The Cabana Arrives in Maya Beach, Belize

Everything has been ready for the arrival of the Linda Vista Cabana onto our oceanfront lot in Maya Beach, Belize. My contractor Kevin and I have determined the exact placement of it and staked accordingly. I had been given a date of this Friday for delivery and told that the driver would contact me. In fact, Thursday afternoon Elmer the driver did in fact call to tell me he was delivering my Cabana the next morning. I asked him about what time he expected to arrive at my homesite, and he said 6 AM. 6 AM! Seriously I asked him. Yes, he would be leaving around 4 AM to avoid traffic.

That does make a lot of sense, as they are pulling a 8-foot flatbed trailer, with a twenty-foot wide house on it. If you have ever driven the road here in Belize, you know how difficult they can be, and how crazy some drivers can be as well. Then there are the potholes.

So up I get Friday morning after a restless night, tossing and turning, like the night before Christmas at 5 years old! I finally give up at 4 AM and make coffee, and by 5:45 as I get into my “Little Bull” to head over to my lot, some five minutes away, my cellphone rings. It’s Elmer ad he just went past the Maya Beach sign entering the village. I bomb my way over to the lot, and 3 minutes later park in front, where I can see the red flashing lights on what appears to be something really massive taking up the entire road. Yep, that’s my tiny home.

Almost ready to lower flatbed and drive out from under.

As I move the Bull out of the drive entrance, expecting the trailer to stop out front so I can give directions onto the lot, I realize Elmer has actually driven past the entrance, grinds into reverse and stairs backing onto the lot. Now, what I have not told you is that the lot is soft sand, and it’s been pouring rain all night, and still is. I visualize the trailer sinking to one side, and my home sliding off. Needless to say, Elmer stopped, jumped out, shook my hand and asked where I wanted it. I walked him over to the corner stake, told him that’s where the back left corner needs to be, and he said, “ok” and jumped back into his truck. After a few maneuvers, he had the Cabana sitting pretty close to where I wanted it. Then he called me over, to where he and his two workers were standing, arms crossed, looking very serious. He told me to put it exactly where I wanted it, they needed to cut a major branch off the tree.

Standing on its own. That’s Elmer by the way.

Have I ever told you about Belize and the machete? In Belize it is not uncommon to see Belizean men walking the streets with machetes, eating in restaurants, hitchhiking, and just carrying down the highway. It’s the main “tool” here in Belize, for the nurseries, banana farms, etc. Can you imagine stopping in the U.S. to pick up a hitcher holding a machete? I do here!

Anyways, with the speed of lightning, outcomes a machete and the branch is gone, Cabana is moving into position, and all is well. Over the next few hours, I watch in fascination as these guys raise the Cabana to a height of about ten feet with hydraulics as the whole deck of the trailer raises up. The guys proceed to dig out holes for the structural poles to sit in so they can lower the house onto them. Before that the drop a large diameter round cement form into the holes, to which each pole is attached. This will keep the poles from sinking and making walking inebriated difficult upstairs with uneven floors.

Before ya know it, all the poles are in place, attached to the house understructure, and Elmer jumps to the control, and lowers the flatbed, then drives the truck from beneath the Cabana. They proceed to the installation of the stairs and handrails, and before long, everything is completed.

These are my “Three Amigos”! Myron, Elmer and Victor.

I would like to say that my entire experience with Linda Vista Home Construction was excellent. They are polite, hard-working guys, and produce some fine work for the price of Cabanas. The whole process has been enjoyable, and I now have peace of mind, that I will be able to live in this cabana while my main home is built. All timelines were kept, which by Belize standards, doesn’t happen often.

Our Tiny House now has a home. 

Stay tuned for the next chapter in this story, as things like the septic tank install, Electric install, and water come to the new Peterson residence.

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Cheers, and remember, Belize is the land of “No Worries”, and also the place where when they say they will get it done Tuesday, they never tell you what Tuesday 🙂

Cheers,

Gary