantime. This new grill is working out great, and it’s so nice to be cooking on a real one once again. Next up is to test out the rotisserie.

Over the long weekend, we decided to invite a few friends over for a cool refreshing dip up at Pinol Sands and then back to our place for some jerked chicken on the bar-b. Pinol Sands was great as always and of course, there was no one there but us.

Kelley had the chicken all cut up and jerked before we left so once we got back from the water it was time for me to fire up the grill and get it going. While the chicken was cooking we were all kept busy with the ring game we’d set up. In case you have never seen it… it is a metal ring on a rope that you swing and try to get it onto a hook that is mounted to the wall. It can be very frustrating or very satisfying, depending on how good you are.

The season seems to have changed here, the days are not as warm as they were and there are now partially cloudy days with some rain mixed in. Which means it’s time to get some seeds into the ground and let mother nature take care of them. So we planted some zucchini, yellow squash, okra, corn, more green peppers, and artichokes. In the next month, we will also be starting some more types of peppers such as pablano, cayenne, and ghost. Ruben has also offered to bring us some peanuts for us to grow.

We are constantly cutting and trimming plants and trees. Last week our cell service was getting a little sketchy and I believe that the trees in front of our antenna were getting too big. So three trees there had to come down. There were also a couple of trees near the house that swayed pretty good in the wind and we thought we should just get them out of there before they fall on the house or the truck. I’ve gotten really good at falling trees exactly where I want them and sometimes they are even in some pretty tight spots.

Of course, when we take plants out we usually replace them with other plants. The other day we hit the nursery and picked up another 30 plants. We grabbed 4 more coffee plants and the rest were all colorful landscape plants that will form a nice hedge along the driveway. Once all the plants get established and start blooming it should look pretty good and colorful around here.

I thought I’d throw in a few fun facts that you might not have known about Belize, so here we go.

1. Belize is still a commonwealth nation of the British and the head of state is her majesty, the queen of Buckingham Palace.

2. More than 80% of the rain forests in Belize are protected by the government and are inaccessible.

3. Belize is among the top 5 least populated countries with only 15 people per sq. km.

4. More than 90% of the population can read and most can speak at least three languages. English, Spanish and Creole.

5. The island of Ambergris was sold to a Mr. James Blake in 1869 for $625. Now that was a deal.

6. Pop singer Madonna’s famous song “La Isla Bonita” was written for the town of San Pedro out on  Ambergris Caye.

7. Belize is the only Central American country without a Pacific coastline.

8. The Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary is the only Jaguar preserve in the world.

9. Belizean money is also called a dollar and is pegged to the U.S. dollar. One U.S. dollar always equals two Belizean dollars, making it very easy to convert prices. Plus U.S. currency is accepted everywhere.

10. Belize is the only country that has people represented on their flag.

Belikin, the national beer of Belize, just celebrated their 50th anniversary. To commemorative this, they printed 50th-anniversary labels for their beers and had special yellow caps put on them. They also made a few golden bottles which were very hard to come by. I don’t know if there was a special promotion if you found one or not, but it sort of reminded me of the golden ticket from Willy Wonka. Anyway, we managed to get one and when I told my friend at the distributor about it he said we were very lucky. So now we have a golden bottle of beer sitting on a shelf in the garage with some other ones.

Here’s your chance for a golden ticket. We will be in the Phoenix area next week, and the first ten people to respond to this will receive a one week stay, free of charge at the Iguana Getaway located inside the Toucan Hideaway property in beautiful Belize. Accommodations include your own private house, private bath with hot and cold running water, air conditioning, color TV, a refrigerator to keep all your alcoholic beverages cold and a king size bed for once all that alcohol really kicks in. Also, the first three people to take advantage of this offer will also receive a gourmet dinner for two, well really for four because we will be joining you. This offer does not expire and it is not limited to the first ten people to respond. Airfare, transportation, food, alcohol and pretty much everything else are not included, just the room. So don’t delay, take advantage of this offer before it’s too late, you won’t regret it! Not valid in British Honduras, Yugoslavia, Prussia, The Republic of Texas or any other country that no longer exists.

BEL (Belize Electric Company) is very good about texting all of their customers when there will be an interruption in their service, even if it is just for a short time. We got a notice the other day that power would be out in all of Cayo on Sunday from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm. Okay, so we get all our work done around here on Saturday and then cool off under the fans with a cold beverage. But what do we do on Sunday when there are no fans and you can’t open the fridge for a cold drink. We thought about going to town for a late breakfast or lunch, but all of Cayo will be without power till the afternoon. Well, when the power is out for eight hours on a Sunday there is only one thing to do…LobsterFest!!! Sorry Randy & Darren, but Placencia LobsterFest was calling and besides that, we really didn’t want to sit around the house with no power.

We headed out of here around 6:00 am for the three-hour drive down to Placencia. Of course on the way, we had to stop at Bertha’s Tamales for some of the best in all of Belize. Then it was onto Barefoot Beach Bar for the ultimate lobster grilled cheese sandwich, I know there are a couple of you that will remember this.

By now LobsterFest was starting to get going, everyone had their grills fired up and full of lobster. There were whole lobsters, lobster kabobs, lobster sausage, nachos with lobster and many more different dishes to choose from.

After having our fill of lobster it was time to leave the beach and start heading back up to the hills. We had brought a couple of ice chests with hopes of bringing back a bunch of lobster, but the seas had been rough the past few days and there really weren’t any extras available. Maybe next month or so when there are no LobsterFests going on they will have a better supply and the price will come down. It was a great Sunday road trip and the nice thing about Sunday is that there is hardly anyone on the roads. After all this, BEL postponed the power outage until further notice, so maybe there is another road trip coming up soon.

I know we talk about all the fun and adventures we are having (and we are seriously having the time of our lives) but there is a lot of work we do in between all the fun. Kelley works hard all day dealing with clients while I’m out working on all the projects we have to do around here. Come five o’clock during the week that is when we work on all the gardening and get all the plants watered and trimmed. Once the rains come we will not have to constantly water anything for a few months, but until the steady rains come we still have to water all the time. The rains have started a little, which gives us a small break here and there, but once they really start that means that all the jungle also grows very fast. This means a lot more trimming to keep our little piece of paradise in shape. Come the weekend, that is when we are both together in the yard doing everything you can imagine, from spreading gravel, weed whacking, clearing out dead trees, painting, building new things and of course taking more care of the plants.

All this hard work is starting to pay off though, first of all, what we have accomplished in this past year still just amazes us. The landscaping and the garden are starting to come together and it is looking great. The plants and flowers are getting established and are starting to show their beauty. The vegetables are doing okay, not like we thought they would, but we are learning a lot about the next time we plant. Green chiles are doing good… we got a pretty good first harvest so far. The corn is doing well and should be ready in a couple of weeks, even though we only got about 40 plants of the 100 or so we planted. At this point, we have about 45 pineapple plants that are doing great and there will even be one ripe soon.

It’s mango season right now and everybody has mangoes. A friend of ours gave us three big bags full of the biggest, sweetest mangoes you can imagine. We love fresh mangoes especially with a little Tajin sprinkled on them, but we can only eat so many. So Kelley cleaned a bunch and froze them for later (mango margaritas anyone?) and we also got the dehydrator out to make some awesome dried fruit snacks. Hopefully, in a couple of years when all of our trees start producing, we will be the ones giving fruit away to friends and neighbors.

Overall, it’s a hell of a lot of hard work to get this place where we want it and to keep it running smoothly, but there are also times when fun adventures are calling and you just have to take advantage of those times.

Somehow we have acquired a dog. The guy’s dog up the road seems to think he lives here now. He’s a good dog, named Red, not the brightest, lives under the house, won’t come up the stairs and barks when he hears something. I guess that is what you want in a yard dog. We feed him our table scraps and he loves them, we have dry dog food for him, but he will only eat that as a last resort. So now we have a dog that is not ours, he protects the house and we don’t feel bad when we leave him for a few days. Sound familiar, maybe even looks familiar?

Okay, we got a little more info on the 5 acres that are for sale on our road. Ruben has cleared a road going into it and cleared a big area inside where a house could go. Water and power are available at the entrance to the property and since it is up the hill from us, you can get WiFi and cell service. The property is full of trees, not as big and as dense as ours, but give it time. The asking price is 32K and from what we hear that is a very good price for this area. If the property bordered ours we would probably jump on it, but it is a couple of lots away. If anyone is interested, let us know and we will pass along the info.

Let’s see, where do I start. Okay, we picked up Randy and Darren up at the airport for a ten-day visit. Randy was here seven years ago with us, but that was back before we really knew anything about the area or even had property. And Darren has been here a few times recently. So mostly we just hung around and showed them our place, ran a few errands and of course went to all our favorite little spots around here.

Every so often friends here will have a get together at someone’s place and just have some fun. We thought it was about our turn and it would be a good way for Randy and Darren to meet some of our friends and neighbors. So we fired up the smoker for a pork shoulder to make some pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce, and as an extra treat, we also smoked some garlic parmesan wings. A friend of ours left for a year to Ireland so he loaned us his giant jungle Jenga game, so of course we had to give that a go. It was a great afternoon and the boys got to meet some great new people.

One of the days we booked a jungle cruise up on a lake near the Guatemalan border with 22 of our friends. They picked us up in vans and shuttled us up to the lake where there were two mostly wood pontoon boats tied together and waiting for us. The last mile drive down to the lake was pretty rough, so we had to come down four at a time in a 4×4, that was an adventure in itself. Once we were all there we headed out onto the jungle lake into the mist and heavy rain on what we called “The African Queen”.

It wasn’t long though before the rains let up and out came the clear blue skies, which lead to the calmest most beautiful lake you have ever seen. The lake is only about three miles long and is privately owned so there was not another soul on the lake. About the only other creatures we saw were a few howler monkeys up in the trees.

There were a couple of big waterfalls where our guide put the front of the boat right up into the falls for a very up close experience.

Next to the falls was a nice sandy beach where he beached the boats and everyone jumped in, cooled off and swam around for a while. While we were all in the water having a good time, they fired up the grill and made us a great lunch of grilled chicken and sausages. After that, we went over to a rope swing that was tied to a tree where a couple of people gave it a go, we thought it was better if we just stayed on the boat and watched.

Then it was a slow cruise down to the dam to check it out. The guide told me that it was over 200’ deep at the dam, so of course I had to ask about fishing. He said there are fish there but he didn’t really know too much about it. So there might be an overnight pontoon fishing trip in our future, that could be quite an adventure. Randy said to the guide that he had heard there were no crocodiles in the lake, and the guide’s response was “Who told you that?”. Anyway, it was a great day for everyone, we all made it back alive and nobody got hurt. We would definitely do this again and we think you should too if you ever get a chance. www.JungleSplashTours.com. Check them out.

About a mile from us as the crow flies there is Pactibun Mayan Site. We have been there before and it looked like someone excavated a small part of it years ago. So we took the boys up there since it is literally in our backyard just to check it out. Well, to our surprise there were about 20 people there excavating it.

We talked to the professor who was in charge, who gave us a full tour of the site where they had five different areas that they were working on. We told him that we had never seen anyone here before and he explained that every year they come for a couple of months and excavate a little more. According to the Belizean government after they dig and document everything they must backfill it all back in before they leave. So next year when they get here they have to dig it out and continue on where they left off. They come every year from May to June, so we will check back next year and see if they have made more discoveries.

By now it was time to head to San Pedro out on Ambergris for Lobsterfest. So a 2½ hour drive to the airport to catch our favorite Tropic Air for a quick 15-minute flight to the island.

There was a little confusion when everything got booked as to when Lobsterfest actually started and I guess the big parties didn’t start till the next weekend after we were gone. Lobster season did open while we were there and we did get a chance to enjoy some lobster tails and some lobster bombs, which were lobster, jalapeno and cheese wrapped in bacon. There was nothing wrong with those.

It wasn’t the big celebration we were expecting and I think we all were a little bummed about it. The good thing is that lobster is now available again until next February and I know Darren will be back before that and who knows, maybe Randy will be too.

We couldn’t let Lobsterfest get us down, so we loaded up our golf cart and cruised around the island at 5 mph, and when you are going that fast you are passing a beach bar every 10 seconds. Yes, there are a lot of places to get a cold drink on the island and we did our best to check them out. One of our favorites is the Truck Stop. It is all built out of shipping container and has different restaurants in each one. On the weekend they have a game night and the night we were there they had Family Feud going on, so of course, we had to get in on that.

We were on stage answering questions (they were all wrong) and actually we almost won the whole thing (not really we lost big time), but we sure did have a lot of fun. After that, we went onto another bar that Darren had been to last time he was on the island. Darren walked up to the bar and the bartender says “Hi Darren”. He was so impressed that he remembered his name, but it turns out he just still had his nametag on from playing Family Feud.

Another favorite place of ours is Secret Beach, where one of the places has permanent tables and umbrellas right out in the water. So we had to take the boys over there to check it out and have some water time. The waiter will bring food and drinks right out to your table in the water, not a bad way to spend the day.

Kelley and I have been here a couple of times and it is one of our favorite places to hang out in the water. It is on the lagoon side of the island so there is no wind, waves or seaweed. It is quite a drive to get there, but well worth it once you are there.

Our rental house this time was a three bedroom, right on the lagoon with plenty of room for all of us. The beach is only a few hundred feet away and it is very close to all the activities.

As we were getting ready to leave, Kelley spotted something in the water. At first, it looked like a log, but it was moving too fast for that. That’s right it was a crocodile, and he was a good 12 feet or so. This was the first one we have actually seen in the wild and it was right off our back porch, very cool!

There are a lot more stories about The Adventures of Randy & Darren, but that should do it for now.

Happy late Fathers Day to all you great dads out there.

Greetings from the jungle. First of all, we can’t believe it was last June when we made the big move to Belize. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun, or working hard or getting older. Whatever it is, it’s hard to believe it’s been a year. Anyway here’s what has been happening down here the last few weeks.

Our Mahindra truck we have now had for almost a year, and it has proven to be a great truck and we are very happy with it. The tires were getting a lot of wear on them so we thought it would be best to get some new ones before the rainy season sets in. Last year the dealer was talking about putting a lift on the truck and I said I would think about it when we needed new tires. Well, new tire time was here so why not get bigger tires and put the 4” lift on the truck. The dealer installed the lift so there will be no problem with the warranty on the truck. The truck rides great and has a taller stance now and it also looks a lot better. We have talked to other Mahindra owners who have 2-300,000 km on them and they still say they are great trucks. There is even an article here where Australia named the 2019 Mahindra “The truck of the year.” https://www.whichcar.com.au/reviews/4x4oty/4×4-of-the-year-2019-mahindra-pik-up-s10-review.  I think we made the right choice when we decided on this truck.

Last time I mentioned about the neighbor who showed up with the pork bellies. It has been well over a year since we made our last batch of bacon, but now after about 10 days of processing, we now have some jungle bacon. One belly is brown sugar and black pepper and the other is brown sugar and paprika, both smoked over hickory wood. At this point, we have been giving some to friends, but other people are asking to buy it and one restaurant even said that they would buy all we could make. Who knows, maybe after the smokehouse is done we be make’n a lotta bacon.

We ordered some metal cabinets for the shop on Amazon a few weeks ago and they finally got here. Yes, you can order Amazon, it just won’t get here overnight. The order has to go to a shipper in Houston and then into a container and shipped down. It takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks, but you can get Amazon in Belize – all you have to do is pay the duty and freight charges. We recently ordered 12 electronic plug-in bug repellents, the shipping and duty were only $12, very reasonable. There are a lot of things that are not available in Belize, but if you can shop Amazon for the best price and then figure in shipping and duty, it’s really not that much more than you would pay at a retail store in the states with all the taxes. Anyway, the shop is coming along quite nicely, there is now a bunch of cabinets for storage, a rolling work table and of course a fridge dedicated just for beer, what more could we need.

During the dry season, a lot of the trees shed their leaves leaving the hillsides looking very dry. With the wet season approaching and the few rains we have had so far, all the plants and trees are all back to greening up very quickly. And it’s not just the wild plants, our fruit trees all have a lot of new leaves and blossoms coming out everywhere. Even the flowering plants we put around the house are starting to bloom. This should be a good year for all our plants now that they have had some time to establish themselves.

Every morning when we get up we open the front door to let the fresh air in. The morning sun comes in and shines brightly on our red kitchen cabinets and really illuminates them. The problem being is that it also attracts hummingbirds into the house. Most of them will just come in and cruise around checking things out and then leave. Then there are the ones who come in and head straight up to the ceiling and just can’t figure out how to go back out the big door they came in. About the only thing we can do is to wait for them to tire themselves out and land so we can pick them up and put them back outside. It is really cool to have the hummingbirds come in the house and come up to you as if to say good morning and then leave, I just wish they all were that smart. The picture below is not a hummingbird but a beautiful Black-Headed Trogon that just sat in the tree and let us get real close for some pictures.

I don’t know if it is because the dry season is coming to an end or some of the rains have started, but we have seen a few snakes around here lately. In the last year, we have only seen a handful of small snakes around here, but in the last couple of weeks, we have seen eight, all between 2-3 feet long, except for one who was a good six feet long. He was a brown vine snake and cut right in front of me across the driveway as I was walking. He didn’t seem to care too much about me and just went on his way back to climbing vines. The vine snake is not a threat to humans and is beneficial to have around so we just took some pictures and watched him go away. Yes, there are snakes here, after all, we do live in a jungle. You just need to watch where you walk and be aware of your surroundings. The other day I thought I saw a big green vine snake, but it turned out to be just the garden hose.

We have been very busy trying to get more projects done around here before our guests Randy and Darren show up next week. That way when they are here we can take a break from everything and have some fun. They will be up here with us for about six days before we head over to San Pedro for a few days for Lobsterfest. LOBSTERFEST WOO HOO!!!! The first lobsters of the season. I know we will partake in as many different lobster dishes as we can, but I sure hope someone is making a lobster grilled cheese sandwiches. The ones we had last year at Lobsterfest in Placencia were over the top! We can’t wait to have some fun when Randy and Darren get here and of course, eat a bunch of delicious lobsters.

That’s about all for now, all’s good with jungle life. Stay tuned next time for The Adventures of Randy & Darren.

We just received a note from the realtor saying that a lot on our road in our little ‘hood’ has become available. It is a 5-acre parcel with water and electricity to the property line.  The price is 32K. If anyone is interested, let us know and we will send you the realtors info, otherwise, we can answer a lot of questions. Just remember…. we would be your neighbors.

This could be a lot of work but it should be fun at the same time. We now have about 30 vanilla vines. A guy we met is helping people grow vanilla to show them that it could be a profitable crop if taken seriously. I guess his family has always grown vanilla in Belize and now he wants to share his knowledge with others. He had three different types of vanilla, some are used for flavoring and some they use for perfumes. So we purchased three different types of vanilla vines from him and we will see what happens. They grow wild here in Belize and he said that we probably have some growing on the property we just didn’t know what to look for. Vanilla is a vine and a member of the orchid family. The vanilla only blooms once a year, and in the wild, there is only about a 1% chance that the flowers will get pollinated. So most of the pollination on farms and such has to be done by hand in order to produce a vanilla bean. The guy we got the vines from helped us plant a few, showed us everything he thought we should know and even said to call him when they start to bloom and he will come out and show us how to correctly pollinate them. I guess when you are paying $7-$12 per bean in the store then maybe this could turn out to be something. If not at least we will have some nice looking vines on the trees and maybe a few fresh vanilla beans to do some cooking with.

The guy we bought the vanilla from also grows cocoa on his farm and was selling the roasted cocoa nibs (what you make chocolate from). So we bought a bag of them from him because our trees have another year or so before they will start producing. We were not quite sure what we were going to do with them until it hit us, chocolate liqueur. So currently the cocoa nibs are soaking in a 750 ml of vodka for a few weeks until we can finish the process. Then we thought why not make some coconut vodka. So we talked to our man Ruben and the next day we had 5 fresh coconuts delivered and he even cleaned them for us too.

Now we also have coconut soaking in a bottle of vodka for a couple of weeks. Can you say Mounds candy bar shots! Kelley even suggested grinding up some almonds to rim the glass with to make it an almond joy shot. I guess sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don’t. They will be ready for Darren and Randy when they get here in a few weeks, that is if there is any left. Update…OMG is that chocolate one good. Mix the chocolate vodka with coconut and it tastes like a mounds candy bar or mix the chocolate with cream de mint and it’s an Andes mint. We will definitely have to make another batch.

Since our basil plants are thriving we have been craving some of Kelley’s homemade pesto, but we can not find any pine nuts. Even though there is Mountain Pine Reserve not far from us that is loaded with pine trees. We have asked everyone and no one has never even heard of pine nuts around here. So we have considered making pesto with other locally grown nuts, such as peanuts or cashews.  Then a couple of weeks ago we were at a farmers market and there they were, four bags of real pine nuts. The gal even told us where we could go collect them if we wanted.

So now we had everything needed for Kelley to make here pesto. The food processor is out, the basil is washed, the nuts and all other ingredients are ready except there is one ingredient missing. Parsley, she forgot that she needed parsley. So trying to think of what we could substitute the parsley with and we came up with moringa. Our moringa trees are growing fast, are over ten feet tall and they needed to be topped anyway. So now it is Kelley’s new and improved pesto with moringa and that’s gotta be pretty good for you.  We have also started making tea with the leaves from the moringa and will start using it in our cooking. Everyone here we’ve talked to who are utilizing the moringa tree says they just feel better overall, after all, it is called “The Tree of Life”.

