Belizean Bush Dog - early Nov.

Many of you have asked, "How is Jack doing?" He is loving life in Belize and embracing his new life as a Belizean bush dog! How could he not be happy? He was reunited with his favorite human (Melina) and his best bud Bella (Melina's dog).

Jack is a Rhodesian Ridgeback with short hair and African roots so he loves the warm weather here. He also is allowed to go on hikes off leash (is there anything better then that?). He wears a bell so I can find him in the bush if I need to. Jack is pretty good about staying nearby but at times the hunter in him gets the best of him and sets off chasing a fox or a bird. He hasn't taken down a puma or jaguar yet. He is letting his ancestors down!

OIB Moments - late Oct. & early Nov.

You may remember from my earlier postings, we had enormous amounts of rain the month of October. Late in October all the water that was causing havoc inland was making its way down to Belize City (which is at sea level). Of course at this time, I needed to be in Belize City to pick up George and Melina from the airport. I had heard rumors that the Boom Road (the only way I knew how to get to the airport) was flooded but still passable by trucks. So I decided to go for it. I was after all in a Land Rover and feeling quite invincible. I drove and drove on the Boom Road seeing water just reaching the sides of the road most of the way but I thought to myself, "This is going to be no problem."

Soon I reached a long line of cars, trucks, buses and people walking on the road. I obviously now had reached the trouble spot. I got in line behind a school bus and figured I would have to wait my turn to cross. But the line never moved and after about 5 minutes I hung my head out the window and asked one of the passersbys if they were allowing trucks to pass. The kind man laughed and said, "Oh yes. You'll be fine. All these people are just here to watch!"
Hmmm? So I got into the left lane, passed the long line of cars, moved myself up to the front, and put the truck into 4-wheel drive. In front of me lay about 20 yards of water flowing over the road. I waited for a smaller truck coming in my direction to pass and wondered how the water wasn't coming in the doors of their truck? Now it was my turn and men began to wave me forward. Do or die I guess!?
I was a little surprised at how deep the water became...about 2 feet deep with a bit of current. I was starting to wonder if this was a decision I was going to regret. About this time I noticed that even though I was in 1st gear I was creating a large wake and water was starting to seep in the doors. Uh oh!
I made it through safe and sound with nothing more then a huge adrenaline rush. Yikes! I don't think I'll do that again. It was a OIB (only in Belize) moment.

The following week, Melina and I were headed into Belize City to run some errands. We got to about Mile 8 on the Western Highway (8 miles outside of the city - and 2 hours from our home) to find again another long line of cars and people with their shoes off and pants hiked up walking on the road. There were young men spear fishing in the flooded mangroves on the side of the road and trying to sell their loot to passersbys.

Since I'd been in this position before, I jumped out and started walking with the crowd to find the front of the line. We waded in water about 3" deep crossing the road with the front of the line no where in sight. I finally reached some police officers who said a culvert had broken and the road was impassable. They also said the Boom Road was now impassable too (the only two entrances into the City). I asked one of them when he thought the road would be fixed and he chuckled, "By midday. Hope you brought a good book." It was 9:30am. We interpreted mid-day Belizean time to mean 3:00pm and although this looked like quite the party we decided to turn around and head back home. It was another OIB (only in Belize) moment.

Is it really December already?

Where has the time gone? I see I have not posted an update the whole month of November...that is probably because in November Steve was here visiting for 2 weeks and my friend Julie was here for a week too. I'll make an attempt to catch up...it was a fun month!

Man vs. Wild – 10/07/08

Have you ever been awakened in the morning by the sweet sound of helicopters flying over your house? I could have answered that question with a definite “no” until today.

It appears the Mountain Pine Ridge and Belize are the setting of the TV show Man vs. Wild. I don’t have cable so had never heard of the show before. For those of you who do and watch the Discovery Channel, you may have heard of Bear Grylls and his show. Apparently, Bear gets dropped off in remote places (like the Pine Ridge and jungle of Belize) and teaches people like us how to survive in the wild.

