The Wild Goat Chase

One Saturday recently we headed out to Upper Barton Creek where we heard there may be a milk goat for sale. Well, little did we know the adventure we would find ourselves on..
 

We headed toward Cayo and turned left at Georgeville up the Mountain Pine Ridge Rd

Pass a few villages-

Laura naps her way along..

We see these carrot farmers..

and soon come to their beautiful fields..

We had never seen so many carrots planted before..

Now, unbeknownst to us, we had missed a turn..

Hard to see in this photo but we came to this extreme decline in the road.. now, we had gotten basic directions on how to get to Upper Barton Creek from a few folks.. and no one had mentioned such extreme driving conditions.. in addition, we had already traveled well over the time mentioned by all who had directed us. Uh oh! We  knew we were lost! We really had no other choice but to pray and continue on...

The cut backs and steep rock roads were intense. Half way down we encountered a worker from the famous Barton Creek Caves resort named 'Mikes'. The employee laughingly told us that we had gone the long and DIFFICULT way and should have turned off miles and miles before in order to take the easy road into the community. (we had been recently been listening to a wonderful dramatization of Pilgrim's Progress.. our current predicament made for some poignant discussions with the children) He also mentioned that we would have 2 rivers to cross but that we SHOULD be able to make it through.. he then shouted 'Good Luck!' as his truck sputtered and spun out all the way up the mountainside that we had just slid down. We were relieved to know that there WAS another way out of this canyon! Now if we could just find the Upper Barton Creek Community and get directions!

As we finally entered the valley, we saw some lovely banana plants lining the road, planted by the resort

Around this bend..

we came to this out-of -commission bridge. Another resort employee drove by us and shouted that the locals had piled rocks on the north side of the bridge in order to make passing the river easier..

'Just make sure to stay to the left!" he said..

As we passed through the river we saw why.. any further over and we would plunge into 15 ft waters

 

After passing the first crossing we saw these lovely hibiscus plants

2nd crossing.. a bit more daunting. Really we had no way to turn back as Grady didn't think our van could climb back up the mountain we had just encountered. 'Let's Go For It!" he said

Ok

And yes, we made it! And came across the lovely site of Upper Barton Creek community! It had taken us an hour longer than it should have.. but we finally made it.

As we pulled up we saw their sawmill which is powered by horses..

the logs are pulled to the mill by oxen

Grady chatted with the men for a while..

 

In the end it turned out that the goats had been sold the day before to a family member who resides in Agua Viva, 1.5 hours away. The great news was that they were sold to a friend of ours who agreed to let Ashley purchase one of the Mamas from him. Yes, it was a crazy day, all for a goat. BUT, our children will not soon forget our Wild Goat Chase!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aguacate Lagoon

Aguacate Lagoon

http://www.birdinginbelize.com/aguacate_lagoon.html

 



Just about 20 minutes beyond the community that we live in lies this remote park and lagoon. It had been a year and a half since our last visit.. and all those white caliche roads look the same to us Gringos! Finally, we spotted the little oasis off in the distance and knew we were on the right track!

The girls enjoyed this swingset

 

The little ladies, Mandy and I had (too much!) fun swinging! "-)

The boys enjoyed fishing off of the lovely wooden dock

 

Ash and Daddy visit in the cabana

First Belizean catch! Grant threw this one back//

We came upon this grisly scene.. a dead lizard, being consumed by yellow-bottomed ants.. there must be a dozen types of ants in this country!

The ladies take a walk toward the shore

Observing nature plays a vital role in our educational philosophy. We are so blessed to live in a country that has the most varied flora and fauna per area in the entire world.

We observed these towers of sand, built by some tiny ants..

 

Gracie, time to say goodbye! We will visit this quiet and peaceful park again soon, Lord willing!

Goings-On Around the House

We had some friends stop by while Mandy was experimenting with her new gluten free doughnut recipe. She enjoyed teaching them about grinding and cooking with her rice flour blend.

Mmmm!

 

We FINALLY got that snake that has been living upstairs. The kids had moved out of the upstairs and into the trailer until it could be located and taken care of..

Blessings

 

 

My Happy Birthday gift certificate for Sisters Diner! I would highly recommend that place!

 

Grant and Ryan catch another cane toad..

Nice side profile boys..:-)

Grace has been praying for another brother or sister for 2 years..her kitty will have to do for now! :-)

 

 

Sunday Drives

After services on Sunday we enjoy taking family drives. We try not to drive too many miles since gas is running about $5.40 per gallon (yes, in USD! :-O) Normally we try and limit our longer drives to the weekend although permit and immigration takes us to Belmopan frequently also. Gas is just an expense here.. definitely at least twice the cost of housing.

On this drive we enjoyed seeing the colorful homes in this village

A crop of beans.. this field stretched for hundreds of acres..

Such a beautiful area!

Can you see the Wish Willy lizard in this photo?

 

The famous Hawksworth bridge is a one lane suspension bridge in San Ignacio, Belize. Built in 1949 and imported from Middlesbrough, England,  it crosses the Macal River linking San Ignacio to its sister-town Santa Elena. It is currently the only drivable suspension bridge in Belize

 

The river is still pretty muddy after an unusual 6 months of constant rain. We arrived just in time. It has been warm and is raining less and less.. and drying out! In a month or so this water will most likely be crystal clear.

San Ignatio low lying bridge.. across the bridge and up the hill on the left is where the Saturday market is held. The bridge links Santa Elena and San Ignatio, just down from the suspension bridge. They are both only one way bridges.

Many little home based stores sell cold cokes.. mmmm.. tastes so yummy on a hot day!

San Ignatio

Santa Elena

We never get tired of just looking out the window while daddy drives us places..

 c

Saturday Market Days

Have we really been gone from Belize for a year and a half? In some ways it seems as though we have never left. The Saturday market has quickly become a reinstated routine. We like to head to 'Cayo' (San Ignatio/Santa Elena areas) early Saturday to avoid the heat and crowds. We purchase most of our weekly produce at the market, beef from Running W, our corn tortillas from a local Spanish lady and other weekly provisions from a Chinese supermarket. Occasionally we will also take a drive out to Succotz Village to visit friends or out to the DePlooys Jungle lodge area where there is a lovely botanical garden.

 

On this day we took the ferry which connects the west side of Spanish Lookout to the Western Highway. There was quite a line up heading into Spanish Lookout this day..

The ferry has received a facelift since we last saw it! New paint, railings and plates. Looks nice. Grant had brought his line and stick to try and catch a few sardines but didn't catch anything. :-)

San Ignatio Market

These lovely glass mosaics are all composed from butterfly wings..

 

Following a Horse N Buggy home. :-)