For the last few weeks, the big project around here has been getting the bbq all up and going.  Antonio and Ruben spent only 8 days getting all the cement, block and tile work done.

Now it was our turn to put the finishing touches on it. Kelley got a coat of paint on it while I was busy making the doors. We are still in the process of running water, butane, and electricity, but that should be done this week. We also had 15 yards of gravel brought in to complete the look and tie it all together with the rest of the area. As for the pizza oven, we put that on hold until we can find someone who knows what they are doing. A lot of people are building brick ovens but they usually have only built one or two and we want to find someone with a little more experience so it is done correctly. The base and floor for the smokehouse are also done, now I just have to build the actual smokehouse.

Now that the bbq area is done it’s time to start getting in a few more choice plants around the area. Yesterday we picked up ten more coffee trees to put around the perimeter of the bbq area. I think that brings the total coffee trees up to 25 and the ones we’ve had in the ground for a while are starting to bud out already. So hopefully there is a nice cup of homegrown coffee in my future.

This is the end of the dry season and it has been very hot the last couple of weeks. Everyone says that it gets very hot the first couple of weeks in May and then the rains come in the middle of May and it is nice for the rest of the year. So we are hoping for the rain soon, mostly because all the plants really need it. A week ago we had an inch of rain overnight and some of the plants around us have grown a foot or more in that short of time. In the dry season, a lot of the big trees lose all of their leaves leaving them to look very barren. But in exchange for the green leaves, the trees produce these spectacular flowers in just about any color you can imagine. It is very common this time of year to be driving down the road and see a purple, pink, red or yellow tree that will just make you stop and go WOW!

Since it has been so hot here, last Friday we decided to head up the mountain and go for a dip in the river. It’s only about 5 miles up the dirt road to this nice little swimming hole on the river. It is a great place to cool off and have a couple of ice cold beers. The vegetation along the river bank is everything from pine trees, big leaf philodendrons, ferns, and orchids. On the way back we did pull over and gather a few big philodendrons and an orchid to bring home.

Summer is the rainy season here but that also means that the weather is cooler. There is a chance we could go for a week without any rain then there is also the chance it could rain for a couple of days non stop. Last summer was great, the heavy rains were usually at night and then opened up to blue skies during the day. If anyone is thinking about coming down over the summer, don’t hesitate. The air is crisp and clean and the plants are at their greenest. The guest house is ready and you know that new bbq will be going, so come on down.

I was just ready to send this blog out when there is a honk in the driveway. Our neighbor had just butchered a pig this morning and he knew that I was looking for some pork belly to make bacon. So now we have 15 lbs of pork belly for bacon, a shoulder that will be smoked for pulled pork and some killer looking ribs. Plus he gave us a watermelon from his farm. I love it when neighbors honk in your driveway. Looks like there will be bacon when Darren and Randy get here…maybe.

It was 25 years ago today that we bought our Mexican home on the Sea of Cortez that would soon be called “Bedrock”.  More fun was had and memories made there than anyone can imagine. But sometimes you just feel the need to move on and experience new and different things in your lives, so that’s what we did. One year ago today on Cinco De Mayo we left our Mexican home and started working our way to Belize to start the next chapter in our lives, and boy has it been fun.

As you can guess Cinco De Mayo is not really a big thing down here but for us, it’s still a good excuse to make some carne asada tacos and a few batches of margaritas. Tequila is expensive and fairly hard to come by down here (I know Belize borders Mexico, it makes no sense). Anyway, we have been stocking up when we come through the Duty-Free store at the airport so we are prepared for any tequila emergency. Today we will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a few friends, tacos and of course margaritas. So today we raise a glass of tequila to all our friends. Happy Cinco De Mayo! Salude!

Music is very big in Belize and there is every kind imaginable everywhere you go. From hard rock, Caribbean, rap, pop, country, and more… they love their music and are always moving to it. We like all kinds of music and have seen all types of musical instruments played, but not a solo guy with an electric ukulele. So it was off to the Bluff’s restaurant and bar to check him out and have dinner and a few beers. Bruddah Adrian was his name and he was amazing! He played songs you know as well as some of his original stuff, and let me remind you this is all on an ‘electric ukulele.’ All of his song whether his original or others, all had this wonderful tropical beat that you just couldn’t stop moving to. He usually plays in Southern California and Hawaii and this was his first time in Belize, hopefully not his last. If you want some music that will get you in that tropical beachy attitude then check him out at www.bruddahadrianmusic.com

Ever since our first trip to Belize, we saw these fun tropical paintings that really got our attention. Walter Castillo is the artist and he is a very well known and sought after artist known for his fun tropical Belizean life scenes. We had been looking at his work for years but just couldn’t bring ourselves to purchase one at a gallery because they were a little more than we wanted to pay. But when you can buy direct from the artist without the big commission from the galleries tacked on, it makes a big difference. Well, the other night he had a small showing of his recent paintings at the ukulele show, so we saw this as our chance to finally own an original Walter Castillo painting. In case you are thinking you’ve seen his work before, it’s because he did the cover for Kelly McGuire’s King of the Island CD. By the way, if you don’t know who Kelly McGuire is then you need to check out his music also.  www.redfishisland.com

Since we have been clearing a little area for some more trees we have been on the lookout for other types of fruit trees that we don’t already have. The other day we stopped at one of the many nurseries we go to and we found a few more trees. We found a kumquat tree that is now full of blossoms, two peach trees, two surinam cherry trees, and four more coffee plants. The peach trees we planted along the driveway near the house and the kumquat went next to the other citrus trees. The new coffee we planted in the shade to see what happens (since shade-grown coffee is a thing), if they do well then we will be planting a lot more of them. As for the surinam cherries, they will actually go in the newly cleared area and that will still allow for another 7-8 more fruit trees. In a couple of years when everything gets going we should have a year-round endless supply of tropical fruity rum drinks, oh sorry, I mean fresh fruits.

We have hundreds, maybe even thousands of cohune palm trees on our property that get big clusters of cohune nuts. These are the big palms that get 35-40 foot fronds on them. The cohune nuts are about the size of golf balls and grow in big clusters and are very hard to crack open. The flesh tastes like coconut and when pressed they make coconut oil out of them. Of course, you need a big grinding press of some type to extract the oil and for the average person, it is almost impossible without a machine. Anyway, when the seed pods on the tree burst open they are quite beautiful and big, about five feet long. Once the nuts ripen and fall to the ground that’s when the gibnut, agoutis, squirrels, and other animals just go nuts for them.

Since we got the big wood carved iguanas for the front of the guest casita, we thought the casita should have a name. So a friend of ours came up with the “Iguana Getaway” and we liked it. Since the little casita is now called the Iguana Getaway we thought it should have a painting of an iguana inside. So we commissioned Jorge Landero who has done a few other painting for us, to come up with a painting of an iguana. He came up with just what we were looking for, it’s a little bigger than we were wanting (50 x 32) but it looks great inside the casita. Jorge even delivered it on Easter Sunday and hung around for a few beers, what a great guy.

Other new improvements to the guest casita are a wall safe, an ice cold air conditioner and a mini fridge to keep all your beverages cold. Since we have lived here, we have not needed any AC (just a fan works great) although there were a few evenings last year when we could have used it. We do have a new AC unit sitting in the garage for the main house, it just isn’t installed yet. Since we are up here in the hills, we are generally ten degrees cooler than down near San Ignacio, and you can really feel the temp drop as you drive up here. So if anyone was concerned that it might get too warm down here, don’t worry, now you can chill out at the Iguana Getaway.

We have been working on clearing a spot behind the house for the outdoor kitchen. We’ve cut down about 7 decent size trees and got it all cleared and leveled out and are now starting to build. There will be a cement slab with a wood and metal roof over it to protect it from the rain and any creatures from dropping in. The whole area will also be surrounded by white gravel just like what is around the rest of the house. Underneath the cover, there will a place for a 54” Viking grill with two side burners and a rotisserie, a sink, and a brick pizza oven. We have been grilling on a little 18” two burner BBQ for the last year and it is driving me crazy. We can’t wait to get a real grill up and going again and really start cooking. A little ways away from the slab we will build a permanent smokehouse. We have a small electric smoker now, but since we can get whole pigs just up the road the possibilities are endless. The smokehouse has us dreaming about all the bacon, hams, ribs, sausage, and other good stuff all smoked with wood from the allspice tree which grows wild here. And as for the pizza oven, there is a local guy in the village who makes clay ovens for all the bakers around here so we will see what he can do. All in all, it should be done in a few weeks and I can throw that little F*%#ing piece of S#%T grill away and we can commence to some real grilling.

Speaking about food, a new little restaurant just opened up in town with an unusual food combination. Pizza and donuts, isn’t that a great concept, who doesn’t like pizza or donuts? I wonder how long before the big pizza chains get a hold of this idea. Imagine sitting at home late night and ordering up a pepperoni pizza and a dozen jelly glazed, that would for sure cure your munchies.

Monday was Earth Day and that was the day Belize banned all single-use plastic and styrofoam products. It joined 30 other countries around the world to ban single-use plastic and styrofoam items and is the only country in Central America to do so. For the past few months, we have seen more paper bags and more restaurants using biodegradable paper straws (like the kind we use to use when we were young). There are even bins set up around town where you can drop off your glass jars and bottles and they will grind them up and recycle them. We do our part to always use our canvas bags at the markets and stay away from as many plastic containers as possible. Everything helps and this ban is a major step in helping to keep Belize clean and beautiful.

That’s about what’s going on this week. Don’t be shy, come on down and check it out, we’d love to have you.

Friday we traveled over to Benque Viejo on the Guatemalan border to see their annual Easter sawdust carpets. Colored sawdust is used to create decorative images in the streets that will greet the religious procession on Good Friday as they make their way to the church.

The sawdust carpets are a very big part of the Benque Viejo community on Easter weekend. Each year faithful parishioners gather on the streets adjacent to their own town church with colored sawdust and stencils ready to create their works of art.

One man we talked to said that months before Easter the community donates funds so that they can gather up and dye all the sawdust the different colors that will be needed. Other materials are also used on these carpets such as rice, ashes, shells and flowers to help make them as beautiful as possible.

It’s hard to believe those are all made out of colored sawdust, they are a true masterpiece and a religious tradition. Besides the carpets, the most impressive part is that it brings the whole community together as one. From organizing, sourcing out sawdust, cutting stencils, dying all the colors, designing and the actually assembly of the carpets. From the very young to the very old, the whole community comes together to achieve one goal, and it is a truly amazing site to see.

Happy Easter! Hope you enjoyed this wonderful tradition that is celebrated in our little corner of the world.

Okay, so in the last blog I joked about moving back to the beach and not knowing where Aruba was. Well, I did know where it was, it’s in the south Caribbean about 17 miles off the coast of Venezuela, South America. I know we live in Belize and there are so many things to do and see here, so why would we need to go anywhere else. Well, this is our 35th wedding anniversary and we thought we should go somewhere special. Since we had never been to Aruba, it sounded like the place to go and besides didn’t the beach boys have a song about it. Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take you… I know you are singing it in your head now. Anyway, Southwest Airlines has a flight direct from Belize to Florida and then nonstop to Aruba and since we still have miles and a companion pass on Southwest, it seemed like a great getaway for our anniversary. Our anniversary isn’t really until this Easter Sunday, but you know how the beaches are on Easter weekend.

Aruba is an island that is only 20 miles long by about 6 miles wide, so in our rented jeep it really didn’t take long to explore the whole island. Everything that really happens is on the west side of the island where there are beautiful turquoise waters and soft silky sandy beaches. This is the side where there are also a lot of high rise hotels, restaurants, tours and beach activities. By that, I mean very touristy.

Since tours and big crowds are not really our thing, we jumped in the Jeep and decided to explore the other side of the island. The east side of the island is a very rugged and windy coastline with basically no water or beach access. Here the waves crash against the shore sometimes breaking as high as 50 feet or more. We were told that it is always very windy here, which explains why it’s an island with mostly cactus and not much vegetation at all.

This is also the side where there is a wind farm with big wind generators, which make sense. The day we were cruising around there was a herd of goats just hanging out at one of the wind generators, don’t know why, as far as we know they live inside the generator and just came out for some sun.

On the east side of the island, there is a national park with a few natural attractions. After paying our entrance fee we explored a couple of wind-blown caves that have been there about 1,000 years or so. These caves did have some great formations in them and even a few old cave paintings from past inhabitants. After checking out the caves and driving around in the windy desert we stopped at this little outdoor bar in the middle of nowhere for a couple of cold beers. It was so windy there that their drink coozies were actually carved out of stone so your drink would not blow away. The kid serving the beer in the stone coozie even said: “Welcome to the Flintstones”.

We had heard about this small town where they had painted murals on a lot of the buildings in town, so it was off to find them. After all, how hard could it be to find them on a small island? No problem, we found them and wow were they amazing. In 2016 the first art fair was held there to highlight the growing art scene and every year since there are more murals and art added to the buildings.

Since we were in Aruba, we thought we might as well go fishing one day. So we reserved a 38’ boat just for the two of us for a day of deep sea fishing. They had been catching Mahi Mahi, Tuna and Wahoo, and since neither of us had ever caught a Wahoo before we asked them to try and target them. First of all, I never would have ever considered going out on a windy day like it was, but then the deck hand told us that it is like this 365 days a year and they go out every day. So what the hell, it’s only a 20-25 mph wind, let’s go fishing.

So off we go, we start trolling about 10 minutes out of the marina and head towards the north end of the island where they have been catching Wahoo. Like I said, this is very rough water and it got even worse as we approached the end of the island where the current came around. The boat was really rocking and sometimes dropping onto the next wave, but when the wave came over the side of the boat that’s when I said we need to turn this boat around and start heading back. Kelley did have one hookup that we were hoping was a Wahoo, but it turned out to be just a Baracuda. We are just glad we are not big fishermen and live in Aruba where it’s always this rough and windy.

Aruba is full of very high-end restaurants as well as every fast food joint you can imagine. We ate a lot of good food there, everything from pizza, seafood, pasta, Asian, escargot, and steaks. One place we really enjoyed was this steak house where they come by your table with skewers of different kinds of meat and just serve you till you say stop. We laughed at all the fast food places and said that we did not come to Aruba to eat fast food, but there was one day when we needed a quick snack. Okay so we stopped at a Wendy’s for a quick burger, after all they don’t have them back home in Belize, so it was sorta a treat.

After five days in Aruba here is our take on it…the beaches are beautiful and very clean and the people are very friendly, after all it is called “One Happy Island”. There are a few beaches where there are not that many people and they were great.

It is a tourist destination with lots of cruise ships and flights arriving daily which makes for a lot of people everywhere. There are high-end retail shops and jewelry stores everywhere you look. From Prada, Gucci, Bulova and so many more that I don’t recognize, but they are in a prime location so they must be expensive. There are food chains everywhere, Taco Bell, Mc D’s, KFC, Dominos, Hooters, Hard Rock, etc. which sorta takes away from the island feel.

I know it is an island and everything has to be brought in, but it is very expensive. They recently imposed a sin tax on alcohol, tobacco, sugar and such. A local beer at a restaurant or bar will run you $5-$7 usd, and they are only 7 oz bottles. That’s about a $1 an ounce for local beer, plus tip. That gets real expensive spending a day at a beach bar having some beers. Being a desert island with a strong year-long wind and really no tropical plants or feel to it, it just wasn’t for us. This is just our take on it, we are glad to have experienced Aruba, but there are many other places in this world to explore.

It’s good to be back home in Belize to our tropical surroundings and our own bed. While we were gone the garden and other plants have grown quite a bit, a big tree has fallen near the house that needs to be cut out and there were three toucans near the entrance to welcome us home. It’s great to be back. Now it’s back to work, projects and getting everything ready for our next little build. Lots of things to do here at home and it sure feels good to be doing them.

We have lived here for almost a year now and it’s unbelievable what we have accomplished in that short amount of time. From starting with raw jungle to creating a beautiful place to live where there was nothing before. There are so many beautiful sights and things to do around here that it’s mind-boggling. Our property requires a lot of work and maintenance to keep everything trimmed and running smoothly and that doesn’t leave too much time for us to just relax and enjoy the reason we moved to Belize. So after a lot of thought and soul searching, we have decided at this time that it’s too much work for us and we would rather spend more time just relaxing and enjoying life. So we have decided to put the property on the market and see what happens, we have already had a couple of people show some interest in it. I guess it turns out that we really do miss the beach, so when and if this sells we will be looking at a smaller beach property that doesn’t require as much maintenance. We will be looking in southern Belize, Panama or maybe even Aruba, where ever the hell that is. Hopefully, some of you will be able to come down and enjoy our jungle paradise before it sells. Oh and by the way…April Fools…are you kidding we love it here and have no intention of moving anytime soon!!! April Fools, haha, got ya!

Okay, sorry about that I just had to get that out of my system. So now back to what’s really happening around here.

After living in the jungle for a while we decided it was time for us to buy an island. Okay, so it’s not the kind surrounded by water, but rather the one surrounded by the kitchen. We waited this long to make sure there was enough room in the kitchen to support an island and we decided one would definitely work. We got our plans to the cabinet maker, ordered up the granite and four weeks later we now have a great new island. For the granite, we decided to go with a white and black as opposed to the black and white we did on the countertops. We thought this would help to keep a more open feeling in the house. This will act as our dining table and more importantly more work and storage space in the kitchen. We also had four bar stools made out of a hardwood called poisonwood that are very heavy and beautiful. Still lots of projects around the house, but slowly it’s all coming together.

Our fruit trees and other plants are coming along nicely. Some of our banana plants are about 15’ tall now, they are not producing yet but I assume later this year we should have our first bananas. Our coffee and cocoa plants are bushing out nicely and we should have some coffee berries later this year. I don’t expect very many this first year, but maybe just enough to roast up and make a few cups of coffee, that will be exciting.

Our starfruit, cinnamon, citrus, mango, avocado, and macadamia nut trees are all showing great growth. Our pineapple/orange tree is starting to bear some fruit, so we will see how that goes. We also have our first pineapple on one of our plants, which is pretty exciting since all our pineapple plants are from tops we rooted. At this point, we have around 25 pineapple plants and are planting a few more every couple of weeks.

All the artichokes and hatch green chili plants are in the ground and are doing good, as well as some squash. We’ve also picked up a couple of red raspberry plants and they are doing great. Last week during the full moon we planted a few rows of sweet corn, about 75 plants. All the farmers around here really believe that for the best crops you need to plant during the full moon. I assume there is something to it because the corn crops around here grow very fast and take about 2 1/2 months till harvest. An extra boost we got was that it rained the night after we planted all the corn, so the Mayan gods must have been happy with us.

On our walk around the property the other day we came across some flowers that we had not seen here before. It seems that every few months different trees, vines, and other plants will bloom and produce beautiful colored flowers that are only around for a couple of months. We have no idea of what type of plants these are, but it’s always a surprise when we find a new one. I think we might try to relocate some of the long purple vines towards our entrance gate and see if we can get them to grow on the fence. We can only imagine what some of the plants around here would cost at a nursery back in the states.

Since I seem to have gotten on the subject of plants I might as well include pictures of our Moringa trees. We planted 8 of them from seed about 6 months ago and they are already about six feet tall and have flowers on them. We ended up keeping two of them and gave the others to some friends. Once they get a little bigger we will start using the leaves and such for tea and other stuff. I know I’ve said before about the Moringa tree, but if you don’t know about it you should google it and see all its benefits and why it is called the Miracle Tree.

One thing that we really love is fresh coco water. Between our place and the village, a young man has set up a small little stand selling fresh coco water on ice. There is nothing more refreshing than ice-cold fresh coco water. We usually stop every time he is out there and grab a few to take home. Once you taste it ice cold and fresh you will never buy that canned crap in the store again.

Okay, June is just two months away and that means it’s time for Lobster-Fest again down here in Belize. Lobster season closes here in February and doesn’t open again till mid June and by then everyone is craving lobster. Different beach towns here try to celebrate their Lobster-Fest on different weekends from each other just in case you wanted to hit them all. Actually, just one Lobster-Fest is more than enough for us. We are not sure which one we will be going to yet, either San Pedro or Placencia. San Pedro’s Lobster-Fest is from June 15th-23rd and Placencia is June 21st-23rd.  Last year we did the one in Placencia which was nice because we could drive there. The one in San Pedro we would have to drive to the airport and catch a flight to the island and then rent a golf cart. Last year in Placencia we had a hard time finding a decent place to stay at a reasonable price because we waited too long to start looking. San Pedro has a lot more options of where to stay, but then you have the flight and cart rental. At this point, we are still looking at all the options, but we know we need to reserve something very soon. If anyone is planning on coming down for Lobster-Fest, please let us know when and where and we will try to accommodate you.

Well, it was that time of year again for the annual La Ruta Maya River Race and of course, we had to be there again for the start of it. The best place to see the start of the race is at Gary and Julie’s Wish Willy Cabañas over-looking the river. They do a wonderful job every year of throwing a breakfast party at their place so you can munch out and cheer on all the racers as they go by. Thanks guys!

I’ve got to say it was a lot easier last year before we had our place when we stayed at Wish Willy’s. All we had to do was walk out our door and see the race, now we have to set the alarm, drive into town and hopefully make it there before the race starts at 7:00 am. Of course, there was no traffic coming down from our place so we made it in plenty of time to catch the start.

