Snowbirding in Belize

Howler Monkey descending

It's about time  to finish the saga I began earlier this year. I started to tell you about it here in May, and I was planning to update it within a week or two with ongoing events, but that was May and this is October.  Oh MY! 

Since it's probably been awhile since you read it.....I'd started to tell you about my decision to Snowbird in Belize, and the incredible chain reaction that set off in my life (okay, NOW go back and read it if you have a minute ;o}

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The road past my door-to-be

Upon returning from my Christmas vacation and my visit to Better In Belize, the intentional community I wanted to build in and move to in Belize, I pondered how on earth I was going to pay for the property.  I didn't have enough savings in the bank to do it; I didn't want to mortgage my house and make payments on that for rest of my life; and I finally concluded that the only way to swing it would be to take the plunge and sell my little house in the big woods.

my little house in the big woods

Now, I love my Oregon woods and its creatures, and my little house suited me well. I mean, just check out this year-long sketch/journal I did there in 2012!

But for some years now I had found myself sinking into a sedentary old age, swaddled in long underwear through the long, cold winters grudgingly warmed by a wood stove. 

fetching firewood—blechh

It gets really tiresome to fetch wood and keep the home fires burning, and only yearly trips to the tropics made it bearable.  Why not make the leap? I'd been considering it strongly for YEARS!

So January found me putting my house on the market and showing it for a whole three days before it was snapped up by a sculptor/videographer couple, just the perfect buyers.  

February was an incredible stew of packing, planning, organizing and executing.  I would live in Belize for the coldest six months of the year, but I plan to live here in Oregon for the other six months, so I needed a residence. 

35 years of "stuff" in storage

My first idea was to buy into a tiny community just up the road from my house, but that fell through due to zoning problems.  Still, the idea of a self-contained movable home was born. 

Plant Oregon, where I weed in summers

 March came, and Daniel, at Plant Oregon, the nursery where I weed most afternoons in the summers, offered me the use of his cabin, which he wasn't using, until I could get things straightened out.  I accepted gratefully, because I had to be out of my house by the middle of March, barely six weeks after making my decision to sell and a month after the sale was finalized! 

Sorting, storing, hauling, selling....

Imagine excavating, sorting, pitching, storing, giving away and/or moving 35 years worth of belongings in six weeks! I vacated into Dan's Cabin at the nursery, settling as comfortably as possible into temporary quarters, and weeding to keep my brain from exploding.

In the meantime, I deposited the payment for my house and land, and I was negotiating buying my lot in Belize, discussing house plans with my Belizean builder, and looking at Tiny Homes  to live in here in Oregon. It finally dawned on me that although Tiny Homes are darling, and speak to my Hobbity soul, they are REALLY SMALL and they are very expensive if you don't build them yourself. Since I'd be building a house in Belize, I didn't want to also be building a house in Oregon—I wanted something quick, simple, less expensive, easy maintenance....ah......a 5th Wheeler. They're quite a bit "glitzier" than really suits me, but they have lots of room, are low maintenance, and I knew the price of a used one would beat that of a Tiny Home by a huge margin—maybe only half as much!

My house plan- 1075 sq/ft

So I started looking for one of those that I liked, and at the same time I began the house plans for my house in Belize.  In 1980 I designed and built my little house in the woods, so I knew how to design a house and draw house plans, and I know what works for me and what doesn't, so this was very doable (and a lot of fun). And my builder was interested in building an earth bag house!  Serendipity!

Delivering my home to its spot

April.  Finally I found a good 5th Wheeler at a price I could afford (less than $20,000) and a friend offered me a place to settle, complete with water, electricity and sewer. 

packing a shipment of books

It was 30 miles from "home" but actually, to tell the truth, I was "homeless" now, so I jumped at the chance.
In the meantime I started thinking about selling the printed part (books) of my business, Nature Works Press, because there would no way for me to fill orders from Belize. Besides, it is time to "retire."

I decided to keep the sketch/journal e-book part of the business, and in fact even grow it.  But I needed to find a home for the book end of it.  So I put out feelers on a self-publishing forum. 

the view from my veranda-to-be

Life was chaotic, with belongings scattered all over the place: in two storage units in a nearby town, a stack of stuff in an empty building at the nursery, and the rest in Dan's Cabin, and I needed to return to Belize to begin the building process with my builder.  

So in May I returned to Better in Belize for a week of reconnaissance, conferences with Jorge, and to just sit (and sometimes sketch) on my building site for hours at different times of day to make sure I had planned everything correctly.

Black Orchid and frog in my yard

It was a wonderful interlude, with my dreams taking shape and focus to the accompaniment of crickets, cicadas, frogs (and a visit with a nearby tarantula clasping her egg sac).  

