I am blogging? That must mean that I am traveling again ; )

Yes, it's true. We are traveling again. Andy and I are in Belize. Andy is staying for 3 weeks & I am here for 1 week. We are running the Jungle Dome whilst Karen is on holiday in Canada.

Our two boys are with my mum and sister in Aruba. And I have to admit, travelling without the kids has been very enjoyable so far (only 3 more nights and I am back home again). Of course, we always have a great time when we travel as a family, but it is also nice, for once, to not be responsible for anyone but myself. It feels rather good to have a break from being ‘mum’. As a mother, it’s so easy to lose your sense of self. Because you put everyone else’s needs before your own (generally) & you feel like you are only nurturing yourself with the scraps (of time) that have ‘fallen off the table’. But for now, my time is my own. And, as long as I know that my boys are happy (which they are), I can continue to enjoy myself and enjoy spending time with my husband. So to us, this is in part a working-holiday and part honeymoon (which we’ve never had before).

And being back in Belize has been great. It’s like I had almost forgotten what a beautiful country this is. It’s an absolute paradise! In a way, it’s much more beautiful than Aruba. It’s just so lush. Aruba has better beaches, that’s true, but apart from that, it’s a rock. It’s a rock with some cacti, some donkeys and some goats. Oh, and with a lot of mega hotels and resorts (these, obviously, do not make the landscape any prettier)

The Belize inland (which is where we are) consists of jungle, amazing birds and wildlife, rivers, small villages and character-filled lodges, like our own (much nicer than those gigantic monstrosities of the Aruban time-share hotels)

Still, each country has its own charm. Aruba is such a comfortable place to live (and, unlike what the US press says about the island, it must be one of the safest and most peaceful places on earth), Aruba truly is ‘one happy island’, where everything has to be celebrated excessively and abundantly, it has great bars and restaurants, good schools and facilities for families and the different cultures on the island seem to blend well together.

Belize, on the other hand, is an oddball country. It's a country steeped in contradictions. Many people have no running water at their houses, but they do have a cellphone and cable television. Many call themselves Christians, but they believe in witches, ghosts and shape shifters. It's a country of many cultures, each with their own traditions, yet they all feel Belizean.

Belizeans are generally polite and quite shy. They don’t party the way the Arubans do. When the Belizeans go swimming, they keep all their clothes on and the women refuse to dance when the men can see them. The country is steeped in religion. Any office you go in will have biblical versus stuck to the walls & church is often people’s only form of entertainment (I am now mainly talking of local rural communities and not the ex-pats) Many of the local Mayan women here seem to go to church so they can show off their new clothes, to join in what can only be called karaoke, to sway to the music and to enjoy the BBQ. Some will be genuine believers, but quite a few seem to go for ‘just a bit of fun’.

I have found living in both countries very enjoyable. Aruba because of it’s so ‘normal’ and ‘easy’. If you can live in Europe, you can live in Aruba. It isn’t all that different from each other. But living in Belize has been enjoyable especially because it is ‘not normal’. Nothing is like it is in Europe. It’s like a different world all together. How often have Andy and I not looked at each other over the years, laughed and said: ‘only in Belize’ (meaning, something as weird as this could never happen anywhere else). Every day is a surprise waiting to happen. And the more flexible your attitude is, the more you are able to ‘go with the flow’, the better your experience will be in this country. You may have planned to go from A to B on a certain day, yet you end up at X for some bizarre reason. And all you can do is laugh, which, by the way, is something the Belizeans do a lot. They laugh easily and heartily. It puts us, those from wealthy Western nations, to shame.

In countries like Belize, people seem to generally be more content and happy. Even when they live in a wooden shack, have no electricity or running water, no shoes for the kids and the women spend much of their time collecting wood for their open fires to cook on.

And it’s amazing how many people can live in one wooden shack here. The logistics of it are baffling. You wonder how on earth it all fits. Yet, when more family members or friends show up from Guatemala, everyone bumps up even more and that family is taken in too.

But in Europe we complain when we only have one flat-screen TV (the one in the bedroom is broke and we have no money to buy another) or we say that our house is too small because two of our children have to share a bedroom...I mean, what are we on about? It is embarrassing to hear everyone complain these days.

