Big Moves

Did you think I'd bought the farm, kicked the bucket, keeled over, whatever euphemism you care to attach to leaving life behind?  Not.  In actuality, I have been on an amazing odyssey from hither to yon and back again, and today, with a little Memorial Day Weekend time on my hands, I sat down to tell you all about it...only to discover I had already started to blog it some time back, then apparently forgot to post it.  Aughhhh!  I think I was waiting for photos, and when I didn't have time to prepare them I checked out of the blog and never made it back. A bit symbolic of my suddenly changed life. 

An astonishing number of things have happened since January, but I think I'll just start with this old post and try to fill in the rest of the story in a following post or two. Maybe someday I'll get caught up. I'm pretty sure the draft below was written sometime in late February.  Here goes:

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Near Macal Bank lodge

Some gigantic things have been happening in my life since I last wrote, and they're ongoing even as I write.

I went to Belize again in December to stay again at Macaw Bank Jungle Lodge. I first went there two years ago, and ever since I had been poring over maps of Belize and reading forums  posted by people who live in that area, and wondering how I could make it work to go live there because, to be perfectly frank, I sincerely dislike cold weather.  But I love it here in Oregon in the summer, and I love all my friends and neighbors, and it didn't want to make an ill-considered leap into the unknown.

So I arranged for a realtor and builder from Better In Belize, an

The permaculture garden at Better in Belize

eco-community just a few miles from the lodge, to come pick me up for a visit. Here's how they describe it on their webpage:  "Better In Belize is committed to low-impact development practices and has developed plans to enhance this exquisite, natural environment and protect the remaining intact ecosystems in perpetuity."   Now, that sounds like just my cuppa tea!

And when I visited, I was charmed. The area is very similar to the jungle I'd been exploring downstream— same river, parrots, iguanas and oropendulas (my favorite bird at the moment— listen to it here . Imagine waking up to THAT!). There was the same incredible lush green growth all around, positively balmy and moist air (all my wrinkles went away and I looked ten years younger!) and the people living there were very welcoming.  I absolutely loved it, even though it rained the entire time I was there. 

Building under a tarp in the rainy season

On the way back to my lodge I talked with the builder, Jorge, who was accompanying me on my tour, about what I might build.  He suggested that I go for an earth-bag home with a metal roof and tank to collect rainwater for household use, a solar array, and composting toilet, plus a propane refrigerator and water heater, because this settlement is entirely off the grid. All for much less that it would cost in Oregon.

Jungle vegetation is rampant

And the community is serious about the environment: For starters, if you cut down a tree on your property, you have to plant five native seedlings either there or elsewhere in the community. There are other strict rules in the covenant, designed to keep the settlement environmentally friendly and green. So green, in fact, that you can pass right by someone's house and barely notice it because it must be behind a 10' natural vegetative barrier. Love it!

And to make a long story short, I am in the process of buying about half an acre within sight (well, almost) of an unexcavated Mayan ruin, which is right in the center of the community.  I can hardly wait to get to my new plot of rain forest and start my house. 

Riverbank tapir tracks

If you've never heard of earth bag houses before you're not alone.  Here is a link to find out more about them—they're cool.  Literally.  Especially in the tropics.  The walls are 18" thick, which is the ideal width to foil sunshine all day but keep the house cool inside, then radiate warmth into the house at night.  Since my new home will be in the Maya Mountains, where it can be a bit chilly at night, that will be absolutely perfect. Mine will not have a beehive shape but regular vertical walls topped by the metal roof for rainwater catchment. 

I'm hoping to spend some time sketching every day like I did on my Oregon

An owl butterfly subject

hillside a couple of years ago. If I do, my journal may look like this, only with tropical subjects: thorny palms, frogs and iguanas, cacao nuts, pineapples (from the permaculture gardens there), toucans and oropendulas, etc.A teaching center is planned for there, as well, which I would like to be involved with.  Sounds perfect for me.  

• The learning annex may include tropical rainforest preservation; sustainable land management; enhancing wildlife cover and nesting areas; developing trails and study areas; learning and preserving through the landscape of a rainforest; raising awareness and understanding of the interconnected nature of the rainforest and the world; energy and water conservation; propagating native plants; use of plants for food, drink and herbal medicine; and fair trade agricultural initiatives.

 

fresh produce in a roadside market

And, so, my friends, as you can see, big changes for me. I've leapt off the "path well-traveled" and struck off through the jungle! Stay tuned!
[and now, back to the present, May 25:  Big changes indeed, and much more than I mentioned in this post, because they hadn't happened yet.  I'll try to post more this week. Actually, I might tell you about my short foray into Brazil at Christmas, just before I went to Belize.] 

Second Day at Otorongo Lodge ~ Dec. 23, 2010

12/23

[warning: there are two images of spiders in this blog,in case
you are one of those people who panic at the sight of eight hairy legs]

Dawn found me hanging over the bannister outside my door to drink in all the sights and sounds. The night before I'd been lullabied to sleep by all manner of frogs, crickets, and perhaps nightbirds. This morning I was awakened by a choir of birds, including the liquid "coo-bloop-wheeoo" of either an oropendula or yellow-rumped caciques (I never did sort that out). Birds were flitting through the trees across a narrow strip of garden as the sky quickly brightened.

