storiesbygary

           The ongoing story of relocating to Belize, Central America, and building our new home.

More like the “Beach less traveled” 😉

The road definitely “less traveled” by me of not only moving to Belize, moving into a small cabana, and being here during the construction of our final home, does have challenges. Trust me when I say it’s not all walking the beautiful beaches, eating fresh seafood, and sipping exotic rum cocktails, or a cold Belikin and sushi every day, but close.

Although more rarely these days, fresh sushi and a couple Belikins at the Tipsy Tuna in Placencia.

The fact many call Belize and most of Central America “3rd world countries”, and no matter how improved the internet service, sewer, electric and phone service becomes, it still is. As I have traveled much of the globe and experienced first hand what poverty, corruption, crime, and war can do to countries, everyone needs to realize how frickin good you have it in the U.S. and Canada.

First of all, if you wake up one morning and have a desire for a Starbuck coffee, or what to shop for specific designer shoes, what do you do? You Google them, right? You not only can find just about anything you might want on your smartphone and Google, and oh boy, there’s probably 100 places nearby to buy them.

“South of Bistro”?

When our cabana was dropped on the property, my builder had arranged for electricity to be installed and turned on, if you remember that fiasco. But when it came time to receive a bill, I didn’t, for three months! Finally, I googled “Placencia Belize Electric Company”, and found nothing. I had to call my builder and ask where it was. Same for the water company, who after four months still has not sent me a bill, and I need to address. And on the term “send”, there is no mail delivery, because there is no physical address for my home! When I paid my electric bill, I noticed the “address” they had for my cabana was “a couple lots south of Maya Beach Bistro:?

There are many other things we take for granted in the U.S. that I continue to realize I will never experience here in Belize, and actually, I’m pretty happy about it. Over the past few months, I needed to find specific things. Coconut palm and fruit trees, ceramic 5-gallon water base,  picture frames, veterinarian services, plant fertilizer, dog watchers, and so many other things, I couldn’t locate on the internet. So where did I find them?

Facebook is where Belize lives, with many “groups” set up to help everyone out, with anything. I belong to some specific Facebook Groups for Expats, as well as one of my favorites, Placencia Classified, where I can find stuff for sale, and ask locals where to find something. Not only do I hear immediately suggestions from other Expats, but also locals, and it has become one of the best “friend builders” I could hope for.

Found this Mexican water cooler bottom on Facebook at Mayan Pride here in Stann Creek. Had the beautiful Belizean hardwood base made by a local artisan I found.

One thing I have found out is the fact that on these sites, many people answer questions that fit their own purpose and agendas. Being directed to their own business or partnership, or friends. Now that may be all well and good, and I try to take good with bad, but sometimes it’s very obvious something doesn’t pass the “smell test”. More an more when I ask for advice I receive “IM”s” telling me to ignore and stay away from specific people on the site and their “advice”. I have found that this can be very helpful in eliminating my “gut feelings”. It’s the answer to what I call “Online Dating “truth dilemmas”.

The bottom line is here in Belize, you may never find everything you think you want, but if it’s available, your “village” will help you find it.

Refreshingly like going back in time, isn’t it?

Cheers everyone, will talk soon,

The Pirate …..Gary

The continued adventure of living in Belize, and building a new home.

Start of another beautiful day in Belize

You probably have noticed that we have been taking a “holiday” from the construction phase of our new home the past few weeks. Both the crew and I probably need the break, and as it works out, things really do “happen for a reason”. First of all, my lovely wife Marsha was able to come down for a short visit, only a week, but as good luck would have it, so were a bunch of our good friends.

How do you like the custom stand I had made for our water jug ? 🙂

One of the fun things we did together was plan an entire day together, starting with “brunch” at our good friends Jimbob and Valerie’s lovely bamboo home. Bloody Mary’s and Mimosa’s  do have a way of getting people ready to party all day and night!