Recession or no recession...we are the fortunate ones. You are sitting behind a computer right now, you can explore the world (even if only online), you obviously can read and have been educated, you have a roof over your head, you have eaten and you have clean drinking water. So let’s stop complaining & start being thankful. That’s what I’ll do today. I will say my thanks for the rich life that I am living and have lived so far.

As Moby and I always used to shout out at each other (and what will be my mantra for today): ‘Life is nice!’

A crazy version of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'

This was filmed in our garden in Belize with Lucas, Aidan and some of their friends. Oh, and the sticks are their 'horses'.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

My lack of regular blogging...

I'm sorry that I haven't spent much time on this blog in the last few weeks/months, it's just that my daily attention has been going to my music blog: http://simonesmusicblog.blogspot.com

I will upload some new pictures on this family travel blog later today though.

And for those of you who want to see specific Aruba pictures, Aruba real estate & Aruba Hotels, then you're better off checking out my sister's blog: http://arubaconnections.blogspot.com/

Thanks & happy family travels everyone...

Back at the Belize Jungle Dome for the summer

Whilst Karen (our resort's manager) is on her well-deserved break to Canada we are back in Belize running the Belize Jungle Dome. Coming back to Belize-after all these months in Aruba-was a bit of a shock to the system, but we are now back into the swing of things and are enjoying ourselves.

We had to get used again to the fact that in Belize you create your own fun. Nothing gets handed on a plate to you. Especially with the kids...I missed the many playgrounds, the tennis club, the summer camps, all the things that Aruba has in abundance. Lucky enough, the Brazilian Ambassador's wife has set up arts & crafts mornings at their residence. The boys go there most mornings and it breaks up the day perfectly.

Back at the house, they play with the local kids, catch bugs, swim, etc. And at 7 o'clock they are ready for sleep.

We also went for a short break to the golf island, Caye Chappel, which is always fantastic. So, all in all, we are doing great. Here's a few pics of the boys in action with several of their friends.

Belize real estate, Riverside Villa

Well, we have decided that we want to stay on Aruba for the coming year(s). This place is a perfect mix for us between the relaxed Caribbean lifstyle that we had gotten used to in Belize & the Dutch/European lifestyle we were sometimes missing when we were living in the jungle. I love the fact that Lucas and Aidan are now learning to speak perfect Dutch in their Dutch schools & of course we love living so close to family (my mum and sister)

So, because we will not to return to Belize and because we want to buy a property here, we have decided to sell our family home.

Our house in Belize is actually my dream home. If we could pick it up and move it to Aruba, we certainly would. It was designed by a UK/Swiss architecture company from Belize and I took a very active part in the designing of it. So many of the features were dreams of mine. Like the large sunken bath in our bathroom, with the floor to ceiling window and its private courtyard (complete with a lovers statue and tropical plants), the open-plan Mexican kitchen, the large walk-in cupboard, the hand-made mahogany furniture throughout, the decks overlooking the Belize River, etc. etc.

Anyway, we can't move our beautiful Riverside Villa. So its up for sale for $395,000. Which is roughly the same as 197,000 English Pounds. Not a bad deal for someone as it produces a good yearly income and could stay as part of the Belize Jungle Dome's rental pool. So if anyone is looking for a good investment in the international tourism industry, maybe with the thought of ultimately using the house as a place to retire to, than this house would be perfect. It is being managed and maintained to a high standard & it is making money.

Considering the large amounts of cash people spend on timeshare and condos, this 2000 square foot, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house, on 1/2 acre of property land, 15 minutes from Belize's fast developing capital, is an absolute steal. Of course I'm biased, but I can hardly believe that anyone who would look at the place and look at the investment potential would say otherwise.

So...you wanna buy a house in the tropics? For info and pictures click here , plus check out an older blog posting of mine with pictures. And/or email Andy at andy@greendragonbelize.com

Religion 'gone crazy' in Belize

Living in Belize, we've come across some crazy situations with regards to superstitions. People in our local community believe in witchcraft, demon possessions, etc. It seems to be that many of the (rural) communities in Belize have blended the message of the evangelical missionaries with their old traditions/religions and/or superstitions. All that shouting about the devil (something the US missionaries seem to do a lot) is at least part to blame for crazy situations like the following story of today's Channel 7 newscast:

'Demon Possession' Forces Closure of Hattieville Government School

Stories of spirit possession in children are often things of village lore – and when the come across our news desk, we look very critically at the reports. But it became a story in Hattieville today when the strange behavior of 4 children forced the entire school to close down and sent 369 children home. What’s more the District Education Officer says it’s authentic! But is it really? Keith Swift went looking for answers.

