More Than Just Orchids

I think these hibiscus flowers rival the orchids of my previous posts for beauty.

These hibiscus are all growing at our neighbors' place, the currently out-of-operation SteppingStones Resort.

They have lush landscaping there and have generously given us permission to take cuttings.

We got some white hibiscus started, but could always use more.

We don't have any of this incredible apricot and ruby flowering hibiscus, though.

I think I will remedy that lack this week.  Now that the dry season is over, all I need to do is take some cuttings and stick them in the ground.  It doesn;t get easier than that.

Now, where are my little secateurs?

Run Through the Jungle

Back in my pre-retirement life, I was gym rat.  I loved to go to the gym and was there at least 5 days a week.  I found that a good, sweaty workout was a great stress reliever.  Fortunately the very job that generated this stress also provided access to a wonderful gym on site.  I miss that gym - much more more than I miss my career!

Here in Englishtown, there is no gym, so I am learning to make do with what is available.  With our neighbors at SteppingStones (a former fishing resort) and Barebones Tours, we have developed some paths and trails through the jungle that connect our properties.

Our cabana is at the bottom of the photo where the red line starts.  My mini warm-up, the red line, consists of walking down our stairs and then ~200 ft to the start of the orange line.  I start my run at the orange line, take the left turn to Black Creek and back and then the run up and down the stem of the Y 2 or 3 times to get 3 miles in before coming back the way I came for my cool-down.  That is Great Monkey Caye at the righthand edge of this Google Earth image.  BareBones Tours is at the north end of the orange line.  This whole stretch is the Englishtown of the title of this blog and is labeled as such on the official government land plats.

Click the link to listen to CCR while I take you on my 

 "Run Through The Jungle".  

The beginning of the orange line.  That is my little bird-watching seat at the bottom right.  This trail goes through swamp, so the path had to be built up from sand and seagrass brought in one wheelbarrow load at time over a period of 5 or so years.  Washed up logs and wood scraps from building projects help to stabilize the path.

In the rainy season, there is standing water on both sides of the path.  Even during the dry season, the ground is squishy. 

You can just make out the footbridge just before the path bends to the right.  A series of 4 bridges lets the water drain from the right toward Black Creek to the left.  This swamp is a haven for agoutis, gibnuts, raccoons, all kinds of birds, snakes, lizards, crabs, insects. Huge ferns, 3 mangrove species, and other water tolerant plants are a nearly impenetrable (to humans!) barrier on either side of the trail.

The branch of the Y that goes to Black Creek has been in place longer than the other branch.  It goes through palmetto and reed beds.

Here it looks like a path through a dry woodland, and while it is a little higher and dryer than other parts, it is still wet on either side.

The branches of the Y converge at SteppingStones Resort and the stem of the Y basically follows the shore up to BareBones Tours.  This section is on dry ground, all it took was clearing a path and light maintenance to keep it cleared.

Sea to the right and jungle to the left.

Sea view with lilies, palms, and sea grapes.

Some times I have company on my walks and runs.  This is Kalli from SteppingStones.

A great path with a sea breeze to help dry the sweat.

Jungle to the west.

There may have been a dwelling in this little clearing at some time in the past.

The lot to the left has been cleared recently.  The owners live in the US and may build a vacation cabana here.  Or may not; plans in Belize tend to stay fluid.

This is a great old tree.

BareBones is on the other side of the palm.  Our friend Craig Pearlman, owner of BareBones, lives there.

View across the water toward the east just.  That is Great Monkey Caye at the left.

View to the south back toward our place.  This is low tide; you can see some green seagrass exposed in the shallow water.  The little island is Little Monkey Caye.

More views through the seaside jungle.

Headed back south, the sea is to the left and jungle to the right.

It takes a little fancy footwork to run the path, ducking for leaning trees (that dark line on the leaning tree is a termite tunnel), stepping over tree roots, avoiding crab and armadillo holes.

This leaning palm and the tree in the previous photo were very likely blown over in Hurricane Iris in 2001.

Dennis accompanied me on this walk to help clear away some of the vines and branches in the path. This area is the site of former Bob's Paradise, a resort that was blown away in Hurricane Iris.  Major hurricanes are quite rare here in southern Belize.  Iris was the unusual one with a zigzag course that delivered her to this protected pocket in full strength without loosing any force by passing over Honduras or Nicaragua on the way.

Back on the branch of the Y between SteppingStones and our place with a good view of one of the footbridges.

This area was a tangled mess of downed trees and vines.  We cleared away only what it took to make the path.

Finally, there is my birdwatching seat again on the left; the end of the trail is just ahead.

There is always something noteworthy to see along the trail.  Appropriately enough, on Easter Sunday I saw 2 bunny "rabbits" on the trail.  "Rabbit" is the local name for agouti.  They did look a lot like bunny rabbits, albeit bunny rabbits with very short ears, as they bounded into the swamp.  Just like me, they "... run through the jungle.  Whoa, don't look back to see."