What a motley crew, our little “gathering” at the Slocum’s beautiful house

Next stop was to travel to the town of Hopkins and everyone’s favorite riverfront bar, the Curve Bar. Not only are there awesome food choices and cocktails, but they are home to a almost 12 foot crocodile! I do believe he has gotten this large because they feed him patrons that can’t pay their bar bills?

We followed a few hours at the “Curve”, to another friends lot and more importantly, pier and screened in room, directly on the Sittee River, for SHOTS! 😉

Another day the boys (and one lady) headed out to sea for a day deep sea fishing, which I must say was awesome.The Pirate had the pleasure of being the only one aboard that caught a shark and a seagull!?

Gilligan ! Did you bring that cooler of 1 Barrel Rum ?

Now getting back to the build, and surprises that can and often do happen without notice. Marsha and I over the past year have been lucky enough to meet the owners of the houses on either side of us. That’s lucky because they are owned by Expats that don’t live here full time. That being said, we have a vacant wooded lot to our right, that we were told was purchased by a young couple about 8 years ago. They were supposedly not interested in building foe 20 years?

The other day they showed up at my doorstep, introduced themselves, and told me they were having a construction company clear their treed lot, tomorrow! They also told me their plan is to start building a house in the fall.

Lot between our house and neighbors

I was actually thrilled to hear this because having a vacant treed lot next to me isn’t the best of situations, for security reasons. Also, locals have been using their lot as a dump!

Things were going good until they brought up the fact that our builder and crew had set up a worksite, along with piles of lumber and stuff, on their side of the lot line. As they are planning on having the entire lot cleared and leveled. they needed this stuff removed, before the next day. Telling them I agreed, and that we had no idea they would be here, I told them I would have everything removed before their crew got here in the AM.

The boys scurry to get stuff over the line ?

It’s this morning, and finally the crew of guys are here removing all the construction stuff, and luckily, because they just showed up with some monster equipment to start clearing.

One thing I have always believed, make good friends of neighbors, and with that said, invited our new neighbors for beers on my deck to watch the clearing 😉

Marsha and Little Oliver taking a last walk on the beach before she leaves ;(

And so the adventure continues.

“May the wind always fill your sails, and the matès always keep the rum in yer cup to the rim!”

The Pirate

 Is that the Amazing Drunken Pirate Pole Maze?

There is no end to the amazing differences in construction practices I am seeing with the building of our new house here in Belize. I remember the first time years ago that I saw a construction site and the hundreds of gnarly wood poles underneath the 2nd floor. I had inquired and found that the Belize builders use them to support the upper structures when pouring concrete for floors above. Driving the country I started noticing them everywhere and got used to seeing them, especially the ones left behind on abandoned construction sites.

And then I started watching loads of these poles being delivered to my homesite and realized I was about to witness up close and personal, how these are used. With my upright concrete columns already poured, the forms were created cris-crossing all of them in preparation of the concrete being poured into them to support the concrete floor of the house. I watched as floor joists were hammered into concrete between the columns to support the concrete flooring, and where it definitely would need extra support.

I watched as the crew cut the poles to size, day after day, and pushed them up under the flooring above. It’s just amazing how many there are under there, and it does look like a giant maze.

The crew has had a few well deserved days off and have again returned to finish up the tying together of all the upper supports before the pouring of concrete above. I’m assuming that this will be accomplished with the massive “pumper truck” that was recently used to pour the horizontal cross pieces.

This time of year it has been unusually windy and rainy, creating almost hourly races between the crew, trying to get down from the 12-foot floor, seeking shelter under the Cabana. I’m certain my crew appreciated having the cabana here, rather than heading into the woods.

When we meet again, we should be pouring the main floor and from then, everything goes up to the sky.

From the sandy beaches of PIRATES PARAISO (Pirates Paradise),

Cheers from the crew,

The Pirate…Gary

Live like a Pirate

 Easy to focus on one thing.