Keith Swift Reporting,The classrooms were empty and the playground was deserted today at the Hattieville Government School. That is because since Monday 4 students have been possessed by what school officials are calling an “evil spirit.”

12-year-old Aquila - who we spoke to in the presence of her mother - is one of them.
Aquila, Claimed She Was Possessed“I was with my friends and afterwards I started to talk about demons and then I felt something in my belly, something was in my belly moving, and then it started to make me tremble up and then I started to scream out. I didn’t want to scream but I had to make a little noise. I was screaming, my friend took me to the office and they tried to calm me down but I couldn’t calm down. I was trembling and I couldn’t stop.”

Keith SwiftWhat did you think was happening?
Aquila,“Well I think it was some kind of spirit that was trying to take over me.”

And if you don’t believe Aquila, 11 year old Richard Wade and his cousin 12 year old Devon Wade, who we met on the street playing because of their unexpected holiday, say they saw it – and they weren’t the only ones who did.
Devon Wade, “I saw a little girl Aquila on the ground going on crazy and she was spinning around her head and it was just frightening.”
Keith Swift,What did your teacher tell you?
Devon Wade,“She told us to stay in our class.”
Richard Wade,“She locked up the class because she didn’t want any demon coming in we. And then after that they just told us to get our school bag and go home.”
Devon Wade,“Our teacher is like a really good Christian, Ms. Mejia, she is a really good teacher and a Christian so she give, sometimes she prays for us and like that so that nothing goes in us.”

Richard Wade,“He just started to hold his head and was screaming how he is tired of this thing in me and how he wanted it to come out and he started to slam up the desk.”

Devon Wade,“And you know when like demon gets into you, you get stronger, he was lifting some beavy beavy desks. So I don’t know what went on because he was just scary. I was really frightened. I didn’t know that would happen. I didn’t know demon could come to Hattieville.”

Shanine Holland,“Yesterday evening around 5 o’clock to 5:30 when I was going to Belize, I saw the young lady Aquila just started to go on crazy and everything. She just started to cuss her. She said nobody can stop her from doing what she wants. That is all I see. She was flinging herself on the ground and in the drain.”

Janelle Thompson,“I came out here this morning and then I saw the young lady run from out of her classroom towards her mother and she bit her at her neck and then the blood came out and then she started to throw about herself, know her mom, and all the kids started to run and cry.”
There was a mass exodus from the school. This afternoon when we visited only teachers were there. Jahmor Lopez is the district education officer and he told us the ministry of education says they are trying to contain the situation.

Jahmor Lopez, District Education Officer“We were in contact with members of staff, telling them to remain calm, to try to deal with the situation. I believe that the staff members on the ground did an excellent job in trying to maintain order but things got a little bit out of hand when a relative of one of the children who is affected apparently was trying to perform some kind of, trying to exorcise the demon right on the compound. I think at that point students got very very alarmed because I think the woman shouted that the demon is here in the compound and I think that is when students began running. It was pandemonium and there were some parents in the vicinity and so a lot of parents came for their kids and others just dismissed themselves.
I was informed that when they had attended church that the manifestation started there and so it seems to be something involving evil spirit so clearly we would have to get in touch with the clergy, we would have to get in touch with somebody who will be ready to do such a job, to exorcise the demon. We just can’t call on anybody. You have to fast, you have to meditate, you have to prepare for spiritual warfare.”

Keith Swift,Sir but demon possessions don’t happen.
Jahmor Lopez,“Keith is that your position, you are telling me? You believe in good? That is your position.”

But Pastor Mark Somerville from the village Baptist Church – where the possession allegedly originated - has a simpler explanation.

Pastor Mark Somerville, Hattieville Government School“They were affected by something and then when we tried to find out what was the situation that was causing them to divide then they came up and behaved like they had some kind of unclean spirit but that doesn’t say they are possessed by these spirits.”