In case you don’t know what the La Ruta Maya is, it’s the biggest sporting event in Belize. It is a challenging four-day canoe race down the Macal and  Belize River to the Caribbean Sea, covering 174 miles. The hype starts the day before with bands and parties and goes on through to the end of the race. Every checkpoint along the way is another big party, and it helps that the race is always held on a national holiday weekend to give everyone a chance to cheer on their favorite team and partake in all the fun. The race was started in 1995 when canoe teams competed to raise money to help clean up the river. The race has since bloomed into a full-fledged competition with international and Belizean teams sometimes in the hundreds competing for that number one spot and bragging rights. This years winner was team NICH (National Institute Cultural History) they had a total time of 18 hours and 34 minutes to complete the 174-mile course. They were the first ones to get to the checkpoints each day averaging just under 10 mph, and that is kicking ass in a canoe. Congratulations Team NICH!

I know that most of you reading this will know who Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers are and that we have been fans since the beginning. So when we heard that Peacemakers lead guitarist and frontman for the Railbenders, Jim Dalton, Peacemakers bass player Nick Scropos, and Jeremy Lawton from Big Head Todd and the Monsters were coming to Belize we jumped on the opportunity to go see them. They were playing in San Pedro, out on Ambergris, not a problem it was a great excuse for us to get a little more island time in. A quick 2½ hour drive to the city and then a 20-minute flight and we were sitting on the island ready to catch their shows on Friday and Saturday afternoon. Well, sometimes things don’t always work out the way you want them to. Last week there was a massive storm in Denver grounding all flights, which meant Jim and Jeremy were stuck there instead of heading to the beaches of Belize. Nick made it because I’m pretty sure he flew out of Phoenix and there is usually never a problem there.

I know Jim was really bummed out about the whole thing, but what can you do, there’s always next time. I know in Mexico Jim has probably at some point seen his name on a grain of rice, but has he ever seen his name on a surfboard in Belize? Hopefully, this will not be the only time we’ll ever see this.

It would have been easy for us to cancel our trip to the island and stay home and work around the house all weekend, but that just made no sense to us. Besides we already had our flights and a room booked and who would rather stay home and work than go to the island for some fun? This time we found a great place on the lagoon side of the island that was right across the beach from the Dive bar where they were supposed to be playing. This is definitely a condo we will be renting again, third story overlooking the water and very quiet.

Since our plans were changed we decided to make the best of it and rent a golf cart and go bar hopping for the weekend. One of the places we wanted to check out was the Truck Stop. Last year they were closed so we didn’t get a chance to, but this day they were open. It is a bunch of 20’ containers that are all different themed restaurants and a bar. They have live music, movie nights, game night and even a pool you can use, it seems to be the place to be in the evenings.

After reading all the menus and choices we decided on a white pizza topped with conch, garlic and basil on a brick oven cooked thin crust, and it did not disappoint. Next time we will have to try some of the other restaurants that all looked so delicious.

The next day we headed over to secret beach which really isn’t a secret it’s just a few miles from the big crowds on the other side of the island. It’s been about a year since we were over there and it has grown quite a bit, but it is still a lot quieter than the other side of the island. Being on the west side of the island means there is no seaweed or waves, just calm beautiful turquoise water.

After seeing the tables and umbrellas in the water we knew where we were going to be spending our afternoon. So we grabbed a couple of cold beers and waded out to our table to get some sun and just relax. It wasn’t long before the waiter came out to the table and asked if we need anything else. Well since we had planned on spending the afternoon there and we had only had one beer at that point, then you know what the answer was.

To help make it easier for the waiter I inquired about getting a bucket of beer so he wouldn’t have to make so many trips out to our table. Well to our surprise, a few minutes later here he comes with a floating ice chest full of ice cold beer. This is just like we used to do in the summers in Mexico where we lived, standing around in the water with a floating ice chest full of beer. All we needed now was all of our friends that we used to do this with, same thing just a different country. No need to wait for the water to warm up here, it’s always nice, so come on down anytime and we’ll float some beers.

It was a great couple of days on the island, but now it was time to get back up to our jungle home. There is still a lot of work and projects around our place that need to be done.

Still not a lot of exciting stuff happening around here, just working and getting all the never-ending projects done. The big project of the week was to build a trash receptacle for our cans to keep all the critters out. Hopefully, this will do the trick because it seems like all of a sudden it is possum season here.

Besides seeing a lot of dead possums on the road they are all around the house, in fact, we see them almost every night. We are also seeing a jaguarundi and some agouties around here, but I don’t think they are the ones bothering the trash.

I don’t know if it is the red color of the cabinets or what, but we seem to be getting hummingbirds inside the house. Just a while ago there was a big blue and white one buzzing around inside the house and the other day Kelley rescued a very small one from inside the bathroom window. They also frequent the garage, but when I’m in the back working and they come right up to my face, it sort of freaks me out when you are not expecting it.

We met Craig and Monica a few months ago and they were looking for a piece of land to build a small house on. We invited them out to our place, just to see what we had done and to see what our builder could do if they ever needed him. Well, long story short, there was someone on our road who was looking to sell and now Craig and Monica are building just up the road from us, using Ruben, Antonio and some of the others who built our place. It will be great having them here even if is just a couple times a year.

Dan and Brandy are also just up the road, and they are usually here for a few months at a time. It’s shaping up to become a great little group of people here in the hood. What do you think Darren, maybe a small building on your property soon?

As they are digging the septic and footers at Monica and Craig’s they are finding lots of broken Mayan pottery and a grinding stone so far. We know that we are right in the middle of the Mayan empire and there are artifacts all around us, but we have never looked or dug around our place to see what we might discover.

So the other day Kelley goes out to the big pile of dirt they dug out for our septic and started looking around. Believe it or not, she found a big tooth from what we thought was from a very big cat. It was about 4” long, it felt petrified and was fully intact. It wasn’t the artifact she was looking for, but it really was a tooth from a cat, a CAT backhoe. I guess Tony must have lost a tooth on his bucket when he was digging out the septic. Can you imagine someone 1,000 years from now finding this and trying to figure out what it was from?

We finally had the chance to break out the disco and fry up some fish. The only kind of fish we could find locally was some flash frozen tilapia fillets. Now I can’t remember the last time we ate freshwater fish, it was good and everyone seemed to enjoy it, but it just wasn’t that good saltwater fish we are so used to. I think a fishing trip to the coast is in order soon so we can get some real fish.

At the fish fry, David and Anita had brought his drone out for a little fun flying. Here are a couple of stills that I pulled from his video. The first one is looking down on the houses and the second one is looking east from our place.

A couple of weeks ago Ruben had cut another 100’ where we have the fruit trees now, that way we could plant some more variety of trees and get a garden going. Everything dried quickly so it was now time to get it burned. It always scares us when he burns, but he knows what he is doing and all went according to plan. Next week he will cut the bigger pieces that didn’t burn all the way, pile them up, do one more burn and then we should be ready for more trees in about a month. So now the search is on for trees. Hopefully, we can find some good ones like Cashew nut, Kiwi, Peach, Plum or even some other exotic fruits.

We finally decided on the kitchen island so it is being made by the same guy who did our kitchen cabinets and front door. The granite is also picked out and being cut and everything should be done in a few weeks. Which will make Kelley very happy to have more cabinets and a bigger work area in the kitchen.

Just FYI, it looks like you can fly round trip from Phoenix to Belize for around $500 on SW until June then it looks like it jumps to around $800 and doesn’t go back down until late August. The weather is great and airfares are good, what are you waiting for?

After a fun and relaxing week with Darren up in the jungle and then out on the islands, it was time for us to get back to work. There’s not much really happening here this week, but we still have a few things we’d like to share.

I’ve been planning on cutting down a couple of trees next to the house to help clear up an area that would be a great sitting and relaxing area. Then we were thinking what if I cut one of the trees table height and found a nice round slice of wood to put on the stump and make it a pub table. After searching a local buy-and-sell online, we found the perfect piece, except once we got there it was way too big. It was a beautiful piece of wood and even though we didn’t have a use for it immediately we just couldn’t resist buying it. It’s not every day you come across slabs of this size and I knew we would eventually find a use for it someday. The lady actually had five of these beautiful pieces of wood so we decided that we needed at least two of them. After loading them in the truck we thought, let’s just buy them all and we will find something creative to do with them. And at $25USD each how could we turn them down. So now besides a big table, I am looking for other suggestions to use these wonderful pieces of wood for. Any creative minds out there with suggestions? And no I’m not going to build a Flintstone car, I think we are over that.

A friend up the road brought over a bunch of fresh bananas off his tree the other day and they are so good! After you have tasted fresh picked bananas you will never want to eat another store bought banana again. Our banana trees are doing very well and hopefully later this year they will start to produce some of our own. At this point we have growing; local bananas, apple bananas, plantains and I think one other that I can’t remember so we should be set on bananas once they start producing.

Coming from the southwest of the US and northern Mexico we love our green chiles, but they are very hard if not impossible to find down here. I did manage to get some hatch green chile seeds, so a while back I gave some to our friend Ruben and he got them to grow and produce some nice chiles. So now that we are getting settled in, I’ve got my seeds planted and have about 50 plants doing good. Hopefully, in a couple months we will have a big green chile roast and Kelley can make all the things that are good with green chiles. We can’t wait!

The other vegetable that we love and is impossible to find here are artichokes. We have looked everywhere and asked everyone we know and no one has ever seen them down here. The conditions here seem really good for growing them, cool damp evenings and warm afternoons just like the California coast where they grow best. So at this point, we have about 50 plants started that look like they might make it. If they do mature and produce artichokes, everyone we know wants to buy them, including a couple of the markets, that is of course after we get our fill of them. If we can get these to grow then I still have about 1,000 more seeds and maybe we will just plant a shitload of them.

All the fruit trees we planted a few months ago are doing quite well so we decided to have Ruben clear another 100’ so we could get more variety of trees and have room for a good vegetable garden. It should take about two months before the new area will be ready to plant, but in the meantime, we will be looking for all those special trees.

Every day we are learning more and more about the plants that surround us and what they can do for you. It seems that every plant can do something for you whether you make a tea with it, crush it up and eat it or just rub it on you. At this point, we haven’t had a need to use any of these remedies that are growing all around us. Although we have heard many stories from others and the results seem amazing. Such as a friends daughter had asthma really bad and they could not get it under control. It turns out that you take the thorns off the Cockspur tree, boil them and then drink the tea and it will help. After a week of drinking the tea, her asthma was much better than ever before.

Then a friend of ours also told us about boiling down Ix-canan plant that is common around here and it is used for all skin problems such as bug bites. So we cut some down, boiled it up and put it in an old water bottle and now we always have this on hand, and it works very well to relieve the itch and reduce the swelling.

Another plant that is common here is the Bear Paw Fern, so called by its fuzzy soft legs. We have them growing on a bunch of palm trees around here, besides being beautiful they also have great medicinal purposes.  Local herbalists recommend making a tea and drinking it for the beginning stages of cancer, the pain of latter stages and for high blood pressure.

This is just an example of some of the plants around us and judging by the health of most of the elders in the village, there must be something to the traditional knowledge of all these plants. There are a lot of natural remedies out there, it’s just figuring out which ones will work best for you.

Our first houseguest was Darren, a good friend of ours who last year ended up buying the piece of property next to ours. Obviously, Darren had been here before and seen a lot of what Belize has to offer, but there was a lot more to explore. First off was to find the Rio Frio Cave, a very big and amazing cave. Well after driving down dead-end roads, through swamps and telling google maps how wrong they were, we still couldn’t find it. We will have to save that one for next time. We did end up finding a smaller cave that Darren went down into, Kelley and I decided that since we didn’t have any flashlights we would just stay up top and take pictures. After all, there could have been bats, jaguars, snakes, Bigfoot, trolls or who knows what else living in there.

Next stop was 1,000 Foot Falls, which is actually a 1,600 ft waterfall. It is the biggest waterfall in all of Central America and is worth seeing. It is a long dirt road getting there, but it is a beautiful drive with fern covered roads and big pine trees. Yes pine trees in Belize, seems a little strange in a tropical country in the Caribbean, but beautiful just the same.

There is a lookout post once you get there to view the falls or you can opt for the four-hour hike down to the bottom. It was a unanimous decision that we take in the view from up top and not hike to the bottom where someone could get hurt, or eaten by a jaguar and never be heard from again. It was a good decision because there was a lot more we needed to see and do.

At this point, I believe we are at if not one of the highest points in Belize, you can pretty much see the entire country from up here.

After checking out the falls and taking a bunch of pictures it was time to head down the mountain for a little tailgate lunch and find a couple other small waterfalls and swimming spots. Being January up in the mountains it was a little chilly to be getting in the water, but next time for sure.

Another day-trip was off to Cahal Pech, a Mayan sight right in the middle of San Ignacio. In Mayan ‘Cahal Pech’ means the place of ticks, and no we did not see or get any ticks while we were there. This is one of our favorite sights because you can actually walk in the rooms, walk down the stairs and through passages. Being a small site it only takes a couple hours with a guide to gain a good insight into how the Ancient Mayans lived their day to day life.

For instance, the King’s passageways were arched to a peak so that his headdress would fit through. Also, the passages were shorter when you first entered them and then got taller at the other end so that the King would have to bow when he first entered the passage.

In another room was the King’s bed, a long stone bed with a big backrest at each end. Our guide told us that the King would lay at one end with his wife and his other wives would lay at the other end with all the other concubines in the middle. They say it’s good to be the King, but I’m not too sure.

Cahal Pech is not one of the big touristy spots and the couple of times we have been there we have gotten a guide who has worked there a long time and has helped to excavate the site and is very knowledgeable. This is a must see site, plus it only takes a couple of hours, leaving the rest of your day to do other things.

Besides all the fun around our place, there were a lot of very good food and drinks to be had around town, but now it was time for the second part of this trip. That’s right, “It’s Island Time!” Time for us to take a little break from all the work we have been doing around the house and hit the beach. A couple hour drive to the city and a 20-minute flight and we were sitting on the Caribbean shore in Ambergris sipping a nice cold one.

We originally planned this time of year to go to the island to catch Jerry Jeff Walker at his annual Camp Belize show, but he had to cancel because of health problems. It didn’t matter because there was still live music just about everywhere you went. Good live music, ice cold drinks all while sitting on the turquoise waters of the Caribbean shore, it couldn’t get much better than that. Well, it did get better, we were hopping around bars and stopped in this one and Kelly McGuire just happened to be playing.

What a great surprise, we have been big fans of his music ever since our first trip to Belize. If you haven’t heard his music check it out, it will make you want to get away from it all. King of the Island is one of our favorite CD’s as well as all his others. His music is sort of Jimmy Buffet island feel-good type music with a little bit of Texas country thrown in.

The next day we thought we need to do a little island hopping, so we jumped on the boat and headed over to Caye Caulker for a day of fun and sun on a different beach. The motto on Caye Caulker is “Go Slow”, and you can definitely feel that vibe as you wander around.

After a short boat ride, it was time to get a cold drink and get in the grove of the island, and that we did. There are a few bars on the island but everyone loves to go to the Lazy Lizard at the split in the island. They have live music, sandy beaches to get your tan on, water to swim in and even palapas in the water where you can get bar service.

We met some new friends, had a great day and probably drank a little more than we should of, but what the hell, we were on island time and didn’t have to drive anywhere. So after too much fun, we caught the boat back to the other island, got some sleep and caught the morning flight back to the mainland, got Darren to the airport and made our way back up into the jungle.

We had a great time and a lot of fun having Darren here as our first houseguest at the Toucan Hideaway. Chances are we won’t do all this every time someone comes down for a visit, but there will be a lot of fun to be had and we can always point you in the right direction for your own adventures.

Like I’ve said, we have a guesthouse to stay in, but if you want to travel with other friends there are resorts or Airbnb’s close to us that could accommodate them.

We are just getting our Facebook page up and going for Toucan Hideaway so I will try to be posting stuff on that as time allows.

So until next time, enjoy life, be happy and most of all, have fun!

With the inside of the house being painted all white it is like a blank canvas. So last weekend we picked up a few gallons of bright colored paints to do some accent walls. There is actually a brand of paint here called Caribbean Color that is nothing but bright colors, and they even have a toucan as their logo on the can, pretty cool. Also found some brightly colored drapes to liven up the windows a little. We are still looking at different galleries and shops for some more paintings and art to add some color and character to the house. At this point, we had seen all the galleries had to offer and we thought we would just have to wait until there was an art show or the artists did some more paintings. Anyway, we were sitting at Remo’s last Sunday having a couple beers when in walks Jorge Landero, the artist that did our toucan painting. It turns out that his house is right across the street from Remo’s and he said that he had just finished a couple of new pieces. So about six of us grab our beers and walk across the street to see his latest paintings. As soon as we walked in there was no question about it, there it was, our new painting for our bedroom.

Jorge had also just finished another painting of a tree frog that we just had to have. We told him that we were also looking for a fun, bright painting of an iguana for the guest casita and he said he could paint us whatever we wanted. We were a little skeptical to ask what he wanted for the two pieces, knowing what we paid for the toucan at a gallery. He thought about it and said that he would give them to us for half of what the gallery would charge. I guess I couldn’t get the money out of my pocket fast enough and I even asked him, are you sure that is enough? Jorge Landero is a very talented artist and a very nice guy and we are glad we got to know him, and yes we will be buying more of his work.

Like I said before, the house has a lot of blank walls and no real decorator items in it yet, so we are always on the lookout for something that would fit in that certain area. Well, we drove by the woodcarver again (he is on the main road and you can’t help to look over) the other day and just stopped to talk to him about something else. Wouldn’t you know he had just finished something that would fit right under this table we had recently bought. So now we have another wonderful carving from Eduardo and this one is house trained so he will get to be an inside bird. If you stay away from the galleries and are lucky enough to go directly to the artists, then the prices for beautiful original art is amazing.

I had mentioned that now that it is quiet around here the birds and other animals are coming back around. There is a colorful bird here called a Mot Mot. They have an iridescent blue color on their head and are very common around here. In the wild, they are sometimes hard to spot, but when you put them on a blue rug with a bright green wall as a background they are very easy to see. Especially when Kelley walks into the bathroom and there is a bird in there to surprise her. Anyway, the casita door was left open and I guess he just wanted to check it all out, but it would have been nice if he didn’t shit everywhere. I guess a bird in the bathroom is still better than a monkey jumping on our bed.

The other morning it was raining a little and the birds were pretty quiet compared to their noisy usual selves. As we looked up in the trees there were two big bright toucans just sitting there, I guess waiting for the rain to stop. I wish it was a bright sunny day so the picture would have turned out better, but I know there will be a lot more opportunities, especially since we now have a perch where we are putting out fruit for them. This is also the same morning that we drove by the wood carver and bought the toucan, were the toucans in the tree a sign of some type?

Another amazing creature here is this moth we saw the other day. It looked like just a plain old brown moth, but when you touched him, his wings opened up to reveal what looked like a face with beautiful eyes looking at you. I guess it is a form of self-defense, needless to say, it was very beautiful. There was another one we saw a while back that was quite bigger and had a head like a hippo and wings opened up to also reveal some eyes. I guess we need to start tapping every moth we see to see if they are looking back at us.

One of the orchids that we found last year has started to bloom, it has bloomed a couple of times since we found it, but we have always missed it. This time as soon as it bloomed, big bumble bees were all over it. We have never seen these bumble bees around here before, maybe they only gather the pollen from orchids which are usually high up in the trees.

There was a coatimundi spotted on our road the other day as well as a jaguarundi at our driveway entrance, plus our neighbor saw a deer on their property. All these animals were seen during the middle of the day, we can only imagine what roams around in the darkness. There have been some mornings where the fog sets in pretty heavy which gives a real eerie feeling in the jungle, especially when you hear something rustling in the bushes and can’t see what it is.

This was the weekend we had a big BBQ for all the workers and their families. It was a great turn out and it gave them a chance to show their families what they had been working on most of last year. A few of their wives wanted to just move into the guest casita and never leave. A lot of their kids were occupying their time by playing with spinning tops that were all homemade. When I was a kid I was pretty good with a top, so I had to give it a try. I guess over time I must have lost all my topping abilities because I couldn’t get it to spin. We usually see kids around here playing marbles, so I asked one of them where the marbles were. I was informed by a 10-year-old boy that today is top day and marbles are for Tuesdays, who knew.

Anyway, the pig turned out great, even though it was 30 lbs more than what was recommended for cooking in the box. After we split the ribs on the pig so he would fit in the rack he was way too wide to fit in the box, so we had to shorten his legs a little, which worked out perfectly because those went into the pot of beans. It is not as simple as cooking a set weight pig and using manufactured charcoal where you add a certain amount every hour and it turns out perfect. With the lump charcoal, you just have to keep an eye constantly on the temp, adding more and then opening the lid a little to cool it down when needed. I’ve got it figured out now and thinking we might have to do this a couple times a year.

This week our first official house guest (Darren) will arrive. We will be checking out a few of the sights we haven’t been to before as well as flying out to the island for a little beach time. We had planned to hit the island to see Jerry Jeff Walker for is annual Camp Belize concerts, but it turns out he will not be doing it this year due to health issues. I guess that just leaves more time for us to put our toes in the water, ass in the sand, not have a worry in the world, a cold beer in our hand and life will be good that day.

