Ambergris Caye Does the Rain Dance: Water, Water Everywhere…

…and not a drop to drink.  From the poem – the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

Replace “boards” with “plants” and you are pretty spot-on with the situation.  Depending on who you ask (and who is fastidious with their rain recollection), we haven’t had more than a tiny sprinkle of rain since February 1st.   That’s 123 days.  Almost 3000 hours.  Enough time for the plants of San Pedro to be gasping and the non-native ones, like lawn grass, to be….in hibernation.

The current situation.

What was this a few days ago on Accuweather.com…US US, that’s US!

Now the forecast calls for a soaking of Florida.

This current satellite image looks like it’s coming…

From Belize Hydromet

but who knows?

The heavy rain predictions for this weekend – that were shown just last night, I swear! – are now replaced with some small amounts of drizzle.   (Here’s the hourly forecast from Windfinder.com)

Town water, in San Pedro, only runs to about one mile north of the bridge…so those north must collect water, dig for wells and/or make water.

Wells are drying up…fancy a shower that leaves you smelling like a rotten egg?  And cisterns have been dry for a few weeks.  The guys that “sell water” – that fill 600L Rotoplasts at the water company and drive them to your home, are having their busy season.  Price – based on your location, can be $150 to $300bzd.

Some are getting much bigger shipments.

Conditions outside now?  Sunny.  I dreamt that I heard rain last night but woke to find the front road as dusty as usual.  Sigh…

OH THE HUMANITY!

It’s one of the beauties of vacationing here…or renting.  You don’t have to worry about such things.  A sunny day is a a thing of beauty.  NOT a day where you are figuring out how to flush the toilet.

“Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.”

At least we have a beautiful sea breeze.