Keith Swift,So these kids aren’t demon possessed?

Pastor Mark Somerville,“Well I would not say they are not influenced by some sort of evil spirit but to say that they are demonized – then I am saying that they are not. They are not demonized.”

Keith Swift,Is it safe for these children to return to school?
Jahmor Lopez,“Certainly. In my view I believe it is perfectly safe. The problems that the kids have been experiencing, these are students in standard six, I was told there is one student from standard five. But it is not the entire school, it is a number of students from one classroom. And so there is no need for all the students to stay away from school. If it was such that there is something on the compound then I would be affected, all the other members of staff would be affected. There is no need for us to be alarmed and take alarmist’s approach. We have four students and we need to address the issue with those four students. It is not a thing with the entire school so we need to get that clear. I am appealing to parents, send your kids to school and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

The Ministry of Education says it will be seeking treatment for the four children.

Happy 2008!

Christmas and New Year has been very enjoyable here on Aruba, with plenty of presents, plenty of family time and plenty of crazy fireworks. Pretty much the oposite of the quiet Christmasses and New Years that we've had in Belize for the last 6 years.

In Belize we had to remind ourselves that it was New Year Eve, for instance, whilst in Aruba there's no escaping it. Everybody spends a small fortune on fireworks here and goes out on the street creating their own little (or not so little) fireworks show. So at midnight the whole sky above Aruba was alight with fireworks, you simply didn't know which way to turn, it was everywhere. Andy was really surprised to see it as even in the UK people don't do that, but I told him that it reminded me of my childhood in Holland as the Dutch do the same thing.

Something else that I really enjoyed here were the traditional Christmas singers. I forgot what they are called, there's a special name for them. Anyway, they are big groups of people (about 20 per band, with about 8 to 10 of them singing). The music that they make does not sound like Christmas music to me though, it just sounds Tropical and kinda salsa to me. It's really good fun. And these bands are everywhere around the Christmas period in Aruba. They play at the supermarkets, in the shopping streets, out at parking lots, etc.

The traditional Christmas lights on the islands were wonderful to see as well. The boys (of course) loved them.

And the other traditional thing that the Arubans do is scare away the bad spitits from the past year by letting off thousands of firecrakers outside virtually every store and business on the island around New Year's Eve. It's rediculously noisy, but I like the thought behind it.

The following pictures were from our Christmas Eve dinner, which was at a Lebanese restaurant. Which is of course not particularly traditional for Christmas, but we had great food and good fun too.

So there you go. That's what's been happening here. I hope you've all had plenty of good times and I wish you all good health, love and joy for 2008 and for the years that follow.

Blog on!

Belize supermarkets versus Aruban supermarkets...I think we have a winner!

For those of you who've never lived in a developing country like Belize it may be hard to imagine, but I am in heaven every time I walk into a supermarket here in Aruba. In the supermarkets here you can get pretty much everything. Which isn't always the case in Belize. In Belize you can never get any kind of mushrooms, fresh asparagus, soy yoghurts, blueberries, veggie burgers, etc. But in Aruba you can! So I'm having a field day here. Not that I've really got into cooking properly yet. I'm still getting used to this kitchen and figuring out what things we still need to get for it.

And the other cool thing is that nothing on the supermarket shelves in Aruba is out of date. In Belize you have to check everything you buy. Sometimes things are more than a year out of date. I recently bought some children's vitamine C there that turned out to be from 2002! Five years out of date. Can you believe it?

Anyway, I better get ready and start my day. Have a good one, where ever you are!

We're here!

We arrived in Aruba last Tuesday night, but it feels like we've been here much longer than a week already. My dad and Ina had flown over to Aruba from Holland on a last-minute deal that they found, which was a wonderful surprise! We had some great family time with them (not long enough though)

Our house here is great, Andy is happy playing golf, I've found a band to sing with, the kids are settling in well at school...all is good, really.

It's so hard to imagine that the following pictures were taken just a week ago in Belize. Bart had come back over to spend some time at the Belize Jungle Dome to help out the ladies in the kitchen (congratulations Nora on the birth of your baby girl!!!!!)

It was great to spend some time with him, John and Silvia before we left. And of course with Karen. I will miss you her whilst we're here : (

Will blog more soon....