I have just reminded myself that in fact, the building of our new home here in Belize is not the only purpose for this blog. It is an important aspect of it, but really, opening people’s eyes to what life is in Belize and both good and bad is the purpose. I want my readers to know what day-to-day life is like, what coming down here to vacation is like, and what you must do before making that decision to become an Expat. Once you do that, you need to know how and where to buy an existing home or build a new one and finding an ethical realtor, builder and what hoops you need to get it done.
Even as a new Expat, in the process of having my new home built, I do need a “release” now and then. After all, this is the beginning of my retirement “fun years,” so where’s the fun?
Over time I have watched and seen what many other Expats do in their day to day life, and many fall into the same old-same old, of having their name on their chair at one of the local “Expat Bars.” Yes, I can see how this can happen, especially if you are retired and don’t have some hobby or job. Of course, this often happens back in the states too, but especially living in a Caribbean Resort area, with beach bars makes it a little tougher to resist.

 Looked all over the Peninsula for one of these bases, got it from Mayan Pride at the Art Festival. Happy wife…Happy Life 😉

Myself, on the other hand, enjoy a different issue, I find myself working more and playing less. As a Freelance Travel Writer, sitting in my Cabana with Oliver, watching the house build, I find I have all this time to allow my digits to dance over the keyboard, that it consumes me.
Yes, my clients are ecstatic, as I have increased my articles, have accepted a new company specializing in Central America articles, and have gone nuts on the two fiction novels I’m writing
So, let me tell you about the fun weekend I just had, and the fun weekend is coming up shortly.
This past weekend was the Placencia Sidewalk Art Festival in the village. I had attended last year with my wife Marsha when we were here for the “Gathering.” This year I attended it all alone, but with a purpose. I intended to meet up with my friends here in Placencia, make new friends, and do a little shopping for the cabana, and my wife.
I accomplished all!

Meet the fishing boats at the Placencia dock for fresh fish and lobster

Now about the Spiny Lobster! If you have never experienced a delicacy, you are missing el mucho destination for your taste buds. I have always prided myself on being one with my New England Lobsters; even ordering them shipped overnight to the west coast after I moved there. And then I met “Spiny.”

 This is what 3 lbs.. of delicious fresh caught Spiny Lobster Tails looks like

They are sweet, delicate and satisfying, just like the love of your life should be, without the claws of course. And cook them on an open fire and OMG!

In preparation for the closed season, I visited our local fishermen on the Placencia Docks and “requisitioned” a few pounds for the freezer, to last me a while.

Cooked on my new drum charcoal barbecue, basted in butter, yummy Spiny Lobster Tail.
As the country prepares its taste buds for the end of the lobster season next week, I already find myself looking forward to the open season later this year, and the Placencia Lobsterfest June 23-25th. This year could be big because, for the first time in years, Caye Caulker has announced that they have canceled their 2017 Lobsterfest this year. So, only San Pedro and Placencia will enjoy a Lobsterfest this year, and lucky me…I live in greater Placencia.
For over 18 years there has been a Lobsterfest here in Placencia, and every year, the crowds grow with hungry, butter -slurping eaters. If you are planning or thinking about planning a visit to Belize this year, this is an excellent event to plan to visit and enjoy a seafood orgy! But I will warn you, start looking for a place to stay now, because you’ll be sleeping in the streets if you don’t.

 If this isn’t your view every morning, ask yourself..why not?

Hope to see ya at the festival this year. If not, make sure you hit the “Follow button” below, and read all about it.

Gary…The Pirate

The Sky’s the limit!

Building on the waterfront of the Caribbean encourages one to consider just how you will situate your new house. You do have options, building directly on the sand, raising it up a few feet, or raising it up a whole bunch of feet. Depending on what material you will be using to build has a lot to do with your decision.

The one thing you need to remember is you are in the path of hurricanes, swells, and flooding. On the Placencia Peninsula, not that many years ago, a hurricane pushed through and a six-foot swell washed over narrow portions of the peninsula. That’s exactly what happened on my lot. In previous years, major hurricanes actually picked up wood homes and moved them. I have been told that many of these homes, like in Placencia, remained where they landed, and the household just moved to the new location.