Today, Bear and his TV crew came enforce via 2 helicopters and a variety of trucks. They asked for permission to land on George and Melina’s farm, in the soccer field. Here they made their base and flew back and forth to the top of King Vulture Fall on Hidden Valley Inn’s property which is just down the road from the farm.

I was a bit disappointed to hear that Bear had chosen this location for his “drop site” and that Hidden Valley Inn allowed it. King Vulture Fall is home to many king vultures that are nesting quite happily there. In fact, birders and hikers are not even allowed to go to the top of the fall in order to not disturb these birds. But today, two helicopters and one Bear Grylls, spent a lot of time there. I resisted the urge to appear across from the fall with a large “Save the King Vultures” sign. Just what they need…one liberal from Madison hot on their trail! Needless to say, I did not appear asking for an autograph, but I did happen by the soccer field during my daily hike.

Rain, rain, go away - 10/22/2008

On Tuesday, October 14th I dropped Melina and George off at the airport in Belize City for their trip to the States. On the way home is when the rain started…not just a light rain, torrential downpours. It was slow going driving up the mountain on the unpaved road at dusk. It normally takes about 45-60 minutes to drive but it took me 1.5 hours as I took my time averting mud pits and pot holes in the dark. It was a bit scary and I was very happy to be driving a powerful Land Rover.

This was the beginning of Tropical Depression 16 that hung over Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize) for days with another “tropical wave" to follow in its footsteps. We have been in the rain and clouds for over a week straight.

In the midst of these continuous rains, we began to hear reports of widespread flooding in Belize. Cayo District (the one in which we live) was the hardest hit. Because these rain storms covered a good portion of Central America and Belize, the main rivers including the Mopan River (coming from Guatemala) and the Macal River (coming from the Mountain Pine Ridge) which join to create the Belize River all became flooded. Most of the bridges were completely covered with water moving at up to 30 mph and people were unable to cross to/from Guatemala, Spanish Lookout, Belmopan, and other towns in the district. Some of the staff here on the farm reported their families were stranded in Bullet Tree (that is actually the name of the town!), unable to cross the river, and unable to get provisions. The Belizean military and disaster relief workers of Belize National Emergency Management Organization were there to help and have set up shelters around the country. If you’d like to take a look at some photos or read more on what’s happening, check out these web sites:

http://www.belizean.com/2008/10/major-floods-in-belize.html
http://www.channel5belize.com/
http://www.nemo.org.bz/
http://7newsbelize.com/index.php

For those of you who live in Belize, I have found this website helpful for as “an up to date weather forecast” as you can get around here as well as a report on the flood levels in certain areas. Do you know of any others? If so, please comment below or email me. Thanks!
http://www.hydromet.gov.bz/Forecast_section.htm

Searching for a "hack site" - Sept. 2008

You may remember back in August I wrote about The Peregrine Fund. The Peregrine Fund is a non-profit organization that attempts to save the dwindling population of certain birds of prey. They have people here in the Mountain Pine Ridge working to increase the orange-breasted falcon population in Belize.

The leader of the Peregrine program in Belize is Yeray (who is originally from the Canary Islands of Spain). Yeray and his group have been releasing young falcons at a "hack site" on the escarpment of George and Melina's property for a couple of years now.

In September, Yeray was in search of a new hack site where they hope to release young falcons next year. George took Yeray out on a tour of the eastern property and they asked if I'd like to join.

This area of land is very remote and quite different from what I have seen elsewhere in Belize and in the Pine Ridge. Here, you can see the clouds were low and in the mountains. But can you see the road? No? Well, that is because there is none! George drove the Land Rover down this rocky path out to the edge of the mountain ridge.

Yeray and George were hard at work searching for birds and areas that could serve as the new release site.

Turns out that the soil here is rocky and the land is quite barren making it difficult for animals, plants, and humans to live here. Yeray felt this might not be the best place for a hack site.

Later, George took us on a driving tour a bit further south and east from his property. All that could be found up here were a radio stations and fire towers. Does this remind anyone of western Ireland?