Today we'd go in search of a giant Ceiba tree, across the Amazon and up a small tributary to the south. There were many birds to see along the way: egrets, hawks, yellow-rumped caciques (say Ka-SEEKs), long-toed jacanas, and many others. Fishermen plied the waters with nets ~ several nets were strung across the river and our boatman had to lift the motor to cross over them.

We passed one little boy diligently rowing a long boat with a younger girl aboard. They eyed us solemnly as we passed. I drew them later from my camera viewfinder. Here's the page they're on.

There were numerous little land holdings on the banks we passed. Here's an assortment of things we saw. from left to right: a tree full of the hanging nests of yellow-rumped caciques, the boat children, and a small farm with black pigs roaming free.







At length our boat swung into shore and we climbed a steep bank up into the dim forest. It was beautiful inside, and within a few yards we accidentally walked through the web of a golden-silk spider ~ if you live in the southern US, you will be familiar with this big orb-weaver. In the Everglades they make orbs that span the boardwalks. This one was even bigger, and Osmar twisted some of the web together and gave it to me (it's glued into my journal just above the boat children, on the right edge ~ see above).

After a short walk, following the boatman who was swinging a machete (plants grow so fast in the jungle that a machete-cleared trail will grow back together in a very short time) we came to the giant ceiba tree. It was unimaginably huge, with buttresses stretching out fifteen feet to the side. Osmar took a picture of me with the binoculars, standing at the base of the tree, but it doesn't really show the size. On the opposite side of the tree, in an open space, I could get far enough away to see it, so I took three vertical pictures which I have stitched together here. I used the image of me from the other picture to try to show you how very small I am compared to that tree. I couldn't get over the immensity of the tree and its wall-like buttresses.

Near the Ceiba tree, Osmar found a Crested Forest Toad (we thought it was a Sharp-nosed Toad, but the stripe down its back means it's the Crested Forest Toad). I sketched it on the sketch page above. On our way back to the boat we surprised a praying mantis building an egg case.

Rain started misting down as we descended the bank to the boat, but this is the rain forest, after all, and since the air was warm and the mist wasn't really cold, it turned out to not be a problem EXCEPT....

And here, dear followers of my packing blog, I have to confess to the failure of my lovely bandana/hat invention due to humidity. If you recall, I explained how to turn your bandana into a sun hat. But on the boat, when the sun appeared and I pulled my bandana out of my bag and folded it into a sun hat, I realized that the 100% humidity of the Amazon completely spoils the effect (and effectiveness) of the thing. It's a flop (literally) in a humid climate. Oh well, it'll still work for desert rats and people that live in "normal" humidity.

We got back in time for lunch and I had a chance to get acquainted with some of the denizens of Otorongo. Our host Antony was playing with Ara, the Scarlet Macaw. That bird shrieks "Lara, Lara, Lara" frequently, and I thought that was her name, but it seems that Antony named her Ara for her specific name, Ara macao. The Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) is named Azul, which is Spanish for blue. They have the run of the place during the daytime but are put in an enclosure at night so they won't be eaten.

The Spix's Guan also runs free. Her name is Penelope, and she pecks shiny things. You don't want to get your shiny eyes too close to her beak...

And here is Tio Juan (Uncle John). He is a Yellow-ridged Toucan, Rhamphastos culminatus and a real clown. He terrorizes anyone who shows the slightest fear of him, but it's mostly bluff. I managed to get up the nerve to make "friends" with him after a couple of days, always being aware that he could do damage with that bill and that I had to be really careful to keep my face out of range.

Early afternoon was generally reserved for siestas in the hammock room (a lovely, cool screened porch with six hammocks rayed out from a central pole to the sides of the room.) In one of the hammocks I would nap, or sketch seedpods and snails, sketch from my camera viewfinder, paint my drawings with watercolor pencils, and glue in things like the golden-silk spider web.

Discovering that Osmar was interested in trying his hand at sketching, I sat him down with an assignment (ever the teacher!) to see what he could do, and realized, looking at his first-ever drawing (done in ballpoint pen, at that) that he has a lot of potential.

So from that time on, whenever it worked for both of us, I provided him with a pad and pen, and gave him sketching lessons, first in drawing, then later in coloring with the watercolor pencils, and we worked quietly together through the hours. He was an apt student.

Earlier that day I had gone exploring in the kitchen garden and discovered a tarantula holed up in the top of a pineapple plant. Looking down into the top, I could only see its furry orange toes. Osmar said it would come out at night, so that night I went back and took a photo. Here it is, ready for intruders coming up from the ground.

Tomorrow we look for hoatzins ~ prehistoric-looking chicken-like birds that appear to be having a perpetual "bad hair day."