The adventure that ended in the emergency room

I thought it would be nice idea to do some Belize daytrips before we leave the country at the end of the month so my sister Miriam and I decided to do the zip line tour at Jaguar Paw yesterday.

But guess what happened? On the first of the eight ziplines my shoulder popped out of its socket. So there I was, stuck on a platform high up in a tree in the jungle, seeing stars and being wobbly on my legs. The Jaguar Paw guides were amazing and within minutes the first aid guy was there with a full kit. By that point we had already been trying to get my shoulder back into its socket, I remembered how it was done many years before and gave our incredibly shocked guides instructions (nothing like this had ever happened before at the ziplines). After 3 painful failed attempts we had to give up.

So they put a sling on me and then I had to climb down some rocks to get off the platform and back to the ground.

The staff at Belmopan hospital were great too. They drugged me up good ; ) and I didn't even realize that they put my shoulder back. All in all it worked out well. Just been back to the hospital to bring the staff some 'thank you' donuts and I'll phone Jaguar Paw in a minute to thank them too for the good care.

But no more wild adventures for me for a while.

Oh, and this is a picture of the baby howler monkey that runs around at Jaguar Paw. Isn't he adorable? I wonder where his mum is though. Poor little guy. He must miss her : (

The view from my kitchen window

Yep, views like these make doing the dishes a lot more pleasurable (aren't I the domestic blogger today?)

When I was a little girl I always dreamed of being able to see horses from my house. Well, I got it. Plenty of horses to see and a river view too.

If this is your idea of heaven too, please check out: Horse Lovers Dream Home for sale

My blogging dilema

I'm having a bit of a 'problem'. As you know, my blog is called 'Simone's Belize Blog', but we have decided not to live in Belize from this coming December until next summer.

For this coming tourist season we will be renting out our new house (next to the Jungle Dome) as part of the vacation packages that are offered through Green Dragon Adventure Travel and The Belize Jungle Dome. We are always turning away so much business as the Dome only has 4 Suites, so it makes sense to add our house to the rental pool for at least one season. And anyway, after 6 years of living in the jungle we are quite up for new experiences (which must have been getting obvious by the fact that we have been traveling so much). On top of all this our business is now at a point where, under Karen's amazing management, it is run without Andy and I needing to be there on a day-to-day basis, so we might as well be somewhere else.

Now initially we had planned to go back to the UK for these months, but we have recently decided to go to Aruba instead (where my mum and sister live) as it is so much nearer & therefor easier to travel backwards and forwards and to stay involved with what's happening at the Dome.

So anyway, we will be living in Aruba for the coming months & what am I supposed to do with my Belize Blog? Simply use it for our Aruba stories? That will be a bit weird, won't it? I mean, already it is an odd blog with tons of stories about our family life on there, stuff that has little to do with Belize. But to not even live in Belize and call my blog a Belize blog? Surely that's too much. Still, I don't think I can just change the name. And if I start a new blog it will take years before the search engines start to pick it up again. Hmmmm...what to do, what to do.

Any suggestions? Apart from staying in Belize to continue my blogging? ; )

Let me know.....

Nice Jungle Dome reviews

It's always great to hear how much people enjoy staying at the Jungle Dome. The atmosphere at the lodge is rather unique, unless you've been there it's hard to explain in words. I guess you could say that it's like a luxury bed & breakfast experience (even though we feed everyone fantastic dinners there too). Our guests usually end up becoming good friends with everyone else at the lodge and they all love our staff! Some guests are virtually in tears when they leave the place and tell us that they feel like they've been visiting family, instead of feeling like they were guests at a hotel.

Just have a read of the Carrie's blog, a newly-wed who recently stayed at the Jungle Dome:
http://newlywedgal.blogspot.com/

Great golf vacation for the whole family!

We just returned from a 3-day break on Caye Chapel, a private golf island off the Belize coast.

When Andy first suggested going to Caye Chapel with the kids I was slightly sceptical of the idea. First of all, I thought that only millionaires were able to afford to stay there & I was a bit worried about what the kids and I would do for the three days that Andy played golf. It turns out that I worried for nothing. Caye Chapel feels like a playground for the rich and famous, but it actually is quite affordable (but don't tell anyone...otherwise we'll never be able to get a room there again) & the kids and I weren't bored for a minute.