We continued further into the Mountain Pine Ridge and we had some stunning views of Victoria Peak (one of the highest peaks in Belize).

Soon we came to Despair Cairn Road, an old logging road that winds its way along a skinny ridge and into a creek bed. There were views of valleys on either side of the truck. I could understand why they named it "Despair" Cairn Road!

This is the creek at the bottom of Despair Cairn Road.

George says this reminds him of what the Pine Ridge used to look like before the beetle epidemic hit killing most of the pine trees. There are still some large pines here that escaped the wrath of the beetles.

On the road again – 09/15/08

So I suppose some of you may be wondering if the illegal alien ever made it out of Mexico?

I dropped Steve off at the airport, wished him a “buen viaje” (good trip), and set off for Belize. It took almost 5 hours to get back to the border. My book on tape was a life saver.

So I am approaching the border. Hmmm? What to do? What to do? Could I really get away with skipping Immigration again? Most of you know I like to play things by the book, so I figured I had better stop at Immigration on the way out...no need for a high speed chase into Belize. Right?

I pulled up to the tiny Immigration booth and got out. I showed the agent my passport and he asked, “Where is your tourist information form and stamp in your passport?” in Spanish. I had been using my Spanish all week, but now faced with a probable fine and reprimand I decided to play the “dumb American girl” who can’t speak Spanish. I explained to the agent what had happened on the way into Mexico and in his broken English he explained two times over that FIRST you have to stop at the Immigration building and NEXT you go through Customs. You don’t think I don’t know this!?!? I apologized. He said, “No stamp going in. No stamp going out. Go on.” Whoo hoo! I made it out of Mexico with no fine and no slap on the wrist.

The last night – 09/14/08

After a great weekend together (which seemed all too short to me), Steve surprised me with a romantic dinner for two in a palapa right on the water. It was a special night!

Cancun & Tulum – 09/13/08

Steve and I had a fabulous vacation. Cancun felt like “Little America”…first world luxuries and service, everyone spoke English, and there was an American restaurant chain on every corner (don't worry, we didn't eat at any).

We stayed at the JW Marriott, which was lovely. It had a huge wrap around lagoon style infinity pool, many wonderful restaurants, and excellent service.

While we were in Cancun, Hurricane Ike was just about to hit land in Texas. We were very lucky and had sunny skies but high tide and winds the whole weekend. So we weren’t able to swim in the sea, but we spent many hours relaxing by the pool.

Believe it or not, we did actually leave the hotel! We went into downtown Cancun to go to the market – Mercado 28. Here locals sold their crafts, blankets, clothing, silver jewelry, herbs, pottery, etc. We definitely stood out as tourists which made it less fun to shop. Later, we walked off the beaten path a bit and found a little hole in the wall place to get some authentic tacos.

We also took a day trip and drove to Tulum. This Mayan walled city was built right on a cliff just above the Caribbean Sea. Tulum was inhabited from around 1220- 1500 AD, and was a Mayan trade center of goods arriving by land and by sea.

Steve - 09/11/08

I don’t think most of you need an introduction to Steve, but just in case, here it is. Steve, also known as “Mr. Pickle”, is my wonderful boyfriend of about 4-5 months. We actually met on Match.com.









Why do I so fondly call him “Mr. Pickle” you ask? Because he is president of VanHolten’s pickle factory in Waterloo, WI. If you haven’t yet, you must try a pickle in a pouch! http://www.vanholtenpickles.com/

Steve laughed when he first heard of his nickname and embraces it proudly. Thankfully he has a great sense of humor and likes to laugh just as much as me.
Another thing we share in common is our love for travel. Steve, like myself, has lived abroad…although he lived on the other side of the world from me in Australia, England, and China. Therefore, he had no problem traveling to Mexico to see me. He also plans to visit me in Belize for a couple of weeks in November at which time we have a vacation to Guatemala planned as well.

Illegal Alien - 09/10/08

Steve and I planned a rendezvous in Cancun…a place neither of us had ever thought we would visit as it was not high on our "list of places to visit". But it turned out to be a great place to meet up for a long weekend.