Mama tarantula with 2" egg sac

I had to sit outside the tarantula's entrance for more than an hour before she worked up the courage to come out this far, and the twitch of a finger sent her scrambling back inside.  I don't think I'll be afraid to live with tarantulas in the dooryard. They're real wusses.

Jorge, my Belizean builder

I was pleased to find that I liked Jorge and that we could work together as we prospected around San Ignacio, Belmopan and Spanish Lookout for building supplies and appliances, and outlined my earth bag house with spray paint on the building site.  Jorge is looking pleased in this photo because he had just rescued the orchid (by his left arm) from a fallen tree and replanted it in the hollow stump he's leaning on.

But arriving back home in Oregon,  it was time to reconvene my old life and wait for things to settle down since my house wouldn't be finished in Belize until autumn. Jorge promised to send me pictures taken  with his iPad or cellphone throughout the project. 

Lava Butte illustration

All spring and summer, while this was going on, I was also working on several illustration projects that would appear in nature centers and national forests in Oregon. I did a couple of blog entries about the making of this Lava Butte illustration, then after that I created the Benham Falls and the Benham Bridge illustrations here. 

These were all done at Daniel's Cabin, while the rest of my life swirled about in in total disarray.

Benham Falls illustration

Benham Bridge illustration

  


It's kind of amazing to me that anything at all could have come out of the astonishingly convoluted quagmire of my overloaded brain, but there they are.  And there was also a huge illustration (40" high) of a Ponderosa Pine which nearly ate my laptop awhile ago when I tried to convert it into a JPG so I could post it here, so it's not shown.  

JUNE  To relax my brain a bit, I drove to Idaho to visit my brother David, who helped me sort out details with regard to the change from Microsoft XP to Windows (Why did they change? XP was a GREAT operating system!), showed me how to use Skype (which will be my only telephone in my off-grid community), helped me upgrade some programs, including Quickbooks and Photoshop, with which I run my business, helped me sort out my laptop and tablet, and showed me how to download ebooks to read on a Kindle program, and just generally soothed away a lot of the angst that had been building up.  

Home in its new spot in a madrone forest

Thank goodness for a generous (and patient) brother!

In early June, Jorge informed me that my house plans had been approved. I was also moving into my new 5th Wheeler.  Dan bought and carted away a recliner and the dinette set which had crowded the interior, so I could start converting the dinette area into an office.

Next, I needed to start planning which of my belongings I wanted to take to my new home in Belize. And I needed a truck. Too much happening! My head was spinning.   

Now, this isn't the end of the story, as I've only gotten us midway through June, and here it is October, so I'll start work on the remaining bit of summer in the next blog entry.  I'm sorry I kept y'all in the dark for so long.  I just didn't have the time or energy to spend on it with all the other stuff going on.  Right now, I'm tapping my fingers while .....but more about that in the next blog entry.  

In the meantime, to assuage your disappointment about the truncated story, I offer you  this delightful little being I discovered while weeding a couple of weeks ago. The tiny jackrabbit toddler (it would fit in your cupped hands) never blinked an eye as I snapped its portrait.  I left it in peace (after about thirty seconds) to make its way in the world after The Giant left.  —Leap through life with happiness, Little Guy!

Fourth Day at Otorongo Lodge ~ Dec. 25, 2010

Christmas Day
(more spiders, toads, snakes and alligator-type critters below, just so you know...)

Thunder and lightning overnight was accompanied by volumes of rain now standing in pools all around the lodge this Christmas morning. All the guests were wondering if the day's outings would have to be canceled. Osmar and I had planned to go visit a lake covered with giant Victoria Waterlilies, which had intrigued me ever since, as a child, I had seen a photo of one bearing a baby on its surface.

But the sun came out and the pools soon subsided ~ and after breakfast we, plus Segundo the boatman, motored across the Amazon and upstream a bit until we came to a little mooring with a boat tied to it. Climbing up the steep bank on steps carved out of the mud by the farmer, we skirted a couple of tarps covered with drying corn and walked down the aisles of a banana plantation. Then the lane crossed a cassava field interspersed with occasional sugarcane stalks. That's a cassava plant and the roots, at right, which are harvested to produce yuca, farina, and tapioca. Cassava is also known as manioc, quite a multipurpose plant, but the roots and leaves are poisonous until they've been soaked and cooked.

A papaya tree beside the lane was encircled by a termite (or ant) nest, but that obviously hadn't kept off whatever birds (likely caciques) had been eating the ripe papayas (you can see one that has been shredded, and another freshly opened in the clump of papayas near the crown).

Ahead in an opening, we could see what looked like a black igloo built on a platform. Up close, I could see that it was made of mud and grass, beaten firm with a shovel (there's a drawing of it on the sketch page) . Osmar explained that this was a charcoal kiln, and under the mud coating were cut sticks slowly turning into charcoal due to the fire that was smoldering under the platform.