Now that the holidays are over and we are all moved into our new home, it’s time to start enjoying everything. Such as getting the quads out for a run, inviting friends over for a BBQ or just walking around the property. On a  recent walk we found these beautiful Haliconias or Lobster Claws. It’s great to be able to just find treasures like this right in your own back yard.

I had mentioned before that we had ordered another Caja China cooking box. Our idea was to cook a whole pig and invite all of the workers and their families over for a BBQ so that their families could see what they had been working on for the last nine months. It turns out that our neighbor across the way raises and sells pigs, so this was perfect. We told him we would need a 50 lb. pig once it was cleaned, he said no problem that he had one that was about that size. He called us when it was ready, so we loaded up the big ice chest in the truck and headed over to pick up the piggy. We showed up and there was this perfectly dressed pig just waiting to be turned into something delicious. The only problem was that he weighed in at 110 lbs. and that was way too big to fit into our cooker. I guess he usually sells the pigs live so his estimate was way off, but not a problem he would have another one for us in a few days. We ended up buying just the two hindquarters, which weighed in at 40 lbs. This actually worked out perfectly because it would give us a chance to test out the new cooker, plus invite a bunch of friends over who have been wanting to check out what we have been working on for the past nine months.

Getting that delicious Mojo sauce all up in that pig leg.

This was great, our first jungle party with a pig in a box (well, part of him anyway). Now we have cooked a lot of pigs in a box like this, but not with the local charcoal which burns very different than a bag of manufactured charcoal. There was a big learning curve trying to keep the temp where I wanted it, plus when and how much charcoal to add. Once it was all said and done, it turned out perfect and everyone had their fill of some delicious pork tacos.

Everything for this meal came from within walking distance to us. The pig was raised just down the road, tortillas came from this little lady in the village, Ruben brought sour oranges for the Mojo injection sauce plus tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage, fresh picked from his farm. Everything for a great meal and all without going to a store. It was a very successful test run so now we are ready for the for the real thing in a couple of weeks. And yes, the next smaller pig is already in the deep freezer just waiting for the next party. The smaller pig weighed in at 80 lbs, still a little big, but we’ll make it work.

The other day Remo’s Roadhouse hosted a chili cook-off for CAWS, the Cayo Animal Welfare Society so of course, we had to go check it out. There were some very good chilies there as well as auctions and of course puppies that were up for adoption. It was hard to not take one of the puppies home, but at this point, we are not quite ready to have a dog. It was a great time had by all, tasting chili, drinking cold beer and supporting the animals. Sound familiar? Anyway, next year we think we might both enter and we’ll see how that goes and by then we might even be ready for a dog.

Now that we are settling in, it is time to get started on some of the landscaping. We have had Ruben clearing up a bunch of the underbrush and cleaning up some of the big palm trees around the house to give it a more open and well-groomed look.

Between people giving us plants, finding plants around the property and going to the nursery, we have gathered a bunch of very nice ones that will look great once they get established. Some of the elephant ear plants will get leaves that are 4’ long while some of the other variety elephant ears will get smaller ones only around 2’ long, but that is still a big leaf.

We got a bunch of plants (not sure of the names) to go around the house that get purple flowers year round and can be trimmed into a hedge. They are only one day flowers on them and then they fall off, but they are always in bloom, so there is a lot of color.

We also got a bunch of purple shamrocks that have purple leaves and get small white flowers, those will work well as a ground cover around the other plants. Plus we got some pheasant tail, red dracaenas and Brazilian torch that get a lot of big red flowers which will all add a bunch of great colors once they get going. Combine that with all the philodendrons, bird of paradise, lobster claw, and orchids we are finding around the property we should have the place looking good in no time.

Speaking of looking good, the other day there was blue sky and then out of nowhere, this beautiful rainbow appears right over our driveway. All the plants, animals, insects and Mother Nature in general never cease to amaze us.

Music is a big part of the culture down here and is heard almost everywhere you go. A lot of times the drum is the heart and soul of the music with multiple drums and drummers giving it a very unique beat. When this happens you can feel it inside your bones and you can’t help but want to get up and move around.

There was even this guy pounding out some good beats on his homemade turtle shell drum set. It was amazing how many different tones he was getting from those shells.

There are also some great guitar players down here, but there are a few that are starting to look a little worn out. If anyone knows any guitar players, please send them down, we’ve got a place for them.

That’s about what’s happening around here this week, we hope some of you are starting to think about planning a trip down here sometime to see all that Belize has to offer. So come on down, we’ll leave a light on for you.

What a wild and crazy ride 2018 has been for us. It was just one year ago we were ringing in the new year at our home in Cholla Bay, Mexico wishing some day that we would be living in the Belizean jungle. Well, careful what you wish for, because all of a sudden a piece of property we had sold, so we figured that would justify us building a small casita on our property in Belize. This way we could go down for a few weeks at a time until we got to that point in our lives when we were ready to make Belize our permanent home. Just before we were ready to start building a small casita, an offer came in for our house in Mexico,  plus we had buyers for a few other pieces of property we had in Mexico, so now it looked like we were committed.

Now everything is pushed into fast gear to build a new home since we soon wouldn’t have a place to live. After a couple of quick trips to Belize to line up workers and set up accounts for materials and such, it was time to pack up our Mexican home of 24 years and get ready for the big move. It took awhile to consolidate everything down to what we thought was important and could fit in a 20’ shipping container, but we did it. At this point everything we had, including us, was sent up to our kids home in Arizona for about a month until we could get it all lined up and sent to down to Belize.

By the middle of June our little casita was done and it was time for us to start this new adventure. So we decided to make the move and move into the little casita while our house was being built. Of course there were setbacks along the way, such as the wood we wanted for the entire house wasn’t available. We spent a lot of time running around and ordering materials and trying to figure out who had the best price and if or when they might be able to get what we needed. After six months of hurdles and constant construction, we believe all the basics are done for now, so we were able to move into our new home just before we leave 2018 behind us. It is now very peaceful and quite here in the jungle without all the construction going on, and a lot of the birds and other animals are starting to come back around. It’s nice to see all the parrots, toucans and other colorful birds around the property once again.

We are now moved out of our guest casita and it is ready for company. It has a king size bed, a fold out futon, a private bath with hot water (yes, we are civilized here), a nice porch for enjoying your favorite drink and of course a big Iguana and her baby keeping you safe during your stay.

Enough of that, here’s what is happening now. Kelley is very, very happy to have an oven, a stove with more than one burner and a real size microwave. For the last six months we have been cooking with a single induction burner, a tiny BBQ and a tiny microwave. Now Kelley is cooking turkey dinner, eggs Benedict, lasagna and of course Christmas cookies. All we need now is to get the big BBQ built, a pizza oven, a smokehouse and then we will be cooking fools.

The other day we were surprised when our friend brought over a hind leg from a Gibnut that he had just shot. Gibnut is a very tasty animal down here, so good that they served it to the Queen of England when she visited Belize. This was a very special treat for us and I’m sure it will be quite awhile before we get it again.

The one thing I’ve come to realize is that without an oven and only one pot to cook with at a time you will tend to loose weight. It’s having an oven that will make you fat, all those baked goods and everything else you can cook with more than one burner at a time. Actually, I think we can control the evil oven once we get past the holidays and get all those good foods out of our system that we haven’t had in awhile.

A lot of people don’t know where Belize is and think it is a long and expensive flight to get here. Well ,here’s the skinny on it. Belize is on the southern border of Mexico on the Caribbean side, it is only about a 2 1/2 hour flight from Phoenix to Houston and then a 2 hour flight down to Belize. If you look around, Southwest can usually get you here for around $500 RT. There are other major carriers that fly here, but SW usually has the best rates.

We are finally settling in and starting to enjoy everything we had worked so hard to achieve and we hope friends and family will come down for a visit to see our piece of paradise. See ya’ll soon!

The Christmas spirit is in full swing down here in Belize. A lot of the houses and businesses have festive lights and inflatable Santas and snowmen can be seen everywhere.  Christmas carols can be heard just about everywhere you go and of course they all seem to have a nice Caribbean beat to them.

A big tradition down here is to spruce up your home for the holidays, so you see a lot of new construction going on as well as everything getting a new coat of paint for the holidays. In town, the streets are alive with people shopping and talking to friends they meet along the way, everybody here really gets into the Christmas season. The other day we passed a Salvation Army volunteer in front of the bank and he was playing Christmas songs on a very shinny trumpet. Remember back in the day in the states when the volunteers would play an instrument or sing Christmas carols instead of just sitting there ringing their bell.

We are also getting in the Christmas spirit by sprucing up our home for the holidays, mostly because it’s done and it is move-in time. We have been out buying furniture, paintings and other decorating items to make it a home. With so much beautiful art and furniture around it’s tough deciding just what pieces to take home. We did find a couple more paintings that we thought would be a great addition to the new home as well as having an entertainment center made from Purple Heart hardwood.

We did manage to get a couple strings of Christmas lights up and I found a new palm shoot that was coming up from a tree that had been cut down. And guess what, it looked just like a Christmas tree. Who says a tree has to be traditional, just a few fronds off the bottom and it was ready to go.

Here is what the outside looks like so far, there is still a lot of little things to be done, but this is the kind of stuff we love to do. Now all the landscaping starts, along with finding all the colorful tropical plants and deciding where to put them.

We took down a few big trees around the house to give a little more open feeling and had another load of gravel brought in to create a nice sitting area just off the side porch. And yes, the toucans have migrated over to their new permanent home where they will live forever.

The guest house now looked a little bare without them, but no sooner did they fly the coop than a big iguana and her baby moved in. I know we need to stop going by the wood carver, but he does such beautiful work, his prices are great and he is on the side of the road we drive down all the time.

There is still a lot of detail work inside we need to do, such as getting doors on the closet and the laundry room (which are being made from mahogany for under $100 each), building shelves and a bunch of other small stuff. It’s not completely done nor decorated but here are some pictures of what it looks like so far.

After six months of living in a small casita and sitting on hardwood chairs, we finally got a chance to check out the recliners in front of the new TV. Our butts and backs really appreciated it, and the first movie in the new house was Christmas Vacation. Tonight maybe Christmas Story, Bad Santa or the Grinch, we have to get in as many Christmas shows as we can before the season is over. The next couple of nights the temp is supposed to be a little cooler in the evenings, so hot chocolate and schnapps will help make it feel a little more like Christmas. Now it is still 85+ during the day, so ice cold beer during the afternoon and then hot drinks in the evening, what could be better. Okay… temperature update, last night our digital temp gauge stopped working when it hit 52 degrees, and I know it got colder than that. We have never even considered putting a heater in the house, A/C yes, but a heater? I’m sure this is just a freak cold snap and should be gone in a day or so. Whoever thought it got this cold down here in tropical Belize.

Speaking of cold, we picked up a used beer fridge for the garage the other day. Got it for $125 usd and he even gave us a two-month warranty on it, you can’t beat that. So the fridge is stocked and ready for anyone who might happen to stop in or come down to stay here. Of course, the beer in the photo will not be the actual beer we will be serving you as it needs to be cycled in and out often to keep its freshness. So come on down and have an ice cold Belikin, the guest house is now ready for visitors.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Belize Navidad from Kelley & Dave.

The construction of the house is done! The only things left are waiting for the granite countertops to be finished, the upper cabinets need to be installed and the sinks hooked up. Once all that is done then we will install all the appliances and start moving in some furniture, and by furniture, I mean something soft to set our asses on. We are still waiting for our bed to be finished and another woodworker is making the medicine cabinet for above the bathroom sink and a small entertainment center for the TV, stereo, and DVD player. So now all the cleanup and tree trimming is about to take place to make this place look good.

Since we are in a waiting pattern for a week or more for our granite, upper cabinets and bed to be finished, the timing worked out perfect for our quick trip up to the states. We will be heading up to see the kids and grandkids for an early Christmas. We are also planning a short trip down to Mexico to visit friends we haven’t seen in a while. Once we get back to Belize it will be Christmas for us. We will get to move into our new home and open up all the stuff that we had brought with us that we have not seen in a long time and all the new stuff we bought at the last minute to fill the container.

The front door turned out beautiful!!! It all started with an idea not to have a simple front entry door since that is what makes the great impression of your home. We kicked around a few ideas of having a door made and then we said why not have a carving done on it. Our first thoughts were a toucan or a parrot or maybe a jaguar, but after thinking more about it we settled on just some big tropical leaves. So I came up with a drawing of what we wanted and gave it to the woodworker and he transformed it into this beautiful one of a kind door that is really amazing.

This project is finally coming to an end, no more saws, sanders, constant hammering or people running around, just peace and quiet from now on. It seems like this was taking forever, but we think that was because we were here almost every day during the construction. In reality, it is amazing what has been done in the past nine months considering there was nothing here when we started. We now have a nice entrance and road coming in, a big garage\workshop, a guest house, and the main house, plus power and water where there was nothing before. There are still a lot of things for us to do around here such as landscaping, building shelves, building the BBQ, trash containers, etc., and that will keep us busy for a quite a while. After seeing everything all together and done I do see what the little boy meant when he said that we are building a beautiful resort. It does sort of look that way as you come through the front gate. Isn’t life wonderful when you have a dream and pursue it until it becomes a reality?

Since we are now starting to think about plants and landscaping we thought we would start by looking around the property for plants we could move closer to the house. We managed to find some nice big heliconia (lobster claw) plants that have the orange flowers on them, but we had to cut the blooms off because they were done. We moved a couple of them and I think we will be moving more once all the clean up is done. The picture below is what they will look like once they bloom again. Who needs a Home Depot garden department when you have a jungle full of tropical plants.

We always like to try new things whether it’s food we’ve never had before or exploring new things. The other day I got to do something I had not done in over thirty years. I got a ticket, for parking too close to the intersection. I guess you can not park within thirty feet from the corner. There was no sign or anything saying that anywhere, I guess you are just supposed to know that. The ticket was only $50 BZ or $25 US, so it really was no big deal and it only took about five minutes to pay it down at the Town Hall. At first, I thought there should be a sign stating no parking, then I thought about how you could get a ticket in the states for parking too close to a fire hydrant. They don’t have signs there either, it’s just something you are supposed to know. Oh well, lesson learned.

Once again it is that time of year when the new Belikin calendars are released. This years release party was not far from us so we decided to meet some friends, have a few beers, listen to some music and meet the models. They use to just sell the calendars, but for the past three years, you can only get them at a release party. We have somehow made it to the last three years releases and got to meet the models and get an autographed calendar. And the only reason we actually go every year is to get a calendar so that we know what day it is living out here in the jungle. Yah right!

The pig roasting box has arrived! In Mexico, we had a “La Caja China” cooking box that we cooked lots of whole pigs and other stuff in and everything always turned out great. After talking to one of our neighbors who raises pigs and lambs we thought it was only appropriate that we got another cooker. The Caja China cooker in Cholla Bay, Mexico was promptly repainted to read “La Caja Cholla” and now that we live in the Cayo Belize, you guessed it, new paint so it will read “La Caja Cayo.” One of the main reasons for ordering this (on Amazon) was to throw a big thank you BBQ for all the workers and their families who helped build our little piece of paradise. Plus you never know when someone might need an event catered or something.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great long weekend with friends and family. This is the first time in 24 years that we did not cook a turkey at our Bedrock home in Mexico and we have to admit it was a little different. They do have turkeys here and a lot of restaurants serve traditional Thanksgiving meals, but we decided to stay home and fix a nice ham on the grill for the two of us. Being a long holiday weekend it gave us time to go out and buy furnishings for the house. We found a great vibrant painting of a parrot, a reclining sofa with drink holders as well as a fold-out futon for the guesthouse in case anyone visits with kids. Our bed is also in the process of being made as well as some bar stools for the front porch and garage.

We also found a guy that makes live edge furniture, so we commissioned him to make us a big mirror for the bathroom wall. The wood we chose was Granadillo, a local hardwood, and it turned out beautiful. The fun thing here is that most of the furniture has to be made from scratch so that gives us the chance to design it and pick the type of wood, and with all the beautiful wood choices here that makes it tough.

The front door is also being carved from mahogany and should be ready real soon. This is a design that we came up with and once I had it drawn on paper he copied it exactly. The design on the 40” door will extend over onto the two 10” panels on each side of the door.

Since it was a long weekend we finally had time to build the workbench. It is 3’ wide by 18’ long using only 2 x 6’s and 4 x 4’s and it is anchored directly to the wall, I’m pretty sure I could drive the truck on it. Finally, a real place where I can get some projects done, up to now I’ve been using a fold-out table.

Also, we finally got the other half of the front entry gate painted and the locking hasp installed.

A lot has happened on the house this past week. There has been a big blue tarp all around it just in case it rained so that the freshly sanded porch won’t get wet. It sort of seems like that TV show Extreme Makeover where they will reveal your house once it is done. The inside is completely painted, the railing is up all around the porch, the electrician is here today, the lower cabinets get installed today, tomorrow the cabinets get measured for the granite so it should all come together this week.

A few years ago when we bought the property, Ruben had cut a trail down to a creek that borders our property. With everything else going on we had not given too much thought to it until the other day after a good rain. We could hear water running, so we put on our rubber boots and grabbed a machete and started chopping a trail down to where we thought the creek was. We found the creek and it was actually flowing pretty good. From what we remember from the first time we saw it there were some good size rocks somewhere in the creek that would make for a good little waterfall. Eventually, we will cut some trails down to where the best spots are and make small sitting areas so when it does run we can go check it out.

Kelley will not know I put this in the blog until she gets the post. The other day we were walking around the property and there was a huge vine hanging from this big tree all the way down to the ground. I chopped it off so that it was about three feet off the ground and then I pretended to swing on it like Tarzan. Knowing that it probably wouldn’t hold me I talked Kelley into giving it a try. She did a little test with her feet off the ground without a problem, so she decided to play Jane and give it a real try. Well you guessed it, it broke and she landed flat on her ass. She was okay, I just really wish I had the camera with me. Oh, what fun it is out in the jungle.

This weeks progress on the house was all about the things that don’t make for good pictures. The walls are ready for paint, the outside of the house is all sanded and clear coated and the floors are getting a good sanding. The interior mahogany doors are being finished and getting ready for installation along with all the window molding. The stairs have been put in place as well as the two small buildings for the water heater and the butane tank. The windows came on Friday afternoon and they managed to start installing them right away. The initial clean up has started and stuff is starting to be hauled away. Next week should be a big week of progress. The interior should be completely painted, the floors should have a nice finish on them, the railing around the porch will be up, the cabinets will arrive and hopefully, we will be able to turn on the lights. It should be a very exciting week.

Now, this house is not all that big and the only thing getting drywall is the walls. So the builder brings in a guy who all he does is drywall work, great! So I’m thinking a couple 5-gallon buckets of ready-mix drywall mud should be more than enough. No, he says that he needs five, so I buy three just so I don’t have to return any. After a couple days he says that he needs five more buckets and I’m thinking is this guy just eating this stuff. So now he has used eight 5-gallon buckets of mud, that’s 40 gallons of the stuff. But wait that’s not all, he still needs two more buckets. The finish on the walls is very smooth and the builder tells me that once the paint is on we will love it. Just as I thought it was ready for paint, guess what, that’s right… one more bucket. So a total of eleven 5-gallon buckets of mud, that’s a total of 55 gallons of ready-mix drywall mud. And I thought it was an overkill on all the cement they used on the garage.

This seems like exactly what happened last week. Saturday we get out there and built the other half of the gate. And I have to say, it amazed me that it fit perfectly considering that each section was 10’ and the hinge pins were cemented into the post already. Anyway since it was a perfect fit, we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day and wait till Sunday to give it some paint. Well you guessed it, it rained all night and now we have to wait for the wood to dry out before we put some paint on it. So it’s looking like this afternoon we’ll be heading over to Remo’s for some Sunday football and beer.

It has been about a month since we signed up and got our PO Box, but we still hadn’t gotten our keys. It turns out that the new cylinder and keys for the box had to be ordered from England. I think these PO Boxes were here back when Belize was still British Honduras and are still using the same locking mechanism. Anyway, we finally got our keys and unlike the states where the key usually says on it “Do not duplicate”, these did not say that.  Now I’m not a locksmith, but I really don’t think I could take these down to the local hardware store and have duplicates made. Always something interesting down here.

With us loving to cook, trying new foods and just a basic love of food, we really have to appreciate that you can just go out and find different wild edible plants growing around us. The other day Ruben found theses beautiful Oyster mushrooms growing on a palm tree right by the house. We have found some before close to the house, but we have never gone out and foraged for them. As soon as we get in our kitchen and can really start cooking again we will grab a bucket and be on the hunt for more of these tasty mushrooms.

The house is still moving along. This week they took down all the scaffolding, allowing us to really see how big the porch is. On the front of the house the porch is 10’ x 26’ and along the side it is 7’ x 20’ which should be great for relaxing and entertaining. Currently, they are making all the window molding, tiling the shower and a bunch of other finish detail work. At this point, we can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Last Sunday we were going to paint the new fence but it started to rain, so football and beer sounded like a much better idea. Monday was a bright sunny day so we got out there and painted that sucker up. We think it looks good and blends nicely into the surroundings. We spent all of Saturday building and painting the first gate, we will build the other one next weekend and it should go a lot faster now that I have a good pattern.

We also had another truckload of gravel brought in to help finish up the road and to help with the mud when it rains. The whole thing is really starting to come together all at once. The contractor’s son (who is around 12 yrs) has been here all summer helping out, the other day he told me that we are building a beautiful resort. Not quite a resort, but in the eyes of some, I guess it could look that way.

