We often hear folks say they would not want to be in Belize
during the rainy season. That did not
stop us from starting a major construction project at the beginning of the
rainy season and on June 1st, right on schedule, it rained all
day. However, while we have had both
down pours and sprinkles we have also had some beautiful sunny days and the
skies have given us gorgeous and calm sunrise moments and fireworks colored
sunsets.
Perhaps we are getting lucky with the weather during our
construction period, or perhaps it is that controversial global warming thing,
or maybe it just does not rain non-stop every single day during the rainy
season. Regardless of the answer, we
continue to hum along building out Leaning Palm Resort. Here is an update of our progress as we enter the fourth month
of construction:
We built a Road:
When we planned the construction project we smartly
determined the first thing to do would be to build a road so construction
materials could be driven to the project site at the beach. When the project started on June 1st
along with the rainy season we decided to turn it all upside down. So the road is being built after all of the
construction materials have already been taken to the project site on the
beach.
This would be a good time to
thank all of those strong men (including my wonderful husband, Ken) who carried
construction materials every day, 600 feet through the jungle, sometimes in the
rain, against the wind, barefoot (really) so construction could progress over
the last few months. I carried a box of
nails and we would not be where we are today with that significant
contribution.
The road is a major advantage for us and we all now have the
luxury of bringing additional items to the job site each day.
We made progress on the plumbing:
Leaning Palm Resort is situated in a pristine and untouched
environment. Imagine any Caribbean beach
location before all the tourists and big hotels arrived and you have Leaning
Palm Resort in your sights. As a result
there is no power grid or water distribution system to rely on. Ken and I are working with Erix Tobar
Construction and Pro-Solar Power to engineer systems that are not intrusive to
the eye or the environment but still provide the luxuries of civilization. All water will be collected with an extensive
gutter system and stored in tanks under the bungalows keeping our foot print
small but with big benefits – who does not like a fresh water shower at the end
of a great day playing in the sea. And
with on-demand hot water heaters, you avoid a cold shower with no hot water
heater tank footprint. YEA!
We watched a crab migration:
We finally noticed that we are living in someone’s garage:
When we designed the upstairs space above Wild
Canes Bar & Grill our goal was to create a place where our guests could get
away from the grit of being outside, but still be outside. An open, but screened space with great views
and a wonderful breeze. While we are
achieving that goal we are getting even more from this space. It is one of our favorite places to be
despite the long ladder climb that is required to get up there currently. The Gumbo Limbo tree has healing powers and
we have all been relying on it while we remove the Poisonwood trees from our
property. We also have been working to
remove the trash that so infamously now collects on beaches around the
globe. So it was only fitting to repurpose
some of that trash and make a healing Gumbo Limbo tree. This piece is still in progress, but it has
lent its name to the now World Famous Gumbo Limbo Lounge!
We planted some palm trees:
We
started an internship program for future job candidates:
We are still building stairs:
We learned that if you need a new shovel handle the ocean
will bring you one:
We started a bike-to-work program:
We started making furniture:
And finally we learned that we have something in common with
Ellen. I love Ellen and must confess on
a bad day of my former mode of earning money I used to take a break and watch
Ellen clips to alleviate the pain. Her
show was so moving I would often find myself in tears at the end of an
episode. Not because of the touching
stories, but because she was clearly living a better life than me and I was
jealous. So Ken and I took up her pledge
to give away as many cars as possible.
We don’t really have a show with an audience, but the few of you reading
this will work for now. [Applause]
As we head into the next month of construction we must admit
that we are feeling a bit like this:
So this month we will also be taking a bit of break and
enjoying a visit from our friends Scott and Jenny and we are excited to show
them around our neighborhood in Belize!
Awesome progress... I see your stock price climbing through the roof with successful programs such as this!
ReplyDeleteThanks Leland! With all of the stairs we are building there is bound to be some climbing somewhere!
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ReplyDeleteIncredible! Both of you are inspirational. I'm exhausted just looking at the pictures! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI read this amazed.
ReplyDeleteGreat updates!! Good work guys!! Can't wait to visit :)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! Your comments are encouraging!!
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