When we made our decision to build, we took that into consideration and decided to not only have our guest cabana up off the ground but also our new house. The cabana ended up sitting on wood poles with concrete bases, about seven feet above the ground.

Our main house will sit between ten to twelve feet above the ground. This will have multiple purposes to us, of course, the main one being potential flooding. The second includes security and limited access to our home. Nobody will be climbing through our windows on the ground floor. Having the base of the house that far above ground will also help out with the crawling insect and reptile issues of Belize.

Three times lately I have heard neighbors talking about the snakes showing up in their yards and trees, and I’m not talking small snakes. Two neighbors reported 6-8 foot pythons, and one an undetermined snake.

We also have scorpions, tarantulas and as most visitors know, skeeters, noseeums, sand fleas, and other biting insects. If we can eliminate even half of these by raising the house, and responsible spraying, it will make our life much more pleasant.

So, this week it was time to “go vertical” with the house. The crew started attaching wood forms around the rebar cages in preparation of pouring cement into the top, some 12 feet in the air.I was fascinated watching as the lined them all up perfectly straight, not using 6-foot levels, but instead an attached stick at the top, and a hanging plumb bob!

In my mind, I pictured a “pumper truck” with a massive flexible hose that would reach up to the top of these towers to pour the concrete.

Wrong!

The guys set up the small portable mixer, water hose, and started shoveling the mix into the mixer. They built a wood formed bin on the ground and poured concrete into it. They then proceeded to shovel concrete into six-gallon buckets and carry to each column, hand it up to a guy on a platform, who poured the concrete into the tower.

This procedure will be repeated for all 20+ support towers.

So who needs Jenny Craig or the local gym?

Last night another massive delivery of steel rebar, in preparation for the next step in the build, going horizontal with the concrete forms. Just wait until you see how they are supported?

Cheers everyone, and thanks for following.

Gary…The Pirate

All about site prep and building a good foundation.

Loads and loads of rebar!

As I watched load after load of monster bundles of steel rebar arrive on site, I had no idea how it would all be used. Sure, I already knew that the concrete would be reinforced with steel, but wow! You have already seen photo’s of the up-right rebar towers going up where the concrete towers will be poured. But then the crew, of nine guys, by the way, have been bending rebar into additional towers, and assorted other shapes every day.

The crew has also been digging channels between the towers, as well as across the building site. Little did I know that these extra rebar towers would be laid down in these channels and connected to the towers, so concrete could be poured and everything would be connected.

Trust me when I say, this house ain’t going nowhere man!

So now its time for my first “bad” in the “Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the story of my build.

Are you getting your whistle on?

When the 20 tower bases were filled with concrete, with the steel towers embedded in them, I was fascinated by how precise this process was going to be. I walked the homesite, impressed by the exactness by which the guys had aligned perfectly, and spaced equally the 20 towers to support the house. Anticipation was high to see the steel towers encompassed with cinderblock and cement poured around them.

All iron towers in a row, equal distance.

And then the day came when I watched as the guys started cutting some of the steel rebar towers down at their bases, and moving the tower to different locations, then tying them in place with small rebar “horseshoes”.What on earth would they be doing that for?

Cutting the bases of the tower to re-locate incorrect positions. See the sparks from the metal saw?

As my curiosity got the better of me, I pulled out my master copy of the house plans, the ones finally approved by the CBA. Low and behold, there is a page that clearly shows the location of all the upright concrete support posts, and it was clear, eight of the originally installed towers were in the wrong place.

Plans show “2 then space, then 2, then space, then 1”

At this point, I would like to say that I am living on-site to watch the building of our new home, help out where needed, and be here to give advice and answer questions when they arrive. Just a couple weeks ago when the site planning was going on, Kevin my builder came to me with the question about the location of the house, and specifically, where the front steps would be. As it was planned, the steps would be to close to the cabana, and he wanted my advice on how far we should actually move the house toward the ocean, providing better stair location.