The garden area where we planted all the trees is doing very well, lots of new leaves on all the trees. Although there is one little problem, we have a mole. I wouldn’t think too much about it but he is eating the roots on my cocoa plants and that will result in less chocolate, which makes that a problem. I have dug up his holes at night, during the day and even in the pouring rain all with no luck. I have even set a trap and sat out there at night with a pellet gun, but still nothing. I will get him you just wait and see. I know this is where you start singing the song from Caddy Shack.

We went to Belmopan (the capital of Belize) the other day to see about getting a permit for my LED light bar on top of our truck. The head of transportation told us that they are not issuing any permits for any type of extra lights on any vehicles. This order came down from the Ministry with the reason being that people were not turning them off when driving on public roads and cars are crashing.  Also, it has become a competition as to who can have the brightest lights. So at this point, it is now illegal to have any lights on your vehicle that did not come with it. I hate to take this light bar off especially when I see other vehicles still with them on, but on the other hand, I’d hate to end up in jail over a light bar infraction.

The creature feature of the week is the Tapir or Mountain Cow which is the national animal of Belize. This picture was taken at the Belize zoo, but they do roam all over the country. I have heard that there are a lot of them in Mountain Pine Ridge area which is right by us. Tapirs are herbivores eating mostly plants and fruits along the river banks. They spend a lot of time in the rivers as they are excellent swimmers as well as agile climbers. They are a big animal getting up to six feet in length and weighing up to 500 lbs. I guess they are hard to spot in the wild but their tracks are easily identified because their hoofs have 4 toes in the front and 3 in the rear. They range from southern Mexico to Columbia, but are now endangered due to poaching. Belize has the biggest population of these mammals so there is a decent chance of us seeing one in the wild someday.

Being November with the cooler weather just ahead, it is time to start thinking about some warm soups. Well that really doesn’t apply here… I just wanted some chowder. I have been making clam chowder for a long time now and if I have to say it’s pretty good. So for the last few months we have been looking for and asking everyone where we might find some clams, all with no luck. Then I got to thinking, we’ve got a bunch of lobsters in the freezer, what if we just substitute the lobster for the clams and make this a lobster chowder.

Now you have to remember that this has to be cooked outside on one induction burner and all with only one pot. So every time the bacon has to be cooked or the onions sauteed or the stock has to be made from the lobster shells the one pot has to be cleaned out. It took awhile and about six beers, but in the end it was great! Also there is a small French bakery here that makes a pretty good sourdough bread. Lobster chowder, sourdough bread and some cold beers, what more could you ask for. Once we are in the new house with a real kitchen this will be a lot easier to make. So if you are down here visiting and you mention how good some lobster chowder would be, chances are we might make some.

Final stages of construction

The house is still really moving along. All the drywall is up and wow those ceilings look tall. The electrical is all roughed in as well as all the plumbing. Everything is getting a good sanding again and the railings are being made. Next week the shower is getting tiled and the drywall will be done. He is now thinking maybe two more weeks till his part is done, but that does’t count for the cabinets and another week for the granite. I’m still thinking mid December before we are all moved in, but who knows.

The cabinets are coming along nicely. He has got one of the lowers stained so we could see the color before he did the rest. The drawers and the doors are now being made along with all the uppers.  One of the owners of a resort in the area saw them and commented on how he loves the wood and the color and wouldn’t mind that in his resort.

All the mahogany has been bought and is ready to be made into our front entry door. We gave him a design of what we wanted and after the door is made he will start on the carving, it should be spectacular.

This week we also had them make a couple pillars at the entrance to the property so we could eventually install a gate. We spent a sweaty Saturday building a small fence on each side of the pillars. In the next week or so we will be building the gates that will go across them. Each gate will be 10’ allowing for a 20’ opening into the driveway. That should big enough to bring in big trucks if needed. I was hoping to get a picture of the fence all painted but it started raining today. So since it is a Sunday we will have to go to Remo’s and watch a little football and maybe have a couple beers till the rain stops.

Christmas is right around the corner and I’m sure the stores are filled with the beautiful red poinsettias. After the holidays I’m sure almost everyone just throws them away, well not down here. Our neighbor down the way has one that is huge in their front yard. I didn’t even know it was a poinsettia until it started to turn red. Now is this the biggest poinsettia you’ve ever seen?

Weezz get’n modernized now. Took down the old clothes line and temporarily hooked up the clothes dryer in the garage. We have not had warm really dry cloths since we’ve been here, and they are so nice! We have a garage full of appliances and stuff just ready to be installed so we figured why not start using some. Next thing you know Kelley will be baking cookies in the garage on her new stove.

Funny little rule and regulation. In Belize they have check points along the highway mostly to check to see if you have current registration and insurance. And so we were on one of our many runs to the hardware store and there was a police check point. We have been through many of these with no problem, but this time he didn’t just wave me through. He asked me if I had a permit for the LED light bar on top of my truck. Then he wanted to know why I needed such a big light bar. I explained to him that we live way out in the bush and it is very dark and I don’t want to hit any animals. I assume he must not have spent too much time out in the bush at night and seen how dark it can really get plus not knowing when an animal might run in front of you. Anyway he told me I had to go to the Department of Transportation and get a permit for my light or I had to remove it from the truck. Who would have thought you needed a permit to put a light on your truck. Then again we had to get a permit for a cell phone booster. It’s always interesting to find out what rules and regulations they have in other countries.

Sorry there is no creature feature this week as we have been too busy with finishing up the house. Also the last time I checked the cameras there was really nothing on them, but once all the noise and construction stops I’m sure all the animals will be back.

The house is still moving along at record speed and we couldn’t be happier as his plan is to have it done by December 1st. Right now he is bringing in people who specialize in drywall, electrical and plumbing so that his crew can continue doing what they do. The red zinc roof is on now that the insulation and all the wiring for the ceiling lights and fans are in. The flooring is all down even around the deck outside, there is still a little of siding to finish, but that should not take more than another day. Starting next week the drywall guy will be here and should have it all in by the end of the week. At this point everything is on schedule including the cabinet guy, the granite guy, window guys, etc. We are so excited to have this all come to a reality and who knows, we might even be able to put up some Christmas lights this year on our brand new jungle home.

The garage is getting close to being empty of all the wood for the house, which is good because we are filling it up with other stuff. Although it is starting to look like a hardware store with all the appliances, door handles, air conditioner, light fixtures, water heater, propane tank, fans, etc. Very soon it will be empty again and I will be able to have a real garage where I can actually work on stuff and not have just a big storage shed.

Now that rains have seemed to have stopped for awhile, it was time to get a water line up to where the new fruit trees are. Of course, no matter how much you plan you know there will be one little thing about the job that won’t go right, and that is what happened to us. It seems that when the original water pipe was run it was all 2” right up to the property line. So when we ran ours down to the house we stayed with the 2” pipe for the whole run. So we buy all the elbows, T’s, reducers and shutoff valves to make this all work. Two inch pipe at the driveway coming in and two inch pipe at the house, everywhere except where I had dug to splice in the for the new line, it was 1 1/2”. No problem I’ll go the the little hardware store in the village to get all the new parts. Perfect except I had forgot that I now needed a couple of feet of 1 1/2” PVC so the shutoff valve would be above the ground. So back to the store for some PVC and of course they didn’t have any, so now we have to run to town and the simple water line has turned into a two day project. No problem I’m sure the trees can wait one more day for some more water.

We are always looking to try new and different foods, especially when they are indigenous to the region. The other day we stumbled across some local wine that is made not far from us here in Belize. It is a Sorrel wine from Swirly Head Fruit Wines. It is made from Hibiscus sabdariffa, in Belize it is called “Sorrel” and in Spanish it is called “Flor de Jamica”. It’s an organic wine that is made with all local ingredients and taste like a good rosé. We will definitely be buying more and maybe even go for tasting if they offer it.

A few yeas ago we took a picture at the market of something that we did not know what it was, but now we know that it was Sorrel that can be used to flavor all kinds of stuff including wine and even Belikin beer during the Christmas season.

Scary things in the jungle

Living in the jungle is something new to us and getting use to some of the sights and sounds that we are unfamiliar with takes some getting used to. All of a sudden it is dead calm and you hear a bunch of branches rustle and you can’t see what it is through the dense jungle. Is it an animal jumping around or is it just branches falling and it is even worse when it is totally dark outside. One night when it was very dark out we were doing dishes out back in our little temporary sink with just a small light when a big possum runs down a tree about 10’ from us. A little scary when you don’t know what it is at first. There are lots of animal noises that we hear in the night, for instance the big thing that kept running under the house for awhile, still not sure what that was. Sometimes we hear wild cats (not your typical house cat), every so often you can even hear the howler monkeys and a bunch of other animals we have no idea of what they are. We were even informed by the vet in town to be careful of the vampire bats.

As far as insects go we have seen more insects and spiders in the 4-6” range than ever before. At night when you shine your flashlight on the ground all you see is eyes shining and looking at you from everywhere. These are just small 2” spiders that will run from you if you get close to them, well sometimes, one did make Kelley do a little dance one night.

The ground spiders and the tarantulas are our favorite because they usually just go away from you unlike others that make big webs that you could unknowingly walk into when you are strolling through the jungle. That’s the last thing you want is a giant spider stuck to your face.

Then there are the big black scorpions, a little scary when a 4” scorpion takes 4-5 smacks with a shoe to kill it.

You have heard of it raining cats and dogs but have you ever heard of it raining snakes? The other morning Kelley was outside when she heard a loud thud on the big blue tarp covering our house. It seems that a snake had fallen out of a tree and landed on the tarp, and people say we should be careful of falling coconuts.

I think the scariest thing we have experienced living in the jungle was this unforgettable cry we heard. One night we were sitting outside enjoying a cold beer when we heard what sounded like a child crying.  It went on for only about ten seconds or so and then it was gone. We looked at each other got our flashlights and a machete and started looking around. After about ten minutes of searching we sat back down and tried to figure out what we had just heard. The next evening about the same time we heard it again and this time we swore it said “Help me”. Up to that point we assumed it was an animal of some type, but now we were getting a little freaked out. By the next morning we had forgotten all about it, but as the sun started to go down we started to think about it again. That night after dinner we decided to stay inside and watch a little TV. Then about the same time as the other nights there it was again, crying and then a very clear cry for help. That’s when we decided that we should just turn off all the lights, lock the windows and door, get the machete and the pellet gun ready just in case. At that point we were pretty much scared shitless. We never did hear that same sound again and to this day we still don’t know exactly what it was.

All the bugs and the animals are for real, but as for the child crying… HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Oh and one more scary thing. The other day we were driving around and all of a sudden out of nowhere this big Jaguar appears.

We are not trying to scare anyone away, but like anywhere there are bugs, snakes, bats etc. We in fact we have only seen 2 small snakes, 3 scorpions and 2 tarantulas since we have been here. We just thought it would be fun to highlight the few we have seen just in time for Halloween.

The house has now officially shifted into high gear. The roof is about done, the floor is going down and the siding is going on. Next week the electrician will be here to run all the outlets and switches and to run the underground power from the main breakers. We have been shopping and comparing prices for lights, appliances, doors, fans, etc and are starting to stockpile them in the garage. If all goes well, he is estimating another six weeks till completion, even if that is off by a few weeks it should still put us in there by Christmas or the end of the year. Still a lot to accomplish for them and for us, but time is flying by and we can not wait to be in a bigger house with a real kitchen and living room.

There is no big retail stores here, so any type of cabinets, vanity’s, dressers or other stuff like that has to be made. There are a few bed and dresser sets available, but the options are very slim. It is also challenging to shop for appliances, lights, fans, etc. So far we have only found one store that carries a built-in microwave, the good thing is that it was what we were looking for. And it seems that no one down here carries a dishwasher, in fact our cabinet maker has never even seen one before. We did locate a nice stainless dishwasher at one store so we are off to get it before someone else does. Not many choices on outdoor lighting or fans either, but with enough shopping around we usually find something that will work.

We had to go see the cabinet maker the other day to make sure the measurement was correct where the microwave, stove and dishwasher are going. We were very surprised to see that so much of the work had already been done on the kitchen cabinets. Kelley could almost picture herself standing in a real kitchen, cooking up some amazing food again. Jose had told us before that the framing is the part that goes pretty fast, and it’s making all the doors and draws that take time. Still it was nice to see the cabinets taking shape, and it is all hardwood, no plywood or particle board here. Plus he is making them extra strong so that they will support the weight of the granite.

We’ve been saying how it would be nice to have some more bananas in the entrance side of where we planted all the fruit trees. Ruben said that he had some that he could dig up for us if we wanted them, so of course we said yes. So first thing Saturday morning we took the truck over to his house to pick up six very big banana trees. There was a variety of plantains, apple bananas and local bananas, all of which are very good.

The little mini orchard is starting to look great with all the trees, the new grass coming up and the addition of the new bananas, it going to be a regular fruit-topia of trees once they all get established.

We are big fans of funny signs and when we see one we try to get a picture of it, which doesn’t always work when you are driving down the road. This one we just had to stop for because it was funny and because it was put out by the Department of the Environment, which even made it better. The sign reads “No Dumping of any kind, Let’s keep Belize clean”. A very good and positive message. Okay, so let’s look at the pictures and think about this. A person throwing trash, very understandable. A person sitting on the toilet, understandable, but funny. An emoji with a broken heart??? Okay, so no dumping of your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife or even your dog? I guess in order to help keep Belize clean you should not throw trash, poop in the proper receptacle and do not break up with anyone. Funny right?

And speaking of signs, I added a few more to the funny sign section on the blog.

The creature feature of the week is the White-nosed Coati or commonly called Coatimundi. There are a lot of these roaming around the property, we have captured up to twelve at a time on some of our trail cameras. The males can get up to three and a half feet in length from nose to the tip of their tail and weigh up to 27 lbs. Where as the females are a lot smaller with some only getting up to six pounds or so. Coatimundi’s are found from southern Arizona all through Mexico and through Central America, from sea level up to 9,800 feet. They are considered omnivores and will search for small vertebrates, fruits, insects, snakes and eggs during the daylight and then spend the evenings sleeping in the trees. Coatimundi’s will easily adapt to human presence and will have no problem raiding a campsite or trash can.

Usually at night we hear some sounds that we just can’t identify, but a few nights ago we must have slept right through the big trash can raid. When we got up in the morning our covered trash can that is kept under the house was drug out and spread all over the place. We are assuming that it was the work of some mischievous Coatis and not the cat that we keep hearing. Wait a minute, didn’t I just say that Coatis sleep at night. Anyway the other evening we heard a small kitten calling for it’s mother, which makes sense because a couple weeks ago we heard a bigger one making a lot of noise. We are going to assume it was a fox or a possum that got the trash and not a cat, and we’re pretty sure it wasn’t a monkey because all of our beer was still there in the morning.

Like I said last week, October is here, which means lots of rain. Not knowing when the sky will open up and there will be a major down pour makes it a little hard to cook dinners outside, since at this point we don’t have a kitchen. Last Saturday we decided to set up a makeshift kitchen in the garage and cook up a bunch of meals to store in the freezer for a rainy day. We set up the table, got out the cutting board and Kelley fired up the induction burner. She made up a bunch of burritos and enchiladas while I grilled up a bunch of pork ribs. This will get us through on those days when it is too wet to go outside and fire up the grill.

Being the rainy season it also is a little tough to get your cloths to dry on the clothes line outside. Since we do not have a clothes dryer yet, the only sensible thing to do was to string up a line in the garage with the fan blowing on them. It was quite a sight, Kelley’s in the garage cooking up a bunch of food, laundry strung up between a pole and a ladder with a fan blowing on them, piles of lumber, tool boxes and quads all in the same room, while listening to good ‘ole country hillbilly music on a Sirius radio station. Now if this ain’t living, we don’t know what is.

Soon enough we will be a little more civilized with a real kitchen and an indoor laundry facility, but in the meantime we are making memories, Yee Haw!

Since we cooked up all the meals for a rainy day we have had seven days of beautiful weather with only a few showers here and there. Go figure.

As for the house update, they are still working like crazy and the lack of rain and the really big tarps over the house are really helping. The big pile of wood in the garage is getting smaller and smaller everyday which means our garage is getting bigger each day. At this point, all the framing is done and now it’s time to start with all the other stuff that will start to make this look like a real house. Almost all of the tongue and grove for the ceiling has been sanded, sealed and coated with a nice varnish and is starting to go up. The zinc metal roof will be here next week and should also be going on soon. The flooring was going to be the last thing to go down, but now the gears have shifted and he has hired a drywall guy. So next week they will need to start getting the flooring down so he can start with the walls.

All of the big beams for the ceiling are bolted together with big lag bolts that are countersunk. That means there is a 1 1/4” plug that needs to go into the hole to hide the bolts. Up to this point they have been hand grinding each plug, so we talked to our cabinet guy and it turns out that he has the equipment to make dowels that can be cut to size for the plugs. This alone probably saved at least a couple of days worth of work.

And speaking of the cabinet maker, he has already started on the cabinets. He was suppose to start in a couple of weeks so that the wood could have a chance to dry a little more, but it turns out that he rounded up enough of the Santa Maria that was already dry. At this point most of the pieces are all cut, sanded and starting to be assembled. We also dropped off some plans for the bathroom vanity. Things are just really moving along here.

For the month of October, Belikin Beer came out with a Black and Tan Beer just for Oktobeer Fest. I had seen their promo poster a few times but it wasn’t until Kelley pointed out that it wasn’t October Fest it was spelled Ok-to-beer Fest, pretty clever we thought. We are usually just regular old beer drinkers and usually don’t go for the ‘so called’ specialty beers, but the other night while enjoying a few of our regular beers I thought I should at least give one a try. It was good, a little heaver than their regular beer, but just not my thing. Recently they also made a chocolate beer, we didn’t try that one only because, well it’s chocolate beer and some flavors just shouldn’t be mixed.

The other night while sitting outside the garage we did see our first snake on the property, we know they are out there we just haven’t seen any up to this point. It was a beautiful little snake, orange with black stripes, we figured it was either King snake (non-venomous) or a Coral snake (highly venomous). It didn’t have any yellow stripes on it so it was hard to tell if it was even one of those two. After a few pictures Kelley flicked him off into the darkness with a big stick and hoped he would just go away.

After posting the picture on ‘Creatures of Belize’ the general consensus was that it was a false Coral snake and was totally harmless. As you can see with my shoe in the picture for comparison, he was huge. I know a lot of people don’t like snakes and think they should all be killed, but there are some that are very beneficial. There are some that are called scorpion eaters and some that actually eat the other venomous snakes, plus they help to keep the rodent population down. There are a lot more harmless snakes out there than there are harmful ones, you just have to be careful and try to know the difference.

After a good search we found some more coffee and cocoa plants to fill in the voids where the other ones are. These were almost twice the size of the other plants that we put in recently, in fact the coffee plants are already bearing fruit. This brings the total to nine coffee trees and nine cocoa trees, with the coffee already producing hopefully next year we will have some to roast and taste.

Creature Feature of the week is the Tettigoniidae, Bush Cricket or Katydid. I’m featuring him this week because it is a big insect and we see quite a few of them. I guess there is over 6500 types of these insects and they range in size from 5 mm to 130 mm in length (that’s a little over 5”). They are found on every continent except Antarctica and are mostly found in the tropics. Most of them will feed on leaves, flowers, bark and seeds, but some will also feed on insects, snails and even small lizards or snakes. They make a chirping sound like a cricket and supposedly you can count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 37 to that and that will give you the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. So next time you are outside and wondering how hot it is just listen for the chirps and then add it up. If for some reason you come up with a number that just don’t make since then chances are you were probably counting cricket chirps.

Unlike last week, this has been a very busy week for us here in the jungle, even with all the rains.

The rainy season here started in June and is supposed to go until early November. Up to this point it has not been bad at all. The heavy rains seem to come at night and only last for a short time every few days which gives time for everything to dry up pretty well. This is great for our construction, as I think there has only been a few days that they haven’t been able to work. The big tarps that they have covering over the house and all the extra gravel around the work area have really helped keep the mud to a minimum and everything dry during construction. Everyone says that October is the month that usually gets the most amount of rain and we should be ready for it. Almost like clockwork, it has been raining every day in October so far, and when it does they are major downpours. The good thing so far is that the rain comes in spurts and there are some clear skies in between, but I think that might change. This weekend we will be setting up our weather station so we can actually see how much rain we are getting, then again maybe we really don’t want to know. Everyone keeps saying that once October is over, it’s clear and sunny days again as we enter into the dry season.

They have made some good progress on the house this week. They have the center main beam up and most of the main rafters are sanded and ready to go up next. They have also got a bunch of the tongue and grove sanded, sealed and ready for the ceiling next week. The beams around the porch are now up so you can start to see the outline of the house. Of course with all this wood there is a lot of sanding going on, which if you didn’t know better you would think there is a huge swarm of killer bees circling our house all day till five o’clock. And I don’t even want to talk about all the sand paper that we have bought, but it is all worth it because the wood is turning out beautiful.

