Hurricane Wilma and Iris

Our thoughts go out to the people of the North East Yucatan Region of Mexico as they receive the full force of Hurricane Wilma which has spent 2 days churning over Cozumel and Cancun. They were in the way of a previous Hurricane earlier this season as Playa Del Carmen and Tulum were badly damaged and I hope it hasn't caused too much long term damage. Fortunately for us here in Belize we have avoided all the effects of the hurricane and long may that continue.

And it seems that this storm is heading back across the Gulf to Florida, which always seems to get hit. I really don't know how people can live in Florida. It constantly gets battered by high winds and storms. The people who live on the Florida Keys, which looks so vulnerable must dread this time of year.

We were caught by one in 2001 (Hurricane Iris) when we had just arrived in Belize. 2 months after landing in the tropics, Iris was bearing down on us heading directly for the middle of the country. We were under huge amounts of rain and some high winds so we moved to the bottom of the Jungle Dome to sit it out. Just as it was about to make landfall the Hurricane moved south and blew across Placencia destroying the local community, resorts and the Banana Plantations.

When we were looking for property in Belize we had visited Placencia, a beautiful Beach Front peninsula on the South East coast of Belize and seen a small resort for sale. It was a few months from completion, with 3 beach front rooms, bar, restaurant and a small parcel of beach property. We loved it but were wary of the effects a storm might have on this area. Fortunately our decision was correct and we chose the Belize Jungle Dome instead. The Belize Jungle Dome is a Geodesic Dome, which should be able to withstand high winds, although i hope we never have to test this.

We later found out that the Placencia property was completely destroyed, with the owner sat in the Princess Hotel in Belize City waiting to move into his dream home.

Today i am hoping to get a game of golf in at the Roaring River Golf Course(near Belmopan), which is just 20 minutes from us. Its only a 9 hole course but it's quite "tight" making for some tricky play. We have no game in the Cauwich Cup (football) this weekend as we have already qualified for the next round so some Golf seems the perfect Sunday afternoon entertainment.

And tomorrow we welcome back Karen Turner who has been on Holiday in Canada for the last 3 weeks. Karen is a Yoga and Pilates Teacher plus she is also a Fitness Instructor. She moved to Belize last year and runs the Jungle Dome with me and Simone. Karen returns in time to get ready for the high season in Belize, which for us starts in 2 weeks.

Links

Hurrican Wilma
Property in Belize
Belize Jungle Dome
Geodesic Domes
Princess Hotel Belize City
Karens Belize Blog
Simones Belize Blog
Yoga Retreats