Melina and George were very kind to offer me their car so I could drive. After much research and talking with a lot of people, I decided that the drive to Cancun would be long but would be safe. I was up for the adventure.

So today I set off on my road trip. My plan was to drive to Belize City and then head north to Corozal. There I would cross the border and spend the night in the Mexican border town of Chetumal. It happened to be St. George’s holiday in Belize so I was stopped at 3 police check points along the way – they asked me for my driver’s license, checked to make sure I had driver’s insurance, and then sent me on my way.

It was smooth sailing north of Belize City. A bit of a boring drive with not much to see. There were many unmarked roads but I some how managed to take the correct route. There also were many unmarked speed bumps which made for some last minute close calls…

The excitement picked up a notch when I reached the border. I paid my exit fees in Belize, got back in the car, and crossed the border. Next, I drove over a bridge and it looked like I was driving right into a small Mexican town. As I am looking around and taking it all in, I drive myself right up to the Customs booth. I realize quickly that somehow I have missed the Immigration building and I am now locked into the Customs line with 3 vehicles behind me. Uh oh! No one is in the Customs booth. I tried to wave to the agents sitting a few yards away chatting on folding chairs but they dismissed me. I look up and see the “green light” and hear the Customs agents yelling at me “pase!”(go!). So what do I do? I go! That’s right! No stamp in my passport. No documentation filled out. I am now an illegal alien in Mexico. I have successfully skipped the border. It is not so hard to do after all!

Celebrity in the House - 9/6/08

George received a call earlier in the week from the manager of Blancaneaux Lodge – the Francis Ford Coppola resort about 5 miles away from the farm – asking if Eddie Bauer could use one of their Land Rovers for a photo shoot. That’s right, Eddie Bauer in Belize!

After several days of back and forth it was decided that they would use one of the Land Rovers but George (being the wise man that he is) said he would not trust anyone else to drive the truck.

I of course was intrigued and wanted to go along to “just take a peek”. George thought it would be a long boring day so Melina had the idea to pack up a lunch for George and we would just stop by for lunch.

The photo shoot took place at Barton Creek, not too far from a Mennonite community. The Mennonite here wear simple traditional clothing and ride horses for transportation.

When we arrived, Sean, the production manager, greeted us and made us feel right at home. George was busy driving the Rover in creek bed while models hung out the window and off the back of the truck. It was really fun to see everyone in action, from the models, to photographers, videographers, make-up artists, etc.

Sean shared that the photos and video from this shoot would be used by corporate on their website and signage in the stores. So some time in the Spring of 2009, you should be seeing the Land Rover -- and possibly George -- online and in the stores. We have an Eddie Bauer celebrity in the house!
Later we were invited to eat lunch with the crew which was really fun and interesting. Many of the crew members were free lancers but most lived in Seattle. One of the models was from the Canary Islands and the man hired for security was living in Panama City.

Who ever thought it would take living in the mountains of Belize to attend a photo shoot?

Orchids and Waterfalls - 9/3/08

First, I want to apologize for being MIA (missing in action)! What can I say? I got distracted and instead of spending time on the computer, I was out and about enjoying the great outdoors and the people in my life. So I will attempt to get caught up…

Paul (Melina’s stepdad) and I took several hikes this week. The first was along Clear Creek. We found many pretty spots.























Here you can see a lovely patch of orchids and a view from the trail.























And what are these?? Alien eggs? Are there extraterrestrials in Belize? If you happen to have any idea of what these are make sure you post a comment.




We ended at Secret Falls.

Later, we hiked to Butterfly Falls. I am assuming it was named Butterfly Falls because the Blue Morpho butterflies usually congregate here – but not today. We have seen them often on our hikes though and they are gorgeous. I would have loved to post a photo but they move way too fast. Paul and I hiked in a light rain most of the morning which actually was quite refreshing. It was another great adventure.

Here is a great photo of "my family". From left to right: George, Melina, Julie, Raye, Paul