Woo Hoo! The order has been placed for our kitchen cabinets and they should be ready in about two months. Jose is a local wood worker up the road that does amazing work, if you get a chance check out his Facebook page (Belize Exotic Arts). When we stopped and talked to him the other day we were surprised to hear that it would take two months for the cabinets to be done, but that is actually just about the time the house will be ready for them, so all is good. The wood we chose will be Santa Maria, a local hardwood that will have a beautiful finish when done. We had trouble locating the color stain that we wanted, but Jose had one that he mixes up that was the exact color we were looking for. In case you are wondering, the cabinets will be stained red with the grain showing through and then be topped with a black granite counter top.

Jose will also be making our front door out of Mahogany that will have a carving on the front. Our front door opening is 60” and we have an idea of what we want, but of course you will have to wait until it is done before you get to see it. We did luck out getting our order in, there were two other customers that also wanted kitchen cabinets done soon, but they had not finalized anything with him yet. So we got our plans to him and got him a deposit to start and now we are first in line. I guess it pays to be on top of things and have cash ready to go. Other things accomplished this week were the ordering of all the windows and the glass shower door, picking out the the tile for the shower and checking out the granite for the kitchen and bathroom. The whole thing is really starting to come together and we could not be more excited.

We finally got all of our trees planted. After the initial clearing of the area where the mini orchard was going it still took a couple months to get the area ready. Once the jungle plants were cut down they all had to dry so they could be burned. Then after that it was time to level the soil, rake everything up, clear all the stumps and burn again. This all took time in between the rains and other stuff, but now it was ready for the trees. The soil is rich and black which should be perfect for all those trees to thrive in.

 

Here is a quick rundown of what kind of trees we planted, Avocado, Mango, Starfruit, Orange, Lemon, Grapefruit, Lime, Cinnamon, Macadamia Nut, Coffee, Cocoa, Custard Apple, Wax Apple, Dragon Fruit, Bananas plus a couple of Vanilla vines. There are multiples of the Coffee and Cocoa with room for a few more of each, because you can’t have too much coffee or chocolate, can you? Over time the natural grass will eventually cover all the ground around the trees, but this could take awhile. So to help it along we bought a couple bags of grass seed and spread it all around to help speed up the process.  Eventually this will become a nice grassy area with some great producing trees. And just in case anyone is wondering this area is where a couple years ago the electric company had cut down the bigger trees to make room for the power poles, so it was just a bunch of smaller under growth that needed clearing. This section runs north and south so it should be perfect for the plants with good morning and mid day sun.

Now that all the fruit trees are in, we thought we should start planning ways to preserve some of them when the time comes. There is always making jams, preserving whole fruits and dehydrating them, but we thought we should try something a little different. This past weekend we decided to try our had at making some liqueurs. The first one is a Jamaican Lime (which is a green skinned citrus that is orange inside) mixed with sugar and Cuban Rum. The second one is a Dragon Fruit mixed with sugar and Vodka and the last one is a Wild Grape (that we picked on our road) mixed with sugar and Vodka. They should take about two months to do their thing and then they will be ready for some awesome holiday drinks. If these turn out good we can’t wait to start trying some of the other exotic fruits that are available here.

Finally we  found time to take a break from everything and get the quads out for a ride. Up till now we have only rode them a few miles and Kelley hadn’t even rode hers by herself yet. We loaded up, put our helmets on and headed off into the jungle for a little trail ride. We had hoped to stop at the Malfunction Junction for a cold beer but they haven’t been open in months so it was further up the road we went. A few miles up the road was the guard gate heading into Mountain Pine Ridge. We said hello to the guard and told him we were just on a ride, he said have a good day and we were on our way. It started to rain pretty good which we thought made the whole ride just a little more fun.

After a while the rain had stopped, and would you believe right on the side of the road was a little place that had a sign that read cold beer. Thinking that if this guy can sell beer in the middle of nowhere then we should probably stop and support his efforts. His name was Kevin and he had some of the coldest beer anywhere. After a good rest and a couple beers we decided we should probably start to head back to the house and get the grill fired up before too much more rain came. We said goodbye to Kevin and told him we would stop in any time we were up that way again. It was a great day for a trail ride and we know there will be many more to come once we really get settled in here.

We are both finally P-O’ed, post officed that is. Up in San Antonio where we are we have a general delivery Post Office, but we thought that we should have a real PO Box down in San Ignacio to make it easier for the banks, insurance and other legal stuff.  So now after all this time we have an actually place where stuff can be sent. Our address is…

Dave & Kelley Adams

PO Box 331

San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize

Central America

 

Creature Feature of the week is something right out of Jurassic Park. We were watching TV the other night and there is a loud thud on the screen door, (we’re glad we had the door shut). We assumed it was our local tree frog or maybe even a big grasshopper, but we had no idea what strange creature this might be. The first picture is of him on my flip flop so you can see that he is a very big insect. He is a very weird insect that has a head that looks like a Hippopotamus. After a little research it turns out that it is a Peanut Head Moth, which really isn’t a moth at all it’s a member of the plant hopper family

They say that they are harmless but, local legend says that if a young girl gets bit by one she has 24 hours to sleep with her boyfriend or she will die. You gotta love legends! This creature is very unique, but is not really a thing of beauty until he spreads his wings, and when he does, WOW! Besides looking like an owl he also has a spray that resembles that of a skunk. Now those are pretty good defense mechanism that should scare off just about any predator. This is just another fine example of some of the amazing creatures we have encountered in Belize.

After a week of peace and quite, here we are back to the sound and the rhythms of sanders, saws and nails being pounded in. The quietness of last week was great and we can’t wait for that to become the norm. But for now, every time we hear the buzzing of the sanders, the whining of a saw or a nail being pounded in we know we are just that much closer to that day when it will be sitting on that porch relaxing.

This week has been a busy one for us, running around ordering up supplies, picking up more materials and taking care of personal business. One big accomplishment this week was getting the two quads re-titled, insured and registered in Belize. After a bunch of running here and there plus throw in an hour for lunch when everyone closes, it took the better part of an afternoon. But it was all worth it because now the quads are insured and have Belizean plates and can be driven anywhere. Oh course the plates they gave us were full size car plates, I guess the smaller motorcycle size are only for two and three wheel vehicles.

Amongst all of our running around we had to head over to the Mennonite community of Spanish Lookout to get some more metal brackets made. I am still just amazed at the steel place down here. We needed 16 metal  “L” brackets made out of 1/4” stock, they were 2” wide by 5” with four 1/2” holes in each one. Plus I had them laser cut 2 door striker plates out of 1/4” stock. Of course they always ask if we wanted to wait for them, but we had some more stops to make so we said we would come back for them. About an hour of so later they were ready when we showed up and all to the tune of around $30. I bet they could build me a whole tractor in a couple days.

It really doesn’t look like much has changed this week on the house and that’s because they have been working on the interior walls and sanding all the main beams for the ceiling and getting ready to put the roof line on. We did get the garage reorganized and the container pretty much cleared out. The remaining stuff in the container is crammed in the very back, this allows them to now use the front of the container for their tools and materials in a more secure environment. Which also meant that they could tear down the little shack that they built earlier this year for storage. And beside, Antonio was wanting to take the wood from the shack home so he could build a chicken coop. So all is good, we no longer have a small shack and the chickens are getting a new home.

Grocery shopping here is always an adventure, for that matter any kind of shopping is because you never know what you might find. This weeks find of the week was Ritz Bacon and Black Pepper flavored crackers. Oh are they good, or maybe it’s just because I haven’t had a decent cracker in months. Anyway, shopping here sort of reminds us of Costco in the states, just because you see it there once doesn’t mean you will ever see it again. So if you even think you might want it, buy it now while you have the chance.

The Creature Feature of the week is the Golden Orb Spider. This one here was found on a big web in one of the window openings of the new house. If you look closely at the picture you can see a smaller spider near the back side of the big one, that is the male. The male Golden Orbs spiders are very small compared to the female, this female was about 4” in length. In their web they will catch flies, moths, bees, beetles and butterflies, but some butterflies they will actually free and release from their web because of the toxins in them. They say that the Golden Orb spiders are not dangerous, but I believe that they would cause uncontrollably flailing of the arms, running into things, sore throat from screaming and a possible heart attack if one were to get on you.

Not much really happening here this week, mostly just day to day stuff, but we hope you are still enjoying the updates anyway.

 

 

It’s hard to believe that we are at post 100 of our little Belizean adventure. Over the past three years since we started this blog a lot has happened in our lives. First we buy some property in Belize with a dream of someday living there. Then we start clearing a spot in the jungle where someday we could build a small house. With no plans on when this might happen we decide that we might as well go ahead and get some power and water run so someday we will be ready to build. Since we now had a road, water and power there was only one thing left to do, and that was to put our house in Mexico up for sale. We really didn’t think it would sell as fast as it did, but it did. Now we had to pack up 24 years worth of memories and move it up to the kids house in Arizona where we stayed while we got a container ready to ship everything to Belize. At this point we were committed and there was no turning back. So now here we are in the Belizean jungle, living in a small casita with a big garage watching them build our main house. This is all just the beginning of our latest adventure and we would like to thank everyone who has been following along with us and commenting on this wild ride we are on. We hope you have enjoyed it so far, I know we have. 

There’s not much really happening around here this week (it’s nice and quite actually) as the workers have taken a week off to relax and probably get some things done around their own houses. So this time I will just post some before and after pictures of how this whole thing is evolving.

This is our initial cut in to the jungle, when we had no idea of what we were doing. I’m still not sure we know what we are doing, but at least we are doing it.

After all the plants are down and burned it was time to level it up and put down a solid foundation for a road.

Everything has grown back nicely and is creating a nice entrance into our place. There are still lots more plans for the entrance, but we will have to wait till all the construction is done.

This is the clearing where the first casita was to be built and where our guest will eventually stay.

The first casita is done and very cozy and comfortable. This is where we are currently living while the house is being built.

Tony on the backhoe clearing out all the trees and stumps and leveling out the ground where the garage will go.

Always nine to eleven guys working hard to get this garage done.

And the finished garage which only took about eight weeks from start to finish. Finally we have a place for tools and to store stuff. It is 25’ x 35’ with 11’ walls which is more than big enough for us.

The clearing under the palms where we thought would make a great place for our new home.

Now the palms trees are trimmed up, a few more plants have been removed and a house is growing up between it all. We can’t wait to be sitting on the wrap around porch enjoying a cold beer with friends and keeping an eye out for whatever animal might wander by.

That is our progress so far in a nut shell, but come next week everything will kick into full gear and the building should not take a break until the house is done.

Independence Day

September 21st is Independence Day for Belize. The whole country celebrates with parades, music and fireworks in every little town and village, and after only 37 years of independence they party hard. Our little village of San Antonio celebrated with lots of music and fireworks, but we opted to go to San Ignacio for a bigger celebration experience. Along the three or so mile parade route there was hardly a place to stand, with everybody waving flags, blowing horns and showing pride for their country. Of course the parade started a hour and a half late, but that didn’t stop anyone from having a good time.

The parade ended at a big park where there were beer tents, food booths and live music. We decided to skip that and get back up the hill to our place before it got dark, after all everyone was drinking and celebrating pretty heavily and we thought it would be best if we just had a few beers back at home.

There was even a beer truck in the parade handing out free beer.

More Bits and Pieces

Last weekend we were having a beer at one of our favorite watering holes when we started talking to a guy about fishing. It turns out that he is the lumber management person for the Chiquibul National Forest. We started talking about how we had some trouble getting the Nargusta hardwood to build our current house. He said that they manage a lot of Nargusta trees and he doesn’t know why more people don’t use it because it is a plentiful and beautiful wood. We told him about and showed him pictures of our small casita built entirely out of Nargusta and he was in very impressed. He wanted to know if he could come by sometime and take some pictures and maybe even do a brochure with our house in it. He also remembered the big order we placed for all the lumber for the main house and said that he could actually take us to the exact trees stumps where our wood came from, because all the stumps are tagged and recorded. We thought that was pretty cool! Oh and back to the fishing stories, he showed us a picture of his son with a 5-6 foot Tarpon that he caught not far from here where the ferry crosses the river over to Spanish Lookout. I think we need to go fishing with this guy.

Okay, so the other night around 6:30 we had just finished doing a little painting in the garage and we had just sat down in a couple chairs in the garage to have a beer. Now we have yet to have one of those “WHAT THE F#%K WAS THAT?” moments and this didn’t actually count as one of those because we actually knew what we had just heard. Somewhere between us in the garage and the house off in the dark was a very loud “Hissing Growl” from some kind of cat, and it wasn’t your typical house cat. We both looked at each other and at that point there it was again and it sounded like it was really pissed off. I’m still sitting in a chair with a cold beer not thinking too much about it, but as for Kelley, she has already jumped up from her chair, grabbed a machete and is now standing close behind me. We don’t know what kind of cat it was but, we do know that it was very loud and very close to us. It could have been a Jagarundi, Margay or one of a few other cats that roam the Belizean jungle. Oh and did I forget mention that we had to walk back to the house without a flashlight. Life in the jungle is always exciting.

Some people have been asking us what it cost to fly to Belize and how long is the flight. We fly Southwest Airlines and it goes from Phoenix to Houston and is about a 2 1/2 hour flight. Once in Houston it is another 2 hour flight down to Belize City. Southwest fly’s in only once a day to Belize and will get you there at 3:45 pm. I believe other airlines will also use Houston or Dallas as their main hub down to Belize. As for cost, if you are flexible and use the Southwest low fare calendar you can usually find a round trip flight from Phoenix for around $450. I know the prices do go up around holidays and during their busy season (November to May). American, Delta, United and Southwest all fly into Belize, we have just always had great luck with Southwest and you can’t beat their prices, plus two bags fly free. If anyone is considering coming down please let us know and we will help out in any way we can.

Creature Feature of the week is the Ctenosaur, Black Spiney Iguana or more commonly know as a Wish Willy. Not to be confused with the green iguana, these lizards will only grow to a few feet long where as the green iguana will reach almost seven feet in length and is one of the largest lizards in the world. The Wish Willy is omnivorous feasting on green leaves, insects, eggs and even small animals. He is also the fastest lizard in the world with a recorded speed of 21 mph, and will live up to 25 years. These are very common in Belize and especially out near the coast and on the islands where you will sometimes see bunches of them all together.

This will end our 100th post, hope everyone has been enjoying them and we hope there will be many, many more to come.

Well we made it back to the old homestead in the Jungle after a two week visit to the states. We saw a lot more friends and family than we expected and got to spend some good quality time with the grand kids which made for a great visit.

Of course you know we couldn’t go with out putting a couple pictures of the grand kids in here. In case you are wondering (yes they are growing fast) Luke is now 4 years old and Tyler is 8 months old. It was nice for us to get away from the construction for a little while, but now here we are back at it working and ordering more materials. It seems like a never ending  cycle but we know it will all be done soon enough.

Since we were gone they have finished up the garage, complete with windows, doors, lights, fans, etc. Now it’s ready for us to paint, build work benches and most importantly start emptying out the container.

Now that the garage is done it was time for them to get started on the house. Before they got started there was another load of gravel brought in to put around the foundation of the new house so that when it rains it wouldn’t be so muddy. Ruben also took care of cleaning up and removing a few of the big Cohune palms around where the house is going. A couple of years ago when we initially cleared the area where the house is going everything looked great, but in the meantime, everything grew and got bigger, including the house plans. Now that the gravel was down and the palms were cleared ,it was time to start the build on the main house, and that they did. When we showed up they already had the subfloor and the framing for the walls up. At the rate they are going the plan is to have it done by December.

Since the house is started and most of the materials have been ordered our focus has changed from ordering cement, rebar and wood to finding a cabinet maker for the kitchen, getting someone to make the front door, finding the right tile for the shower, rounding up all the appliances and all that other stuff we will need to finish up the house. The good thing is that now we have a garage to store stuff in, so when we see something that we like or need we can just buy it and store it until the house is ready for it. Considering that this all was just a road into the jungle seven months ago, it is amazing how quickly this project is coming along.

Next week the crew is going to take a week break, which is well deserved since they have been working straight since March. This will give us a chance to work on getting the garage in shape and unloading the container, plus it doesn’t hurt to let the main beams for the house dry for a little extra time.

The other day Ruben brought over some wild grapes that are growing on our road. Now granted these are small grapes not what most people are used to seeing, they are about the size of peas and have a good size seed inside. They are a little tart and sweet all at the same time and I guess people around here will gather a bunch of them and squeeze them to make juice. I imagine wild grape juice with rum would be pretty good, then again what fruit really doesn’t go with rum. We have eaten a lot of things that were found growing on our property such as, mushrooms, wild grapes, passion fruit, Cohune nuts and more. It sometimes surprises me that on the TV show Naked and Afraid that they can’t find anything to eat when they are out in the jungle.

Little bits and pieces

Last time I had mentioned how our Firestick for our TV worked great, but it ate up too much of our data. Well, we figured out a way around that so we can now have some TV shows to watch in the evenings. When we were up in the states we just started downloading shows like crazy to the computer and storing them on 128G flash drives. So now we just hook up the laptop to the TV, plug in the flash drive and select a show and we are in business, besides that we now have enough shows and series to keep us busy for a good year.

The frog who likes to come out in the evening and sit by the blue tooth speaker seems to have spent a couple of weeks inside our house. When we left we put the patio chairs and the washing machine inside the house so that they could refinish the porch. When we got back there was Mr. Froggy inside the house just sitting on the lawn chair. We assume he was either in the cushions or up in the washing machine when we brought them in, but now he is back out where he belongs. The good thing is that we didn’t see any bugs in the house when we got back, just a couple of froggy turds.

The other night when we were in town having dinner we passed this guy selling some of his paintings. Of course, there was a toucan that caught our eye so we had to stop and talk to him. This guy is a very talented artist and showed us a bunch of paintings he had done and some big murals from around town that he had done. We got his contact info and will definitely be talking to him in the future to do a tree frog painting for our little Froggy Cottage. Yes, we did end up getting the toucan painting, it is only 10”x 12” so it should be able to fit in anywhere.

And speaking of toucans, the second big toucan has landed at the Toucan Hideaway. Currently, they are taking up nest at the small casita until they are ready to fly south 80’ to their permanent home in front of the main house. They seem happy at the moment facing each other, but if I ever see them turned away from each other then we will know something is up.

Sorry, there is no creature feature of the week this time as we have been gone for a couple weeks and we also need to move the cameras farther away from all the construction. So this week we will just call the toucan the creature feature of the week.

Just when I said there were no creatures this week here walks a beautiful gray fox about 20 feet from me next to the house. He didn’t really seem to care too much about me and even waited around long enough for me to call Kelley with the camera. Every day there is something new and amazing to see here, whether it be a frog who likes music, wild foods growing around us or just the pure beauty of this place.

Like always, there is a lot of stuff happening around here and this week was no exception. It didn’t seem like there was any real progress happening because this week was spent plastering the garage in and out and finishing up a bunch of small detail work. The plastering over the block is something like I’ve never seen before. There are three coats of cement plaster going on to build up a good 1/2” base over the blocks before the final 1/8” finish goes on. The fine sand used for the finish is being washed and sifted so once done it will be as smooth as a nice piece of sanded wood. Not sure we needed this nice of a finish on a garage, but he said this is how he prefers to do it.

We are taking a break from all this construction and heading up to the states for a couple of weeks visiting friends, family and of course the grandsons. This will be our first trip back to the states since our big move to Belize. Amazingly there really isn’t very much stuff we need to get and bring back. Most things are available here, it’s just figuring out which store has what. For example… there is one gas station where you buy all of your electrical needs, you can get plywood at the grocery store, you can get frozen meats where you order block and cement and of course you can get a cold beer where you buy your sand paper. It has been fun and challenging trying to remember where we saw what and who had the best prices. By the time we get back the garage should be done and they should have a good start on the house. With two buildings down and one more to go (for now), we now have our sights set on living in a real home come Christmas time. Wouldn’t that be a great Christmas gift!

We took a little drive over to Branch Mouth the other day, that is where the Mopan and the Macal rivers come together to form the Belize river. There used to be a small suspension bridge there until a big flood a few years ago washed it away. The new bridge is all done and just like before it is only meant as a walking bridge, although we have seen motorcycles use it. It’s a neat little bridge with cables and wood boards that would fit right into any Indiana Jones movie. Once you are out on the middle of the bridge there are some great views of where the two rivers come together. I walked across the bridge swaying up and down with every step and took a bunch of pictures, as for Kelley she wanted no part of stepping more than a few feet out onto that bridge.

The other morning Ruben brought over some mushrooms that he found around the yard and said were very good to eat. He said to put some salt and pepper on them and microwave for half a minute or so. Weez 8 da much rooms an wow waaz day gooood! Just kidding they weren’t that kind of mushrooms, but they were very tasty. We believe they were oyster mushrooms and the good thing is that mushroom season is just getting started down here. We will definitely be on the lookout for more of these and any others that Ruben says we can eat. If we do start finding an abundance of mushrooms then we can always throw them in the dehydrator and save them for later in the year. Kelley and I both love mushrooms and especially if they are growing around our property and are free.

Creature feature of the week is the walking stick. The other day we found a great example of a big (9 inch) bright green walking stick on one of the palms out back. We have seen a few brown ones but this is the first green one we have seen. Walking sticks are incredible harmless insects that are very hard to spot unless you know what you are looking for. Here’s a few facts about the worlds longest insect (up to 22 inches long). There are over 3,000 species of walking sticks, they can regenerate limbs if needed and the female can reproduce without males. When a female reproduces without a male all of her offspring will be females, but If she reproduces with a male then 50% will be males. It surprises me that there are still any males out there.