That’s the main reason I am here. I’m not the “foreman on-site”, making decisions on implementing plans. I’m not the one double-checking where everything goes, and what goes where, going by the plans, watching everything closely”. That’s what you hire and pay well for a builder, to take those responsibilities. The placement of the foundation columns are extremely important, and these should have been checked against the final plans by the builder before being placed, and they were not!

                                                             But I am now.

It wasn’t a really big deal, the misplacement of the steel uprights, but if they had poured the columns before noticing, it sure would have been. I will say that the job site Foreman, Nelson did come to see me after the towers were re-located, to explain what had happened, what they had done to fix the issue, and he took responsibility for the mistake. Of course, that was after all this, and after I had already figured out what had happened.

Here I will interject on two points. First, it was the then “General Contractor”, Kevin Brodski of Southern Belize Builders who was responsible for all this and should have checked on the positions and layout.

The second, Nelson Montalvo, I later learned was not the “Foreman”, but actually, the Belizean Builder, hired by Kevin, to build my house, which I did not learn until later. All along, Mr. Brodski called Nelson and his crew who built my house, “his guys”. More about that in a separate chapter.

Like I said, it’s not a big problem, however, remember, the strength of the entire project rests on the foundation.

 Master plans…at the ready!

The master plans are no longer rolled up, with a rubber band around them, and contained in the plastic bag to keep them from rotting, in my closet! They are more accessible and will be checked daily until the day we move into our finished home.No matter where you decide to build, who is building your home, and how much you trust him or her, this is what you should be doing.

Everything now is fine, the bad has morphed to good, and onward and upward we go. Everything including the wood frames around the base and columns is in place, ready to pour concrete.

The end to a “rocky road” week now paved in smiles, this is how every week should end, WITH RUM Matès! Arrrrrrrrr….!

Wait one..is today Friday? Who knew! Trust me, tomorrow the crew will be back..as usual.

Cheers, all!

The Pirate…Gary

Me diving with giant Manta’s

You’re not in Kansas anymore!

As a Travel Writer and adventurer my shoes, boots, and sandals have traveled much of the world. I would say I am quite worldly. If you ask my wife about how she feels traveling anywhere with me, and I mean anywhere, she will use one descriptive word,

Safe!

My background created who I am, good or bad, always alert, always looking for trouble, always prepared to deal with it. It’s a blessing and a curse, but if you ask my wife, she’s learned a lot about travel and safety from me.

Whether you are traveling as a tourist in Europe, Asia, South America or even many cities in the U.S., you should be aware of your surroundings, where the crime is more likely to occur, and what you should look out for. Most countries you know before you visit, many you find out by just Googling.

Belize

And then there’s Belize, Central America.

When I started researching Belize to visit the first time, I did my research and checked out local blog posts, and of course, International Living Magazine. Pretty much, all I found was the same statements. First, Belize City wasn’t a good place to hang out because that’s where all the murders and crimes are committed by the gangs. The second statement, “Crimes of opportunity are what you will find in Belize”. “Don’t leave camera’s or such on the seat of your golf cart”, “Don’t leave towels on your rental porch”.” It’s a petty crime that tourists complain about”.

“Don’t be Goofy..and leave valuables in your golf cart rental”

I can’t justify talking about crime in Belize before I first started visiting, or moved to this country, but I can since. There is crime here in Belize, and over the past few years, it has become violent in some cases. No, it’s not like Detroit or Chicago, but never less, it’s here, and you need to be aware of it. Nobody wants to talk about it, especially the government. Why you might ask? The primary industry of this country is tourism. So, advertising the fact that when you are here you might be a target, so be aware isn’t a great “marketing plan for success”. Whether its the hotels, resorts or home rentals on VRBO or HomeAway or the like, nobody will tell you to be careful.

You may bring expensive jewelry but keep it in the safe!

In Southern Belize last year a woman was murdered late in the day on a secluded beach near her resort while she practiced yoga, alone. It has been stated that the resort staff warned her not to do this multiple times for safety reasons, but she continued. A few weeks ago there were reported “Home Invasions” to Expats in the Northern Corozal area of Belize.