We were given a lovely 2-bedroom casita, with satellite TV, wireless Internet and a DVD player (so when we needed the kids to wind down, we'd stick on one of their favorite movies). We also were given 2 golf buggies and bicycles for whizzing around the island. There was a lovely pool, a spa, a gym, coconut skittles, a basketball court, volleyball, swing sets and of course the beach. We didn't need to lock our door for the whole weekend, the kids were safe to run in and out of the casita and Andy would practice his golf swing right outside our door (the golf course was just across the sandy road). Whenever Lucas wanted to join Andy on the golf course, he'd run over and use the little kiddies golf clubs that the Caye Chapel staff provided us with.

The place is both swanky and relaxed at the same time. Our food was brought to where ever we wanted it (lunch at the pool and dinner in our casita) and it was funny to see men playing the golf course on bare feet and with just their swimming shorts on.

Lucas never even missed his friends. Which is unusual for him. Even after 3 days there, he did not want to leave.

So anyway, we'll be going back soon. Until then, Andy is practicing his golf skills almost daily at the Roaring River Golf Course near our house. He really has a the mindset of top sports man. When he gets in to something, he gets in to something. And right now that something is golf. It's inspiring to watch his determination, even though I could never be like that myself. When Karen and I played tennis for instance, we weren't even able to keep score. We were too busy chatting to be serious about the game. Andy was baffled. Why would anyone play sports and not even care about how well they do? Guess that's why he he's the sports man in the family ; )

This is great news!!!!!!!

Wow, I've just read on the Channel 7 website that the Belize Government is going to start giving free text books to all primary school children! That is fantastic! I'm absolutely delighted. This is what has been needed so badly for so long now. And I guess that means that the job of the Jaden Foundation is going to change quite a bit. A big part of our job used to be the sorting out of school books each year. We used to collect last year's books, see which ones could be re-used, collect all the new book lists (some hand written and barely understandable) & then go up and down the country to all the different book stores in an attempt to buy all the books we needed. It was never a straight forward process & it used to cost us a fair amount of money too.

We can now use the Jaden Foundation funds for school transport, supporting high school students and sponorship for those wanting to attend the private school, BCA.

Here is the news story:

GOB To Offer Free Textbook for Primary School Students

Free textbooks for primary school students - that was the announcement made by Education Minister Francis Fonseca at this morning's PSE Awards Ceremony.

It's been general knowledge to parents and educators for months, but details have been scarce. And in the absence of information, apprehension has developed in some quarters because parents want to know, what will their children be learning and will it be up to standard? But those answers were not forthcoming this morning. Fonseca only made the general announcement that starting in September all primary school students enrolled in public and church run schools will receive free textbooks.

Hon. Francis Fonseca,"The standardized books cover the five core subject areas of mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. The textbook program will provide quality and relevant textbooks free of cost for all children attending primary school. This textbook program takes effect September, 2007. We have consulted widely and deeply and we are doing the right thing for the children of Belize. Yes, there are cynics and those for whom the Ministry of Education can do no right. I urge all our people, but particularly our principals and teachers and parents to embrace this important opportunity for our nation."

After this morning's ceremony, Fonseca declined our request for an interview to elaborate on the program's scarce details. He promised that those questions would be answered next week when he holds a press conference to fully detail the initiative.

Finally...pictures of our new house!

We are still working on the finishing touches to the house like landscaping, paving, hanging up pictures, etc. But apart from that we are done!!!! We never thought this day would actually come ; )

So anyway, this is one of the entrances. It's the one we use when we move between the Dome and the house & as you can see everything is starting to grow up nicely around it.

Our open-plan kitchen. You can't see the breakfast bar in this picture though. I have to say, I really love this kitchen. It's cozy, made of local mahogany (recycled from our old cabinets) and finished with Mexican tiles. By the way, the river views from the window by the sink are amazing. It makes washing up almost fun!

Our Mexican tiles...

The living room, with its bay windows and DVD shelves. As you can see, one of the local boys is in the picture. Our house has become the community's playground, with children running in and out all day.

The living room goes straight into the dining area and to the left of this picture is the breakfast bar and open-plan kitchen.

This is our family deck. It's a great place to hang out with the kids. We spend a lot of time out there. The views are incredible.