I grew up on a farm that wasn't terribly prosperous, and I know what lengths a farm family must go to in order to make ends meet. So I admired their initiative at the same time I mourned the trees that were cut to make charcoal (I can't even stand to see trees chopped down on TV).

A half-dismantled house ~ a pole frame, thatch roof, and wood planks to make a floor about 7' off the ground ~ stood nearby. Osmar said that the bank of the Amazon was collapsing there and would soon take the house, so they were moving all the reusable parts back from the river to build a new house. At left is one way roof thatch is prepared, using palm fronds like the ones leaning on a tree at Otorongo (above) waiting to patch a roof.

We passed an open-sided house where maybe fifteen people were sitting around listening to music, talking, and drinking beer and rum to the accompaniment of loud canned music (probably off a CD) ~ celebrating Christmas the Peruvian way. Kids were playing underfoot and stopped to watch us pass as we turned onto a small path leading to the lily lake.

And finally, we reached the giant waterlilies ~ I was not disappointed. Such a leaf could indeed safely hold a baby ~ at least until it started wiggling!

Osmar set up my folding chair at the edge of the lake and I sat and sketched for nearly an hour, reveling in my good fortune of the calm, sunny day in a place I had fantasized about all my life. At length, happy with my sketch, I finished up and we walked back to the boat and returned to the lodge under a bright blue sky decorated with fluffy white clouds and one amazing, towering thunderhead.

After lunch we were treated to the sight of a red-tailed boa constrictor. One of the guides allowed it to twine around his arm and we had a chance to examine it fully. Antony explained that you could see that it was about to shed because the skin over its eyes had already detached and turned milky, and that as a consequence it could barely see. It was an absolutely gorgeous snake, and we got to photograph it stretched out on the grass. They were removing it from the vicinity of the lodge for the comfort of the visitors, if I remember correctly. Here it is on the grass, about six feet long, I'd guess.

Later, I sketched the Pink River Dolphin skull in the yard at Otorongo. It is a humongous skull, more than two feet in length. I love drawing skulls, and this one was a real challenge and delight (see the sketch page above). Osmar sat nearby sketching a bromeliad in his sketchbook, and I occasionally offered advice on technique and observation skills.

After dinner, we donned our rubber boots and insect repellent, grabbed our flashlights, and went hunting in the dark around the lodge for tarantulas. Searching for and finding round 1½" holes in the ground, Osmar would poke in a grass blade and "tickle" the tarantula until it became irritated and would spring out to devour us.

Alas, we have been deceived about their ferocity. Once out on the ground, not seeing their usual food, they would stop dead and just stand there confused. We weren't ferociously attacked, chased, or even leg-run-up ~ NOTHING. Phhhht! I took picture after picture of tickled tarantulas, and never once felt threatened. So much for "deadly tarantulas!"

Switching over to "Reptiles & Amphibians," we next discovered a huge Cane Toad, Bufo marinus, along the path to the caiman pond. At about 4" in length, it was ponderously awesome. All of the guests were out frogging and spidering all over the grounds, and I kept hearing exclamations over in the caiman pond area, so we headed in that direction.

The caimans in the little fenced pond, secretive and hidden by day, were out and about. One of them, about six feet long, was completely out of the water and posed for its picture. But that isn't what everyone was excited about. They were looking at frogs.

Osmar had promised me a Christmas present, the chance to see a giant frog, and he was making good on his promise because there, in the trees above the caiman pool, was an incredible sight ~ an absolutely HUGE frog ~ as big or bigger than the Giant Cane Toad we had just seen. This was a Giant Monkey Frog, and it isn't a hopper ~ it walks. Reaching up, Osmar gently edged it off its branch onto his hand where it peered at us unafraid.

It walked up his arm and onto his shoulder where I took a photo. I would have loved to hold it, but there was a chance I had mosquito repellent on my hands, which could kill it, so I refrained. Osmar lifted it back up onto its branch, where it dismounted quite calmly. What a gorgeous frog. This morning I sketched Osmar and the frog from the photo I took that night.

I had thought that this ended our evening adventure, and it would have if Osmar hadn't spotted this Aquatic Coral Snake rustling through the leaves before we started back to the lodge. The bite of this gorgeous snake is quite venomous, but its poison fangs are in the back of its mouth instead of the front, so you'd only be in danger if you were barefoot (or stuck your finger in its mouth, duh). We watched it for a long time, then Antony picked it up and took it back down to the dock with the observation that it was probably hanging around hoping for a Giant Monkey Frog dinner.

This has to have been the most amazingly memorable Christmas Day I have ever experienced. Hope you enjoyed it, too!

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."