Belize Letter 12

I decided to get back to projects and stay off the internet for awhile. I wanted to get the top half (about 400 foot) of our drive way leveled and then add stone. I first had to get rid of some of the dead trees, vines, stumps etc. that seemed to be encroaching on the driveway. To accomplish this I hired a D7 Bulldozer (and operator). In addition, I wanted to widen the driveway and line it with Madre De Cacao trees. As I explained in an earlier post Madre De Cacao is an amazing plant. All one has to do is chop some branches off existing trees (they are everywhere down here) and plant it about 12 to 16 inched deep. That is all there is to it! In a few months a tree will be growing. I have planted some branches that were five inches thick! This is like sticking a log in the ground and having it grow into a tree. It is also called the living fence post because wire can be strung between the trees and it would make an excellent fence. I placed some pictures on the web at the link at the bottom of this post.

Diane and I found some ceiling fans for the porch and I mounted and wired them. In between these tasks I have been cutting grass and putting stone around the fence and around the sides of the house. I will get some pictures uploaded soon either to Picasa or too the website on these projects.

We found a great Italian restaurant in San Ignacio on a recent trip. We had pasta bolognaise (with homemade pasta) and it was outstanding! We also ate some of the best tasting bread in Belize. We will definitely return and I will write down the restaurant’s name.

There are lots of neat things to be seen on a daily basis. The bugs are incredible down here. I have a picture of a six inch grasshopper that decided to spend some time on the wall of our deck. This bug is not only big but the undersides of his wings are red! I also have a shot of a tiny bird that made a nest in one of Diane’s plants. We have been seeing a tiger heron walking around are land. I haven’t been able to get a good picture because I have no telephoto lens. This is a very big bird! But really blends in well with the landscape.

We have bananas! Two of our banana trees are producing fruit! See pictures. Did you ever see a banana blossom?

St Margaret’s creek forms the western border of our property. This is a very unusual creek. In the rainy season it can be 3ft deep and 30 ft wide. In the dry season, about 3 months in duration, just before the southern end of our property, the creek flows into a small whole in the bottom of the creek (entrance to an underground cave). No water flows past our property during these months. In the rainy season, however, the water flow is too great for the opening and flows down past our property. In the rainy season it can be 3ft deep and 30 ft wide! What is also peculiar is that there are lots of fingerlings in the shallow pools at our property. About one mile downstream (to the north on the way to Five Blues Lake) there is a very similar opening in the creek bed which is the entrance to another underground cave.

Pictures mentioned in this post are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jmadeira/YardDeckAndCreek