Although not as incredible as the views from the deck on the top floor. The top floor is made especially for our friends and family, with its own bathroom and private deck. Our pampered guests will have the best views in the house (yes, that's the river you see there)

That's it so far. I'll post more pictures some other time.

Investment in the Cayo district of Belize!!! Riverfront property for sale!

My thoughts on the Educo gym

It seems that a fair amount of people come to my blog by Google-ing 'Educo gym' and 'does Educo gym work?'

Well, let me just share my opinion on it then with a list of what I like about the Educo gym system and a list of what I don't like and then you can make up your own mind.

What I like:

1. It is a fast work-out (2o minutes per session)
2. You always are accompanied by a personal trainer
3. It kick-starts you into eating better and exercising with their 12-day program. During these first 12 days you work out every day and you are put on a special diet.
4. It is a nice looking, fully AC-ed gym (most other gyms I have seen in Belize are not particularly flash and most have no AC!!!!)
5. They offer personal support, a diet plan and nutritional supplements
6. I believe that the system works well for those wanting to lose weight and/or adding muscle mass

What I don't like:

1. Their work-out routine and diet is too rigid.
2. They offer no real cardio exercises. By doing the resistance training at a fast pace you are told that you are doing a cardio work-out. Personally, am not convinced that resistance training alone can offer this.
3. The system seems build on a 'one size fits all' policy. In my opinion there should be more variety and people's own input should be encouraged and listened to. Also, not enough attention seems to given to pre-existing conditions and injuries.
4. Because of the short intense work-out time, there is no warm-up or cool-down period and no stretching. One of the trainers told me that by extending each muscle fully in between each power move you are getting all the stretching you need. Again, I disagree with that statement.

All in all, I'm sure that the system suits some people down to the ground. I'm just not one of those people. I want more variety when working out & less emphasis on all this body building stuff. I have bought dance and yoga DVDs and am working out by myself again here at the Belize Jungle Dome : (

Mini-heat wave in Belize

Boy, it's been hot the last few days. Apparently it was 105 degrees F. (about 40 C.) yesterday?

That's pretty hot in my books. And our house has no AC (Andy and I are not crazy about AC most of the time)

Anyway, even when it gets real hot in Belize, it usually cools down at night. And that's the main thing for me...that I'm able to sleep comfortably at night with just a fan on the ceiling.

Oh, and that's not me in that fridge. I just found this picture online and found it quite funny...

A day at the San Ignacio Easter fair

Andy, John, Lucas and (barely visible in the cart) Aidan. Behind them is the scariest ferris wheel in the world. It goes incredibly fast and there are no rails around it, so if you don't watch out you'll walk straight into it. I also noticed an overall lack of safety features on most the rides, with little kids flying up in the air on all kinds of machines, without even a basic safety belt or bar. It's all so Central American.


Check out Lucas and Andy in some sort of go-cart/buggy thing...


Plus some rather fun live music. The woman dancing with the MC is a person from the audience, hoping to get a free CD. Oh, and isn't the little girl dancing at the side cute? By the way, I'm sorry for the awful sound quality

Progress gone mad

I always feel relieved in more ways than one when, after long travels, I once again visit a public toilet in Belize. Now, I know that that is a strange thing to say, but I just hate all these 'top of the range' public toilets that are now all over Western society. I mean, what's wrong with flushing a toilet? I hate these toilets that are meant to flush by themselves. They either start flushing before you're finished or they refuse to flush at all and you end up moving backwards and forwards in the cubicle in the hope of of your movements being detected somehow.

I understand that people don't like touching anything in public toilets, but come on! This is just progress gone mad as far as I'm concerned. You can just flush the damn thing and wash your hands when you're done. Oh, and then there's those stupid taps too that are meant to start running as soon as you put your hands under them. They never seem to work the way they are supposed to either.

Now, I'm sorry to say, but it made me laugh to hear that during a power cut in New York no one could use public toilets, because none of them would flush and the taps gave no water either. Something like that would never happen in a developing country like Belize...because here we are still able to manually flush away our own crap.

Giving machines this much power is just ridiculous.

So there you go, progress is not always about going faster & it's not about sanitizing the hell out of life either.

So flush and be happy!