As you all know, I am down here in Belize while our new house is being built. I’ve been here for the past few months, and have learned first hand that there are more serious crimes than I thought, and I’m glad I now know the truth. Homes vacant and occupied are frequently broken into, more often than not, they are houses of Expats that leave them vacant and only come down a few weeks a year. Some are homes that are rented out, and in some cases, these have been invaded at night by armed criminals. Yes, that’s a fact.

Don’t think this can’t or won’t happen to you!

I have been told that as a rule, most new homes are broken into within weeks of purchase or finished construction.

Just a few weeks ago on the Placencia Peninsula, an occupied home was entered by three armed Belizean men. There were four U.S. citizens in the house, make and female, who chose to resist the robbery. They proceeded to throw anything they could get their hands on, TV’s, lamps, etc. at the robbers, who did flee, after firing one shot.

Security alarms are only as effective as the response to them.

Although statistically this probably won’t happen to you,  there are things you can do whether visiting or living here in Belize, to prevent to be a victim.

1. Don’t walk around dressed like you are rich, fancy dresses, jewelry, expensive camera’s and iPad, etc.
2. Don’t pull out a wallet of $100 bills in a big wad.
3. Don’t buy the house “bar” around, repeatedly.
4. Be aware of hitchhikers, they may be watching how long you are away from the house or looking for patterns in order to rob you.
5. If a homeowner or renting a home, lock doors and windows at night. Just because nobody warned you, that warm ocean breeze you are enjoying might cost you your valuables, or your life.
6. If living in or renting a house, make sure there are outdoor security lights that work, either on all night or ones that kick on with movement.
7. If you are renting a house or cabana, make sure you ask the questions, are there working security lights outside the house? Do the windows and doors lock and are they secure?
8. Make sure that your rental and house has a secured in place safe for your belongings, like cash, passport, credit cards (only carry the one you want to use).
9. If you have a house or are building one, do you have a “safe room” in it? You should plan on one if the building, where you can lock yourself in with your phone to call help, with the door secured. Make sure its a solid door on it, especially if you use a bathroom, that usually has a hollow door. Everyone should remember The Shining, and “Here’s Johnny”!
10. Always program the local police telephone number on “speed dial”.

You never want to see this, but if you do, are you prepared?

Please know that I am not trying to scare you, or discourage you from coming to Belize, but rather to make you aware of the facts. This isn’t the U.S. with massive police forces, alarm companies that have response teams, or a firearm in every home. This is Belize, where most of the police carry clubs or nothing. So your best defense is knowledge, good safety preparation, and defense. Make it difficult to get to your house without being seen, hard to get in, and hard to get to you if someone does get in. Get to know your neighbors, the local police, and volunteer in community actions.

Lastly, your home is a reflection of you! If you want to fit into these small village communities, I believe building something simple looks less “wealthy” than a 6000+ giant mansion. If you were a burglar, which would you target? If you build a giant home, with the idea of renting it because you will hardly ever be there, do you think crooks will know whoever is renting it paid a lot for rental? Hmmmmm, money!

Typical Belize Home

Example of what “rich American/Canadian Expats often build

Any questions on what goes through the minds of Belizeans who eat chicken, rice and beans…..every day?

Belize is an impoverished country, with less and less work, and lots of very poor communities. Americans and Canadians often look to these locals, as rich, coming down to Belize to play, throwing money around. It’s difficult to not appear that way, I know, but it should be something you work on, as I do.

So come to Belize, it’s a beautiful country, with awesome friendly people, tasty foods, great rums, diving, fishing, and lots of sun and sand. Not everyone wants to rob you, but like most places in the world, there are always a few. I just want you to come here with your eyes open, not clouded by a country and industry that constantly advertises,

“No Worries”.

And I’m not saying to build a little shack to live in, just to keep in mind how you might appear to others, especially when someone says “I told you so”.