This week we got the cell booster antenna off of its tree and onto a more permanent mount on the house. Of course we had to cut down a couple of 35’ long palm trees fronds and some other trees that were in the way. There’s something about cutting down something that big with a machete that makes you feel… well you know.  Anyway, our signal at the house is good and the mifi is giving us good internet so we can connect with the rest of the world. Speaking of connecting with the world, we hooked up our Amazon Firestick the other day and we now have TV. Well the TV was short lived, after a few days it seemed to have sucked up all our data. Data here is expensive and you can only purchase a certain amount at a time when using wireless cell service.  So for now it is back to watching dvds in the evenings, but the good news is that we should still have phone and internet that will last quite awhile on our data plan.

The garage is getting close to being done. The roof went on the other day and it is looking like a real enclosed building.  They should take another couple of weeks to finish up with the rest of the plaster, electrical, doors and windows. After that we can come in and start to paint, build work benches and get a lot of the stuff out of the container. I haven’t seen most of my tools in 4 or 5 months, and that’s driving me crazy. The other exciting news is that next week they are starting on the main house and will be going strong on it until it’s done. The rest of the lumber for the house showed up which is good timing because now we have a place to store it out of the sun and rain.

This seems to be the time of year where everywhere you look there is corn growing, so it is only fitting that there is a celebration and party. Last weekend in San Ignacio town they held the Cayo Corn Festival. We got there a little late and didn’t get to experience too much of it, but we did get to see some of what was left of it. There was food booths, demonstrations, bands and of course beer tents all set up in the streets. Toward the end Dave even tried to get some drum lessons from one of the locals, but the guy was just a little to “Smokey” so it wasn’t much of a lesson.

While at the Festival we met these two gals from Arizona, one was from Scottsdale (who just got back from a weekend in Rocky Point) and the other is a firefighter from Phoenix, AZ. It turns out that she knows John Teefy, a friend of ours who is also a firefighter from AZ and has a house in Mexico where we used to live. It seems like such a small world as we have actually met quite a few people down here from Arizona and California where both of us grew up.

Then there was the other day when we were down at the river and we saw our first crocodile. We knew it was just a matter of time before we would come across one, we just didn’t think it would be so close to where people were playing in the water. The local kids were even playing with it and trying to ride on him like it was something they do all the time.

On one of our many trips to Spanish Lookout we decided to take the hand crank ferry across the river instead of going all the way around to the bridge. As we settled in for the short ride across the river a small barefoot, blue eyed, blond kid climbs up on the side rail of the truck, plops his arms on the window frame and just starts talking away. I guess he was hoping that we would have said “Hello” because his answer he said was going to be “Jello” and if we spoke Spanish and said “Hola” his answer was going to be “cola”. He had an answer for English and Spanish, but our bad… we just said “How’s it going?”. Anyway it turns out his name is Bernard, he is 9 years old, off for summer break, starts school in three weeks, but not until he gets to fly on a plane to Mexico to visit some family. He also told us that when he is 16 he can get a job and when he is 14 he can get a phone and that his brother got a phone when he was 11, but all he did was play games so dad took it away. He asked us why we were not buying stuff from a vendor on the ferry and that we should support him because he is working hard. We finally had a chance to ask him why he is on the ferry and where is he going? He said that he just rides the ferry back and forth all day long, we assume at the end of the day he will either walk home or someone will come and pick him up. He sorta reminded me a little of Tom Sawyer, just being on the river all day with nothing else to do. We sure did hear a lot from Benard in the short ten minute ride across the river.

Needing a break from all the construction and stuff we decided to take a road trip for the day over to Pamona to see how Sammi and Rick are coming along on their place. We met Sammi and Rick through our son Randy who use to work with one of their kids or spouses or something like that. Anyway they moved down here about the same time we did and are building along the same lines as we are (build a small place to live in until the big house is done). Pamona is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from us down the Hummingbird Highway towards Hopkins, and of course since we were on the Hummingbird Highway we had to stop at Bertha’s for some of the best tamales in all of Belize.

Since we were only a few miles from the beach we thought we would grab a nice lunch on the beach and then try to find some lobsters to take back with us. It didn’t take long before we had our ice chest full of lobsters and were headed back up to the jungle. So for the next couple of months, our Sunday menu includes lobster.

When we lived in Mexico we would have what we would call “date night” on Wednesday nights. This was usually the best day for some quite time when no one else was around. We would usually cook up a nice surf and turf dinner with a bottle of wine and just spend some quality time with each other. Now that we are in Belize, Sunday is our best day when no one is around and we have time to relax and enjoy a good meal. Good steak and of course lobster are not a problem finding here and you can find some decent wines, but wine glasses are another thing. In the beginning we were using plastic tumblers and just splitting the bottle of wine between the two cups, until we became civilized and found wine glasses. I guess you would actually call them wine coconuts that we got from a local vendor. Now when we have our Sunday bottle of wine, we can sip it with our pinkies held high in the air and pretend we have a little bit jungle class.

Creature feature of the week is the Agouti. A cute little rodent type creature that is related to the Guinea Pig and the Chinchilla. These are very common around the property and sometimes you can spot them during the day when they are out foraging for fruits and nuts. I understand that they are quite adaptable and when they can’t find fruits or nuts they will also eat fungi, plants or insects. They can get up to 2 1/2’ long and run as fast as a rabbit for long distances. This is one of the most common animals that we capture on our trail cameras.

After nearly two months of driving up the hill to get cell service we now have it available at our house. We are down in a small valley with a hill between us and the cell tower, which blocked us from all service. A couple of the service providers even told us that we needed to construct an eighty foot antenna for us to get any kind of service. After talking to our workers, they said that when they were putting the roof on our place they could sometimes send text messages from from the roof top. This meant that they were getting some type of weak signal, so we looked into a signal booster to see if that might help. After exhausting all sources in Belize we decided to order one on Amazon, which was going to work out because we had some friends coming down from the states and they said that they could bring it. Well it got held up in Customs because it was an “Antenna” and they were sure we were going to use it for something we were not suppose to. Anyway, after a couple of trips to Belize City, letters from the cell service company saying it will not interfere with their signal, a special permit from the Public Utilities Commission, and a good size duty fee at Customs, we now have a signal booster that gives us 4-5 bars of 4G. Oh Happy Days! Granted right now the antenna is on a 20’ piece of pvc that is strapped to a tree, but this is all temporary till we can make a more permanent mount. The other day we purchased a MiFi wireless router for the internet. It seems to work great so now we have cell service and wifi where there was nothing prior. Life is good!

I had said in an earlier post about the big carved toucan that we had bought and that the wood carver was making another one for us. Since we were driving by his shop the other day we thought we would stop in and see how the new bird is coming along. To our surprise he already has most of it carved, he just needs to do the detail work and give him some paint to bring him to life. We will adopt him in a couple of weeks once he is ready to come to his new home.

A good portion of our lumber for the house showed up the other day, a lot earlier than we wanted it, but we will make it work. Since it was recently cut, it is all stacked in single layers with space between each row to allow it to dry better. The lumber company recommended that we put a coating of “stuff” on the ends to prevent it from splitting as it dries. We had never heard of this, but I guess this is common to use on fresh cut wood. So now off to find this “stuff”, you would think in a country that has so much wood, this “stuff” would be available everywhere. Not so, but we did find some “stuff” that would work so we spent a couple of hours coating up the ends of all the lumber, hopefully this will stop it from drying too quick and splitting all the beams. And if some do split, I guess we will just call it character.

And then there’s the garage. The plaster is going on, the roof beams are being welded and the two garage doors are being built. We found a guy in Orangewalk (which is about a 5 hour drive from us) that will build us a steel roll up door with chain mechanism, a heavy duty man door and come all this way to install it for a very, very reasonable price. By next weekend the roof should be on and most of the plastering will be done and then they will start on the main house while the electrician gets going on all the wiring.

The creature feature of the week is the Green Parrot. Every morning at the crack of dawn hundreds and hundreds of parrots migrate over our house to the feeding grounds and in the evening they return back to roost. This morning they decided to make the big tree over our house their stop over point. A bunch would land in the tree and squawk very loud, I guess calling their buddies in. Then a flock would fly over and a few would take off, but not all of them, then more would land and squawk and wait for other to fly over. This went on for a good half hour or so. I guess parrots are a lot like people, there are certain ones you would rather fly with and others… not so much.

We have also recently had a bunch of toucans in the area, but they have not landed around our place, probably because all the construction going on. We even tried putting out some Fruit Loops cereal to attract them, but nothing. We thought for sure that would work, because when we put Trix cereal out we had all kinds of rabbits show up.

We have also got some Moringa trees started and they are growing fast. If you have never heard about this super plant then click on the link below to see what this plant is all about. https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/moringa.html

I realize that these posts used to be stories of all the fun places we were going and things we were doing and now it is all about construction, finding a new store or finally getting a cell signal. I guess the difference between vacation and actually living here is achieving all these small hurdles you used to take for granted. Most of our weekdays are spent working, running around getting supplies and setting up deliveries. And when the weekend comes around we are doing stuff around the yard and the house all day and then we head to town for dinner and a few beers. We are hoping that by the end of the year the whole project will be done and we can relax and get back to enjoying all that Belize has to offer. In the meantime, we are still enjoying seeing all the construction taking place, putting in new plants and picturing what it will look like once it is all done.  And once it is all done, we will have the satisfaction of saying “Look what we built where there used to be just raw jungle.” As we get older we seem to settle into the same old routine, so get out of that routine and challenge yourselves…it feels good!

Our good friends Ron and Rhonda from Cholla Bay stoped by for a few days on their way to vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. They stayed at a little Airbnb just up the road from us that they had found, this is also where Darren stayed when he was here last month. We gave them a tour of our property with everything we have going on and then took them to town to a bunch of little places we like to go. As we were leaving this restaurant one afternoon there was cricket game going on it the street and they were kind enough to let me take a swing at it. I did hit the ball on the first swing, but of course the only video taken was of me totally missing the ball on my next swing. Of course that’s the one that got put on Facebook for everyone to see.

The last day they were here we had to go to Belize City (which is a good 3 hours each way) so they went off and explored the ruins at Xunantunich and also to the Iguana Sancuary. After a long day for all of us we needed cold beers and some food. We headed down the road to the Bluff’s where we ordered up a couple of pizzas and cold drinks. The bartender was even kind enough to put on some Roger Clyne and Black Moods videos for us, we almost felt like we were back in Cholla Bay. Ron and Rhonda were only here for a few days, but it gave us a great chance to catch up and to get out of our busy construction routine. It was great to see them and hopefully they will be back for a longer visit and we can show them more of what Belize has to offer.

The garage is going up very fast and should be ready within a few weeks. So far they have used 1,500 blocks, 261 bags of cement, more rebar than we care to think about and a lot of trucks full of sand and gravel.  All I know is that this thing aint going anywhere. Yesterday all the 2 x 6 and 2 x 4 galvanized steel beams and zinc roofing showed up and the roof should start going up next week. It was just one week ago that they started the pour on the floor and now the walls are up with pipe and outlet boxes run down the walls for electricity and even water for a sink. At this point there is a rush to get the roof on because the lumber company is getting a huge load of lumber and needs to get ours out of their lot. They said that they would give us a few more days before they have to deliver, so lets see how quick they can get a roof on this garage.

Three hundred 14’ treated pine 2 x 4’s arrived the other day. The treated pine was chosen for the wall studs in the house instead of the Nargusta because it is easier to work with, lower in cost and they won’t be seen anyway. As soon as the roof is on the garage the rest of our lumber will be delivered and stored inside out of the rain and sun.

Up to this point the only exterior light we had around here was a yellow bug light on the porch. When the moon is out it is fairly bright around here, but with no moon it is down right dark. We had the electriction come over and put up a nice dusk to dawn led light on the meter pole at the entrance to the driveway. It’s nice to have that little extra light when we come in at night, plus it looks like someone might actually be living out here. We did bring a couple more of the lights so one will go on the garage and I’m not sure about the other one yet, but it will be light enough to walk from building to building without a flashlight.

The other day when we were in Belize City we had some time to kill so we went and checked out a couple stores that we have heard about. The first one was Benny’s Hardware store. Wow were we blown away compared to the other hardware stores we have been into in Belize. It was sorta like a Home Depot without the industrial look, there was even an escalator to take you up to the second floor. Everything you would need to build a custom home including appliances, tile, doors, lighting, lawn furniture and so much more. They even had a black granite sink like we were hoping to find for the new house. Their prices were higher than you would find in the states, but I don’t think there is anywhere else you could find this variety and quality all in one place in Belize.

The other place that we stopped in was Brodie’s grocery store. They seem to have the best variety of things you didn’t think you could find down here. Just a few things we noticed that we haven’t seen in any other stores were; anchovies, calamari rings, frozen duck, enchilada sauce, caviar, Good Season’s Italian dressing mix, Balsamic vinegar and so much more. They even had a Subs Way in there (not the chain like we know) but still a good sandwich, and the combo with a 16 oz drink was only $3.75 US. The only drawback to these stores is that they are a good 3 hour drive each way for us and that kills a whole day.  I know we will be going back to the hardware store once the house gets close to being done and I can guarantee we will have an ice chest with us to hit the grocery store to stock up on things we haven’t had in a while. We will eat just about anything and make due with what we have available but, I never thought we would get exited about certain food items until they are not available to us.

Creature feature of the week is the Blue Morph Butterfly. This beautiful butterfly grows to about 4-5” and can be seen almost every day flying around our property. Besides the Blue Morph there are many other brightly colored butterflies around here, but we think this is the most beautiful maybe because you don’t often see many blue creatures in nature.

The workers are usually not here on the weekends so this is the time when we can do some stuff around the yard like some clean-up and taking care of the plants. Today was the day we got some squash plants in the ground that we have been growing from seed and also to trim some palm fronds that were starting to touch the roof. I got my machete out and started hacking away at the palms, actually I’m getting pretty good with a machete, this is a skill I never thought I would have. As you can see in the picture (yes that is Kelley holding it) these fronds are huge. This one here is about 36’ long and there is still another 5’ that I left on the tree. I’m thinking a half dozen of these cut in half and you would have a very nice little palapa. In case you are wondering what kind of palm can grow fronds like this it is the Cohune Palm. It gets huge clusters of nuts on them and this is where they get palm oil and cocoa butter from. I know we have hundreds maybe even thousands of these growing all over the property, maybe some day we can process some of the nuts. Speaking of processing nuts, we’re sure there’s a few of you who still think we are nuts, but we are loving it!

Well, after seven weeks to the day we had to turn in our free loaner truck. That’s because our brand new 2019 Mahindra Pik Up was finally ready for delivery. The Mahindra truck is a quad cab 4 x 4 turbo diesel with a six speed transmission that gets 31 mpg. When we placed our order it was for a 2018 model in red, but all they had at the time was a silver or a white one. The dealer told us that there was another shipment in a couple of weeks and there should be a red one if we wanted to wait, plus he would give us a free loaner in the meantime. Basically the shipment was late and it turned out that they were the 2019 models not the 2018 like we put the deposit on, but the good thing was that the price was the same.

When we ordered it we wanted a big front bumper that would hold a winch and a good steel rear bumper with a trailer hitch. I did not know that they would have to fabricate the front bumper to fit the new model, but what a job they did. The bumper looks awesome on the truck and now they have a pattern for the front bumper when anyone else wants one. All I have to do now is to add my winch and a light bar and we will be all set.

When we got to the dealer in Belmopan to pick up the truck there was basically a photo shoot going on, because this is the very first 2019 in the country and it has this nice new bumper. We also opted for a tire upgrade to some Pirelli scorpion mud tires. Plus being red instead of white or silver really helped bring it all together. They took pictures of us with the truck and asked if it was okay for them to use them in their promotions and such.

After we went and got plates and insurance for it it was back to the office to sign a couple more papers. They have a brand new promotion going on when you buy a new vehicle, where you spin the wheel and win cash, service or credit there. Kelley was the very first person to spin the wheel and she won $200, what a great way to leave the dealership. Of course there were more pictures of the promo wheel because this was the first time it was used. We were told that there were only five trucks in this shipment and they were all ready spoken for, we got one, the head of the biggest radio station got one and the Prime Minister of Belize got one. I wonder what the Prime Minister will win when he spins the wheel?

Since we were already in Belmopan and we had just won some money, there is a fruit tree nursery down the road that we have been wanting to go to. A few miles down the Hummingbird Highway and then six miles down a dirt road to the Mennonite community of Springfield where horse and buggy are the standard vehicles of choice. There was even a sign as you entered that read…Welcome to Springfield, dress decently. And no, we did not see a Mennonite Bart Simpson running around in Springfield. Anyway they had lots of exotic fruit trees and other plants. After studying the list of plants for awhile, here is what we came away with. A mango tree that will produce two types of mangos, a citrus tree that will have red grapefruit and valencia orange on the same tree, a lemon tree, a lime tree, cocoa (chocolate) trees, coffee trees, cinnamon tree, starfruit tree, macadamia nut tree and a couple vanilla plants. Combine that with the bananas, pineapples, black pepper, oregano, basil and other stuff we have growing, we should be able to open up our own little fruit stand in a few years.

In case you are wondering where this mini orchard is going, it will be along the road bordering our property. When they put in the power poles they cut back the bigger trees and everything else a good fifty feet from the road, since then the plants have come back and are now 10-15’ tall. Ruben has started clearing a good section of that but leaving a 10’ buffer of plants so that from the road you will not even see the little orchard on the inside. It will take a couple years before the trees will start to produce, but with the way things grow here it could be sooner.

The floor for the garage is done, but not without a couple of setbacks. We had planned to use a batch truck where they mix everything on site in a big truck. It was going to save a significant amount of money over doing it with a small mixer. The day the first pour was scheduled to be here the truck broke, but they thought they could fix it by later in the day. By the next day we find out that it’s the transmission in the big truck, so on to plan “B”. We were scurrying around to get two 14 yard trucks of sand and gravel here as soon as possible, (which one didn’t show up till 7:30 pm in total darkness) plus another 90 bags of cement and renting a mixer so that everything could get going once again. Since they were already a couple days late on the pour they got going at 6:00 am with 11 guys working like clock work. The first half was poured and finished in a few hours and then they called it a day. Now here it is at 6:00 am on a Saturday morning and again the cement mixer is going strong.

A little more chaotic and expensive going with plan “B”, but the floor is done and it looks great. The walls are going up now and everything is back on schedule. The galvanized steel beams for the roof are ordered along with the zinc sheets to cover it as well as the windows. About the only thing left is to get a hold of the guy who makes the metal roll up door and the steel man-door.

Creature feature of the week, the giant grasshopper. The grasshoppers here are huge, usually 4-5” long and the most amazing colors. I don’t think we have seen any two the same yet. They range in colors from bright green, yellow, red, black and yellow spotted and every other color of the rainbow you could imagine.

The last couple of nights Kelley has heard something big running around under the house, I think it’s time to put a camera near the house and see what it might be.  A couple of the locals are guessing that it is an armadillo because they are clumsy and loud when they walk, hopefully the camera will capture something.

So far the rain has not been anything like we were expecting, and this has made it great for building. The garage which wasn’t supposed to be built until the house was done is now the main focus here. This is actually working out great because it keeps the workers going while we are waiting on all the lumber to be cut and dried. And once the roof is on the garage all the lumber can be stored there out of the sun and the rain. The garage so far is built like nothing I’ve seen before. There are ten footers on the garage that are 2’ x 2’ by 3’ deep where the columns will go. Then there is a foot and a half deep trench between each one with rebar columns that connect them all together.

Once that is poured then there are two blocks high built all around that divide it into six sections. Then it is back-filled with some special mix of rocks and sand and compacted down. The reinforced rebar web of 12” squares is set where they will eventually pour 5” of cement. Antonio says that is how they do it here in Belize, and who am I to argue. Anyway it will be a 25’ x 35’ enclosure with 10’ walls and a galvanized beamed steel roof, with some of the biggest hurricane ties available to hold it all together. There will also be a nice six foot concrete ramp leading up to it.

Other construction news happening here is that all of our lumber is cut for the main house. We got a chance to go to the mill the other day and see it, and it looks great! All they have to do now is dress it (sand it all down nice and pretty) and let it dry. We are hoping that in about a month once the garage is done they will get started on the house. I know that once the garage gets close to being finished some of the crew will get a head start with some of the small stuff on the house.

After the rains and with all the big trucks coming in, the driveway was getting to be a muddy mess so we had to order another load of the white rocks to help it out. It looks pretty stark white right now, but the good thing about the rocks is that grass will eventually grow up through it making it a solid grass road to drive on. The first load of rocks we put around the house already has a bunch of grass coming up through it.

Another little construction thing is the cell phone charging station that they built. There are only two outlets so all through the day everyone takes turns charging up their cell phones. It is very practical and even has a rain cover. I hope they leave it once they are done.

A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned how we missed out on two wood carved toucans. Well Eduardo the artist knew that we really wanted them so he carved out another one in hopes that we would drive by and see it. Well we did and we now own a beautiful toucan and have one more on order. He went on to tell us how this one is much better than the other ones and we will be much more happy with this one. I guess the other ones were carved out of cedar which is a softer wood and only painted on one side, where as this one is a solid piece of mahogany and painted on both sides. The other one he will be making for us will be the same size except facing the opposite direction. Once the house is done they will greet you as you walk up the stairs, but for now they will be tucked away in the container.

