Tom’s goals for the day were to clear the underbrush out of the “barn,” which is just a barn frame with four sketchy stalls according to our standards but fine horse containment for the tropics, so we could put the camper in the barn and put a tarp over the top both for shade, and so that the camper won’t leak when it rains. This move also gave us the chance to get better access to the second cabin’s driveway, which is where we’d had the camper parked. Tom fired up the weed whacker and cleared the barn area, as well as some of the space around the buildings and on the edges of the driveways. Bol had stopped by the day before offering his services and the services of his 22-year old son, who had him rolling his eyes because, as he explained, his son had had a good job as a guide for one of the resorts, but he had stayed out late partying and hadn’t shown up on time to give tours to guests, so he was fired. Bol explained that although he had told his son it was his own fault and he needed to grow up, he would help his son behind his back by asking about jobs for him. Tom and I had discussed it and decided that we would stick by our plan of waiting until we own the property, so when Bol stopped by we explained this to him. He invited us up to see his property later in the afternoon.
Tom had a sufficient area cleared, so around 2:30 we started moving things around. Ofelia had asked if I would teach her how to bake, and we’d set a loose date for doing it Tuesday afternoon, but she showed up just as we started, so we delayed our baking lesson until Friday. She watched us as we hooked the truck to the camper, moved the camper into the barn, and tied the tarp over the roof frame. At one point she called me over and asked if we ever bicker, because we’d been working together as we have since we started this adventure, and Ofelia commented that her parents would have been bickering doing what we were doing. I assured her that we do bicker sometimes, and she went home promising to return Friday to make brownies.
When the camper was covered, we set up a generator shed in one of the stalls using the truck cap. We had to lash a log between two posts to support the cap, and Tom commented on how it was too bad he never got his lashing merit badge in Boy Scouts. Despite his lack of skill, we got the log secured to the posts and put the generator under it. It not only protects it from the rain, but provides a little bit of a noise buffer, although it’s still pretty loud to us since it’s right beside the camper.
The barn "before"...
Af
...and "after"
That done, we took a walk up the road to see Bol’s place. He has a house in town, but he runs his guide business out of about 60 acres just up the hill. He has a small shed which he uses as a kitchen, and two entire hillsides around the shed are landscaped and planted with every kind of tropical fruit, flower, and tree imaginable. He has an orchid garden, and he explained that he planted many of the plants and trees to attract birds and animals. As we walked up the hill towards a hilltop he has cleared for an incredible view over the jungle towards San Ignacio, we saw a trogan, which is a large, brightly colored bird that was feeding on the berries from one of the trees. He has set up campsites in the trees near his view, and he explained that campers can set up tents in the trees, but he has reserved the cleared spot solely for viewing.
We came back to the camper with a small palm tree Bol had started, and some pits from cherries from one of his trees. I jumped in the camper to feed the dogs, just as one of the builders of the Mennonite houses pulled into the driveway. Tom had stopped at this office to ask about termite treatments, and Erix, the owner, had offered to stop by and take a look at the cabins when he was in the area. We hadn’t really even expected him to stop, but he spent about 45 minutes with Tom walking around and checking both cabins from all angles. He said that the termite damage is minimal, and after we spray only a few boards need to be replaced. He also said that both houses were very well built and are made of good hardwoods. This was all good news to us since we didn’t want to spend time fixing up buildings that wouldn’t last.
Before Erix even left, we had more visitors. The neighbor girls had said that they and their fathers were working for Americans building a resort just around the corner on the San Antonio Road, but we hadn’t met the people. The couple, Jim and Sharon, heard our generator and decided to come introduce themselves. They told us what they were doing, and we told them what we planned to do, and Sharon assured us that we wouldn’t be competitors since they’ll be so expensive nobody will compete with them anyway. We discovered that we can use each other as a source of books, and we can test and evaluate each other’s recipes and drinks as we both prepare for guests. They raved about the work ethic of our Belizean neighbors, and said that if we have any competition at all, it will be about hiring our neighbors.
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