I promise to get back to things at hand, like the continued building of my new home, and fun things associated with it. One final note, it appears that I will soon become the “Neighborhood Watch Commander” of my village, after meeting with the area co-ordinators.I will be doing everything I can to prepare a safe community for my wife Marsha when she joins me here in retirement.

The Pirate (Gary)

Belize Attire

       My crew isn’t letting any dust settle underneath their feet!

Measuring exact lines for house and support concrete columns

To “re-cap” my last post, the guys were staking and stringing out the layout of the house, and where the 20+ concrete 12 ft. columns would go to support the structure. The next thing you know, the steel rebar is delivered to construct base and column steel support towers. There are three workers, that set up a little “bending station”, and are cutting rebar to size and creating steel bases and the support towers.

Manually dug support holes (20), and structure alignment 

While the support structures are being constructed, another three guys are busy digging the 20 5×5 by 5 ft deep square holes that the steel supports and concrete will be poured into for columns.

This is the “iron” delivered that will be bent and formed by hand into cages and towers.

Knowing that there will be tons of concrete going into this project, it was no surprise when two dump trucks of Belize rocky soil are delivered, along with two palates of cement and a couple loads of cinder blocks.

The “Iron Bending Station”

When all the support holes are dugout, the guys start erecting the towering steel support columns, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. This whole process of digging all the support holes by hand, bending and forming the large square support basses and towering columns, has taken a week.

One iron support cage for each of the 20 support holes.

Sunday morning at 7 am, there are nine workers on-site, meeting to discuss how they will proceed today. Within minutes, two guys with wheelbarrows are transporting bags of cement closer to the support holes. A couple guys move the cement mixer to the site, and within minutes, they have the mixer going, as the guys load bags of cement and shover the gravel dirt into the mixer.

7 am on a Sunday morning, the guys are mixing cement, dumping in wheelbarrows, and dumping in the holes.

A note on the use of this Belize rocky soil for making cement to support the house. In the U.S. we use cement grade sand, but here in Belize, they use the same stuff that was used centuries ago to build the Mayan Temples and pyramids, which by the way, are still standing ;). That says that this method and material for concrete gets harder each year.

Where have I heard that before? 😉

So I watch in awe as these hard-working guys mix cement and pour it into wheelbarrow’s, and then dump it into the holes, covering the 5×5 cage and tower bottom. I think of the homes I had built, and have watched being built back in the U.S. Back there, contractors put up forms, and a cement truck arrives and pours everything. You only need one guy to pour cement back there.

Aligning the iron towers in the center of base iron cage before pouring concrete.

Here the expression, “many hands makes light work”, goes along with, “there’s nothing wrong by doing it the old way, and everybody get’s paid”!

Cemented iron support cages for 12 ft concrete formed columns.

I’m thrilled to watch this entire process, and these guys work so very hard every day. It reminds me of what my Dad told me so very long ago, “Work hard your entire life, and someday maybe you can really enjoy your retirement:.

Well Dad, here I am.

And so the page is turned to the next page.

Cheers,

The Pirate…Gary

OMG, after five months, we finally have CBA Approval to build!

Those little blue stamps in the corner on the architect’s plans allow you to build.

The fact is, you really shouldn’t start building on your lot until you have approved and stamped house plans from the Central Banking Authority of Belize. If you do, there’s a chance that your building site will be shut down and you may have difficulty getting your home completed, or maybe paying additional funds. In the long run, I believe it’s just not worth taking that gamble, mainly because once you start breaking the rules here in Belize, your life could get difficult. But then again, it’s up to you.

 Starting to designate the exact house location.

And so after waiting months, the guys start locating the corners of the house they are building.

Driveway installed in prep for heavy delivery equipment.

One thing for sure, especially at this time of year, it can rain heavily for days. As soon as we got our approval to build,  my builder had his guys work on the entrance driveway. Heavy rocky dirt was layered fairly deep, with a thin layer of sand on top and packed down with bobcat treads. The last thing we wanted was having a delivery truck with a heavy load, sink and get stuck.

Case in point, here comes a load of “iron” on a heavy flatbed truck.