We have taken the quad out a couple of times, but we just don’t have time with work and trying to line up deliveries and picking up supplies. Although we do have time to cook some pretty good meals, after all we do have to eat. Kelley is getting real good on her single burner induction cooker and I am doing pretty good on a very small grill. Last weekend we had some friends over and thought we would try making Kelley’s beans and some baby back ribs with some grilled corn. Considering the very limited amount of cooking instruments and ingredients, they turned out very delicious. Before you know it we will be the King and Queen of cooking in the jungle without a kitchen. Sounds like a TV show.

The creature feature of the week is a little white frog that was on a plant in front of the house. We’re not sure what kind he was as we couldn’t find any info on a small white frog. It has been a few days so far since I’ve touched him and nothing has fallen off or turned green so it must have been a good friendly little frog. As for Kelley, she thought he might be a prince and was going to give him a kiss. After talking it over for awhile we thought, how big could this prince actually be and do we really need a tiny prince sucking down more of our beers. So we just left him there to do his thing.

Up in the hills where we are it is considerably cooler than down in San Ignacio. So far the weather has been great! Mid 80’s during the day and with some humidity, but nothing outrageous. The evenings are wonderful when the temp drops to the mid 70’s and in the mornings wake up to the high 60’s. We sleep with the windows open, a sheet over us and a ceiling fan going and we are very comfortable. The past few nights the temp has dropped to the low 60’s making us turn off the fan and pull the blanket up. Who would have thought it would be this cool in July in the Belizean jungle, I guess enjoy it while we can. So far we have not installed an AC unit, just using fans and that work great. There will be AC units installed in the future, but as for now everything is good. I’m still not sure we can bring ourselves to install a heater, but we will see.

And we will end this with a sunset picture from Belize. Not as striking as some of the ones we have seen in Mexico overlooking the Baja peninsula where we lived, but still beautiful.

A lot of people have been asking us what are the prices on things down here and what are the cost of the essientals. Like most places the cost of local services and products are relativily inexpensive as opposed to imported items. Of course if you shop around you will find who has the best prices and if you frequent them for a while they will start to give you discounts on their merchandise. Sometimes at first glance it seems like the prices here are a little high because the Belizean dollar is 2-1 based on the US dollar. For ease of understanding here I will base everything in US prices.

Food

A trip to the open air market will get you enough of the freshest fruits and veggies you’ve ever seen for a week for around $10. Dairy products are what I would call average price of what you would find in the states and most everything you can think of they will have at one place or another. Overall meat prices are lower than you would find in the states and the quality is very good. T-bone steaks at the butcher run about $5.00/lb. and chicken, pork and lamb are also inexpensive. Our first grill night here we splurged and picked up two 30-day aged prime ribeye steaks and they set us back $15.00/lb. Delicious steaks but we will have to save those cuts for special ocassions.

We are trying hard not to use any canned or boxed food, but somethings you just can’t avoid. Most, but definently not all, food items can be found in Belize, but you will have to shop around or maybe even learn to substitute certain ingredients when needed. There are a lot of states brands available, but they tend to be on the expensive side. Brands found in Mexico or other off brands tend to be a lot cheaper. For instance we just bought a big box of off brand corn flakes for $2.00 (fruit every day for breakfast is great, but sometime you just need a little crunch). We have found things in the grocery stores that we never thought we would see here such as, Spaghetti-O’s, Slim Jims, canned squeeze cheese, Kraft Mac Cheese, Lipton tea bags and so much more. We have even found one store that imports Members Mark brand from Sam’s Club, but of course all these items come with a premium price that is almost double of what you would pay in the states. Although it is good to know that if I ever have a break down and need my can of squeeze cheese, it is available. Now I just have to look for Chicken ‘n Bisket crackers and I’ll be set. Basicily food prices here are very reasonable if you shop around and not just go to the main grocery stores looking for the name brands you are used to. Grocery shopping here is always an adventure trying to remember who and where you saw those certain items that you need. And it will usually take a few hours by the time you go to the butcher, fruit market, baker and then finish it up at the grocery store, plus chit chatting to everyone along the way.

Like anywhere going out to eat can be fairly expensive or almost nothing at all. Most lunches with chicken, burger, tacos, etc and a juice or soda will usuall set you back $5-$7. A real good dinner with a couple of beers will usually be around $10-$15. Of course meals can be found even cheaper and a lot more expensive depending on where you go and what you have. And just about any cuisine you can imagine can be found here in Belize.

Happy Hour stuff

Local beer is usually $2.00 in most restaurants and the few imported beers they do have are usually double of that. For happy hour you can usually find buckets of seven Belikin beers on ice for $11.

Basic rum drinks at happy hour I’ve seen for $1.25 and the speciality drinks up to about $10.00.  Of course the speciality drinks are usually a work of art with colored liquors and fruit carved animals. Local rum is definently the cheapest hard liquor to buy as all the others have to be imported and are stuck with a big duty tax. I have seen just about all types of liquor available here such as Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, Southern Comfort, Patron Tequila and everything else, it’s just that they get premium prices for them. If you head out for happy hour and stick to local beers and rum then at the end of the night your wallet will be happy too. As for buying drinks and bringing them home, we go directly to the beer distributer and trade in our empties for full ones, which end up costing about $1.25 a piece. I assume you have to go to the grocery store to buy hard liquor and I believe they are all about the same prices. There are duty free stores at the borders and airport where liquor is a lot cheaper. If you fly in, stop at the duty free store and grab a couple of cheap bottles and then go to the line that says something to declare and declare it, there is usually no one in that line and you get through a lot faster.

Services and such

I’ve said before that our water bill is $5.00 per month for unlimited use. They were going to install meters for all users, but the locals fought it so for now… no meters. Everyone we have talked to says that our village has the best water in the whole country and we beleive it. We have been drinking it since day one without any problems and it is really good water. Our property taxes are a total of $5.00 per year, which is unheard of. Our power bill has been very minimal so far, but after talking to other people who live here they say it should rarely be over $100 when we are in the bigger house running everything. Fuel here is expensive, diesel is around $5.00 gal and gas is around $5.75 gal. Since our truck is diesel and gets 30-32 per gallon, it’s not really that bad.

We had bought some drapes that were way too long for what we needed, but we put a clothes pin on the bottom and made them work. Then we find out from Ruben that his neighbor has a sewing machine and can fix them. She cut the drapes to length and double hemmed them, then they were delivered back to us all for $2.50. We saved the materiaI from the drapes to have our chairs upholstered and we can’t wait to see how much that will cost. I am putting up a shelf so that we can have a TV and DVD player for a little entertainment. We stopped at a small local wood shop to see if he has a piece of wood that is 1” x 8” x 30” and I tell him just something close it doesn’t need to be exactly that size. This very nice man cuts me a piece of beautiful hardwood to size and then planes it and sands it all while we wait and he only wants $3.00. He is an incredible wood worker and cabinet maker and we may use him to do our kitchen and doors when needed.

That’s a little summary of some of our expenses down here, hope this gives everyone an idea of some of the prices in Belize.

Of course there were problems along the way, but all of our stuff is now sitting on our property in the middle of the jungle. First off we had to get the container from Arizona to Houston by a Wednesday so it could make the ship by Friday. Of course we had it there on a Tuesday just to be sure but, there was some type of holdup there at customs so it would have to wait until the next Friday’s ship. So then it’s finally on its three week cruise through the Gulf of Mexico and onto the Carribean, stopping at other ports along the way. Once it arrived in Belize it sat at the docks for about a week as it went through Customs, the Ministry of Finance, and a couple other authorities. Our brokers estimate was a little off on the duty cost, so we had to hurry and run back to town to get him more money.  All is good now for the port to release all our stuff, except that while it was at customs they had only recorded one of the quads. The duty on importing a quad is 45% of it’s value, so off to get another check to the broker. It’s a good thing we got a good deal on the quads and had “receipts.” So now after waiting a few more days for the road to dry up a little so the truck wouldn’t get stuck, it was finally delivery day.

The big tilt bed truck with 15,000 lbs of our prized posessions pulls up and is ready to back up onto some 35’ of ground that I had Tony with the backhoe clear and pack for us. The truck is in position and guns it, he makes it about two feet in before burrying it up to the axles. It really didn’t help that when he burried it he broke the main water line making it a lot more muddy than what was really needed.

This spot is not going to work to set the container he tells me. If he drops it where it is it will stick out in our road and not allow other big trucks with material to get in or out. We looked at a couple other spots to set the container, but since they wern’t prepared they wouldn’t work either. The big concern at this point was, is he even going to get his big truck unstuck or is the whole truck going to fall on it’s side. One hour later with a lot of digging, jacking, rocks, boards and the help of ten people we were ready to try to get it to move.

I told the guy if we could at least get it a few more feet back that would work for me. Reluctently he said he could try, with boards behind the wheels and everyone pushing from the front he popped out of the big mud hole and hit solid ground. We had gathered up a bunch logs that Ruben had cut up so that the container would set up off the ground. I mentioned to the guys that if they could get it fairly level that would be great.

After awhile of moving logs and beating them in the ground with sledge hammers they had it level. When Antonio, our contractor, got the level out I said “I’m sure that is good enough”, but he’s a perfectionist, so it had to be just right. The truck driver did a great job of finally getting the container in the original spot I had intended for it to go, thanks to the help of a lot of people.

We unlocked the container to check the condition of everything and to also make sure it was our stuff and not a full of plastic plants from China or something. They had rearranged a bunch of stuff while going through customs so not everything was where I had put it or even strapped down. At this point there were only two things that we were really looking for, an ice chest and a gas can. I’m sure you can guess why we might need an ice chest, and a gas can is needed so that the quads can be moved out of the container. In case you are wondering, all gas had to to be drained from the quads before they could be shipped. With no gas can in sight it was off to town to get a can and some gas so that in the next day or so we could get the quads out and actually be able to walk into the container. The container is set a little higher than I would have liked it but after all that trouble I couldn’t complain. So it looks like we will be setting up some type of ramp for the quads and proably a step to make it a little easier getting in and out.

After the major accomplishment of finally getting all of our stuff delivered to Belize and since we were in town anyway getting gas, we thought some food and a celebratory beer was in order. As we were sitting there enjoying the moment, the phone rings. It was our lumber company and they said that the mill was to start cutting our logs this week and we should have delivery in a couple weeks. So we enjoyed a couple more beers and thought that this was a day of accomplishments!

Well the rainy season has arrived.

So far it only seems to rain in the middle of the night throughout the early morning hours and only does so every few days with blue skies in between. Which allows time for the ground to dry back out, but right after the rains the ground gets very slippery and sticky. The road towards our property and the road into our property is a good hard pack that dries very quickly, but the small area around the construction site gets very slippery.

At this point we have only lost two days of construction due to the rains, but we know there will be a time when the rains might last for a few days or even a week if a big storm passes through. The good thing is that Ruben says that in August and September there is usually a mini dry season, which is good because that is about the time our lumber will arrive. The rains here seems to fall straight down with no winds which make it perfect for sitting on the porch and watching the rains and listening to all the birds. We know that there has to be a lot of rain to make this the green tropical jungle we love and so far the rain has not bothered us a bit.

What’s happening around the property

More truck loads of gravel, cement, block and rebar. There is a crew of seven that are constantly doing something, except for two breaks and an hour for lunch. Our electrical breaker room is now complete, it is where the main power comes in and will then be distributed to all the other buildings. This got started before we were here and is a little bigger than I expected, but it turned out ok because now we can put a trash can and some yard tools in there also. And yes, I know that if I cut a moon in the door it might get used for something else.

Ruben brought over a couple of banana trees for us and we got them planted right in front of the casita. One of the trees is a regular banana and the other is an apple banana and they should start to produce later this year. The apple banana is a smaller fruit that is very sweet and would probably make an awesome banana bread. Ruben wanted nothing for the plants so we traded him some basil plants that we had growing and everyone is happy.

We bought and installed a 200 gallon water tank as a backup just in case there is a big storm and something happens to our water supply. We were also looking at small generators especially since we are now getting some food in the freezer. Speaking of food, when we fire up the grill we are now cooking up extra so we can save it for a rainy day. We finally get the true meaning of that!

A hummingbird feeder got put up with a little sugar water inside and immediately it started to attract them and of course they started playing this is my feeder game like they always do. There has been a few different ones but the most common are big white belly, blue winged ones that are always here. We are constantly busy with painting, cutting plants and trying to put our own touches on our little piece of jungle paradise, in fact we have only sat on the porch a few times and enjoyed a cold beer together. As soon as we get a chance we will take a walk around the property and look for a couple more orchids to move over towards the house. At this point the orchids are not blooming so we will have no idea what color they will be, but we know they will be beautiful once they do.

One other thing that almost happened around the property was the addition of some Toucans. There is a wood carver on the highway that does amazing work, and we have been eyeing this one Toucan for quite awhile. One day we were driving by and he had another one out there and they were facing opposite directions. We talked about how great they would look in front of the main house since the house will be called Toucan Hideaway. Anyway we hymed and hawed about do we really need them right now. Then one day we drove by and he had painted them, they are a good four feet tall and carved out of a solid piece of cedar, they were perfect! So we decided to go run our errands and then get them on the way back, after all they had been there for quite awhile. Well guess what, there was another person loading both of them in their truck and taking them to their art gallery. That’s just they way it was, but at least we would never have to see them again and remind us of what we could have had if we would have decided earlier. The art gallery in San Ignacio where they went just happens to be on a road that we drive down all the time. They look really good there, but we still think they would have looked better at our place.

Since the rains have started, the tree frogs have come out and they like to hang out on the porch looking for insects. We are not used to frogs that can climb right up the side of the house and look in the windows, the ones we are use to just hop along the ground or swim. These hop right on the wall and keep climbing, I’ve heard a lot of people here refer to them as sticky frogs. They say if you toss them towards a wall they will stick. I don’t think we will be trying that.

In an earlier post I said that we seem to see new plants or animals daily. The other night we were coming back from dinner and we had to actually stop on the road so we could let this big anteater go by. He was about four or five feet long and just at a slow pace as he crossed the road. Ruben said that if a dog starts to bother them they just roll on their back and will attack with their long claws and that the dog will never bother them again. We have learned to take our camera with us everywhere because you never know what you might see.

Since I named this post wet and wild I thought I’d throw in a couple more wild things. Just outside our bedroom window in the rocks there is a big dog size turd. Now we haven’t seen any dogs around here so your guess is as good as ours at this point.

And then the other day we were driving through the village and a man stopped us, he thought we were somebody else. Anyway, it turns out that he was the local veterinarian and asked us if we had heard about the vampire bat problems they are having with horses and cattle. I told him that yes, I had read something about it about a month ago. He just wanted to make sure we were aware of it in case we had any livestock, and we thanked him for that. Kelley now wears a string of garlic around her neck, as for me, I tend to be awake all night and sleep all day for no reason at all.

Like with anything or anywhere there is the good and the life’s little struggles. Mostly I’ve been telling  you all about  the good stuff and fun we have been having and not some of the little hurdles we have had to overcome. So here is what we have learned in our short time living in Belize.

Buying the cheapest garden hose for now because you know your good ones will be here soon is not a good idea. We have so much water pressure that it blew a hole in the hose soaking our front porch for hours while we were gone. It also just happen to be right after I had painted the door red. It’s a good thing we only pay $5 a month for water.

All our black soil that is so great for growing everything, gets really muddy and sticky when it rains. Which is why we now have gravel around the house.

Just because you bought lumber one time, do not expect them to have it again next time you need it.

And just because your stairs and your front door are 36″ wide, do not expect a 36″ refrigerator to fit through.

Do not assume the varnish you buy for your house is also for external use. Which is why we are staying up the road for a couple of days so they can redo our porch. The good thing is they have internet.

Good thing is that we have seen no snakes, but we have seen lizards, some big spiders, insects and a black scorpion, which by the way takes three hard smacks with a shoe to get through his thick shell.

Having to buy cheap one time use Chinese tools until your good ones arrive. Example… $2.00 hacksaw hopefully good for at least a couple cuts, no… one stroke and the blade breaks in three. I had to laugh.

Driving the 15 miles to town twice a day for supplies is getting old, but it is still a lot cheaper and faster than having things delivered.

And then there is the no cell or Internet at the house, even though it does work a few hundred yards up the road. So for now we load up in the truck and head up the road to use the cell as a hot spot and then check and download stuff. This is getting us by for now and we have a few good leads on how we can solve this problem, it just takes time and finding the right people.

That’s about all the small little stumbles that we are dealing with at this point. And now here are a few of the small things that make us happy.

The drinking water at the house is excellent and now I have it hooked up to the fridge and we are now making cold water and ice. And yes, there is a pressure regulator installed.

The sounds at night are amazing, with all the frogs, crickets, birds and animals moving around. And only once have we got out of bed and said “What the f#*k was that?” Turns out one of the ropes on the big tarp over the construction site came loose and the tarp fell making a very strange sound.

The different beautiful plants and flowers that we see everyday are amazing along with new creatures we see almost daily.

Sleeping with the windows open and waking up and the outside temp is 68-72. Granted during the day it is in the 80’s and a little humid but once the sun goes down, the nights are great.

We really don’t have many flying bugs, in fact we keep the front door open all day untill we go to sleep at night.

There is an ice cream truck that goes up our road playing music. The little bakery in the village that is open three days a week has great stuff and the small store on the corner has fresh chocolate covered bananas or pineapple on a stick. What else would a sweets lover need?

The truck is getting at least 30 mpg which is wonderful in a country where diesel is $5.00 a gallon.

Construction goes very fast and is very reasonable. I ordered block, cement, rebar and called Tony to see if his backhoe was available today. Everything was delivered and the backhoe was going all in about three hours. Then we asked our crew if they could only work five days a week instead of six so that we could have a little more time to ourselves and that was not a problem. I even went to a steel place to get 110 L brackets with holes in them for the roof. They did not have them, but said they would make them, come back in one hour

The amazing friendly people who are always smiling. The other day we were in a store and I was wearing a shirt from Santa Cruz. This elderly gentleman asked me if that is the one in California and I said, but of course. After a long conversation with him we found out he was born in Belize and then moved to Newport Beach and now he is back. He introduced us to his wife and explained that his father was a logger in Belize back in the day.  We told him that we had just moved here and he welcomed us to the Belizean family. This is why life moves slower here in Belize, everyone is willing to talk and share their experiences.

One more good thing is knowing that the house is looking so good that even the tree frogs want to see inside.

Overall everything is going great and pretty much as we expected. Hopefully this week our container and our new truck will arrive and that will change things a little for the better. If not, no worries.

Lots of work happening around the Toucan Hideaway, yes that is what we are calling it. First of all the little casita is coming together very nicely. The walls are getting some paint and a few personal touches going in.

As for the outside we ordered a truck load of white gravel to put around the house to keep the mud down. Eventually the grass will grow through the rocks and it will be a good solid grass yard. Ruben, Kelley and I spent most of last weekend landscaping around the house, moving rocks, spreading gravel and putting in plants. I know what you’re thinking, don’t you already have enough plants? I guess I should say that we mostly went hunting around the property and found plants that we thought would look better in a different spot.

We found a nice Philodendron that we re-positioned on a tree next to the house, we also found an orchid that we moved to a stump next to the  house and some tropical bird of paradise. We also discovered that right next to the porch is a passion fruit vine.

We also are starting to get a few plants in the garden, the herbs patch is doing well with lots of basil, oregano and some new dill seeds.

Ruben also brought over some red and pink torch ginger that we put on each side of the stairs. He said that it grows fast and before we know it we will be giving it away. He also told us that the red one is for the men and when he passes one on the right he is the boss, but if a woman passes a pink one on her right then she is the boss. So we planted one color on each side of the stairs so that when one of us goes into the house that person is the boss, but when you come out of the house the other person is the boss.

Now that the back yard was level and mudless, it was a great place to put the bbq. Our first official dinner guests were Rob & Carol from Cholla. It was a wonderful night with great friends, good food and a little of Darren’s left behind Big Titty rum.

And if you were wondering about all the bugs, well I guess they did not get the invite… because there weren’t any.

As for the main house, all the footers are set and the septic is done. Judging by the size of the septic I assume he must think we are really full of shit.

So all the cement work is done and now it is time to order all the lumber for the house. Off to the lumber yard where we got all our other lumber only to find out that there is no more of the Nargusta wood available. Not too much of a problem there is a lot more lumber yards around. Yes that was a problem, no one had any. Our original lumber company said that had some uncut logs but they weren’t cutting or selling any now. I guess after they saw the size of the order and our sad faces they finally agreed to cut some. That was a big relief, until we asked when we could expect it. It turns out that the mill is shut down for two weeks for maintenance and after they open back up it will take a couple more weeks to cut it and then it has to dry. Since the contractor would then be without work for awhile and we were afraid that he might take on another job, we decided to have him start on the garage. Since the garage will be built out of all cinder block he will be able to stop at any time and get back on the house as soon as the wood is ready.

While Carol and Rob were here we did manage to head up to a small spot on the river where we could cool off and have a few cold beers. After that we took a cruise up to Rio Pools so that they could check it out.

They had also brought back a dozen lobster tails from lobsterfest and some Sonoran beef from Mexico, along with some of Carol’s potatoes stuffed with cheese and crab. This was all taken over to our friends Julie and Gary’s place above the river where we used to stay and we all enjoyed our own little lobsterfest. Sorry Darren.

Just more good times in Belize….