Delivery truck shows up with a load of rebar that will be used as support inside the 10-12 foot high concrete posts. There will be a total of twenty concrete columns supporting the main house, not counting additional support columns for front and back decks.

Location of concrete support columns for under house.

So let me tell you about my construction crew. They show up in the morning around 7:00 am, many taking the local bus or hitchhiking to the job site, and home at the end of the day, around 6:00pm. These guys arrive with smiles, and get right to work. I have four workers running lines and using tape measures to plot out exactly where the house will sit. They don’t have expensive laser sighting equipment or GPS plotting instruments. To mark the corners, they use hand-cut tree poles, dig holes, and pound them in the ground with a sledgehammer. And I might add, they swing that sledgehammer all day long in 80+ degree heat.

Banging in poles to mark house layout…with a sledgehammer !

And then there are the holes where the forms will be placed to pour the concrete upright columns. Unlike in the U.S. where they would use a handheld motorized post hole digger or tractor with one attached, these guys will dig every hole by hand.

Digging one of the first of about thirty holes for upright concrete columns.

Finally, I want to talk about the importance of selecting a builder that stays on top of things on the building site. In my past life in the United States, I had experience in this process when living in Connecticut, and having my custom home built. Although I tried to get out in the country every few days to watch what was happening, I still have many major issues with my builder. In fact, I had to have him take walls down and move rooms which were put in wrong positions because he wasn’t on-site half the time.

One of the reasons I had chosen my original “builder” was I had heard he kept on top of all his projects, visiting each building site daily. Early into the building process, especially when I saw things going wrong, I had to call him to get things back on track. Many times I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but as you will learn, later on, things were not as they had originally appeared.

My original “builder” in a rare moment in a “Plan Huddle” with his guys, going over approved plans.

My “Little Foreman” in his “deck chair”, preparing to watch the construction below.

Until the next installment of the continued saga of building our dream here in Belize,

May you dream of future realities, the Rum flow freely, and when the crew digs your post holes, they find a sea chest of pirate gold! One can only dream of our realities.

It’s a Pirates Life for me…

Gary

Preparing for construction start.

We are lucky to have three beautiful coconut palm tree in the right front of our beach lot and decided to have three “like” palms brought in and planted in the right corner to match. This isn’t just to look good, although I have to say, they do, but also to help hold the sandy bank and beach together to fight erosion. As I realized that shortly my contractor/ builder Kevin will be bringing in equipment and starting prep for pouring concrete structure, I should plant now. Note that the trees are still wrapped because of the heavy winds. They will stay that way for a couple weeks until winds die down. It’s very important for the first few weeks that the root ball settles without movement.

Fancy that, preparing for construction, and next thing I know, the guys are here building a construction shack to keep their tools and supplies during the construction of our beach home.

And then there is a flatbed loaded with all the supplies and forms for pouring the concrete posts and 12-foot high floor construction of our house. Now I’m getting excited, even more as I realize soon I will be watching the beginning of the construction of our new home. Of course, most of this is being done in between some pretty heavy rain and wind.

One fact that I want to stress that has totally amazed me is the work ethic and attitude of the crew that Kevin has on my build. These guys work pretty hard, never complain, long hours and sometimes seven days in a row. They work a specific day rate, not per hour, in the range of $50-60 per day, and that’s Belize dollars, that is about $25-30 a day in the U.S. There’s no “overtime, time and a half on that weekend, just straight pay. And they are happy with the work.

Construction shed on our lot ! Oh boy! Lets get building 🙂

Saturday morning, one of the guys unloads the entire flatbed by himself.

I have been around these guys for about a month and a half now, and they are used to having me around. My hope is for them to realize that I am not here to watch over them, but rather to help, and advise when questions arise to the building of our home. They are very proud of the work they have done on other homes, and I want them to be proud of the work they do on ours.

I will also reward them with cold Cokes during the day, and cold Belikin’s at the end of the day 🙂

And so the saga of building in Belize continues. Until my next progress report, I hope you are enjoying the ride.

The Pirate …Gary