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My last homestead

Started by jim king, January 14, 2011, 08:29:42 AM

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jim king

Going thru some old photos yesterday I found some of several years ago when my wife and I set out for the jungle.  We built the house from chainsawed boards, round poles and a thatched palm roof.  We lived 2 1/2 hours down stream.  This little adventure lasted 3 1/2 years until the local cocaine guys started shooting at me in excess.  The date on the satelite shot is still 2002.


 
This is the satalite shot of the house.


 
We had just gotten the house roofed when a very unusual wind came from the wrong direction and pushed the open end of house over .  That is how it started.  This impressed my wife right away.



Here was the little palace when we got is stood up again and the flowers growing.



When we went there I ask if the area ever flooded, of course they said no and this is what happened every May and June.



This is October when the water drops 40 feet.


 
My pig barns.



One year during the flood we had this young guy in the patio.



Doing a minor surgery taking out a tumor from the Shepard.



The electric eels this size can kill a person.  I had two men killed by them.



A couple of the body gaurds.



This is a string of logs coming in during the high water season.  The small logs on each side are tied on with vines to keep the saw logs from sinking.

fishpharmer

Jim, very cool photos.  With all your adventures have you considered writing a book?

Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

jim king

 fishpharmer :

I donĀ“t think it would be believable.

metalspinner

QuoteThis little adventure lasted 3 1/2 years until the local cocaine guys started shooting at me in excess.  The date on the satelite shot is still 2002.

Did they take over the property after you left?  Is the house still there?
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

pigman

The anesthesiologist at the head of the dog seems to be doing a good job keeping the dog quiet.
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

ErikC

 Jim-we would probably believe most of it. It wouldn't be an exciting story if it was all predictable and believable though. I think Fishpharmer is on to something. :)
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

jim king

QuoteDid they take over the property after you left?  Is the house still there?

I have heard that the roof rotted of the house some time ago and the boards and hardwood poles were stolen for other houses.

The area is now a red zone and not wise for any outsider to enter.

doctorb

All I can say is WOW!  Write the book.  Peole love reading stuff they think might be real but are not sure whether they believe it or not!
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

jim king

doctorb:

The dog in the photo was diabetic for the last six years of his life and got 28 units of insulin under the skin on the back of his neck every morning.  Without him they would probably have got my wife.  They did kill her horses out back of the house as a warning but the shepherd was a great watchman when people came near the house and he would wake the gaurds up.

WH_Conley

Hard to believe they were "shooting in excess". Maybe you should have got the body guards a couple of 50's instead of AK's. If you couldn't see them in the jungle, remove the jungle.
Bill

Bill Gaiche

Wow, what a life you and the miss have lived. The world is changing for sure. Hope you live in a safer location now. bg

WildDog

Great stuff Jim, keep the pics and stories coming, I find anything to do with the Amazon facinating, would like to visit there one day.

If you start feeling "Blue" ...breath    JD 5510 86hp 4WD loader Lucas 827, Pair of Husky's 372xp, 261 & Stihl 029

Ironwood

REALLY neat stuff. True adventure...............Ironwood
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

jim king

Here is one for fishpharmer .  As we lived on a small tributary the fish were not normally very big but one day they pulled this in from the dock in front of the house.



Rocky_Ranger

That is just cool, Jim!  You have led an unusual and exciting life in another country.  I certainly would like to see and hear more about your encounters.  It's hard enough to experience the silviculture in these here United States, much less in the rain forest.  Tell us more (with pictures) ;D 
RETIRED!

jim king

I have a few more photos that are still fairly clear so here are a few of the project.  Still looking for more.



This is my wife when much younger and adventurous.  She is on top of one of the two 60 foot boats we left town with full of building materials, food, furniture , pets etc..  The propeller fell of one of the boats and instead of taking eight hours to get there it took about 16.  We towed the speed boat behind.



This was my logging crew ready to go into the jungle for a couple of weeks.



This was the log collection area where we warehoused the logs in the river until we had a barge full.



The big day when the barge arrived to take them to town.



fishpharmer

Thanks Jim, thats a  big fish, enjoying all the pictures.
Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

jim king

Here are the last useable photos of the homestead/logging escapade.



My wife started out with two day old chicks and ended up with hundreds.  We sold the eggs in town for enough money that they paid for the feed for about 30 pigs and all the chickens.  I worked for a couple of years selecting the best and finally ended up with good ones.  Normally jungle raised chicken are tall and skinney but I finally created a flock  that had some meat on them also.



My chicken coop.  The biggest problem I had was bats sucking out the blood at night.  Some mornings the area under the roosts was red with blood.



May thru June, the chickens got to travel to higher ground.  When the water went down we found a 4 foot catfish in the chicken house.





A couple of my wifes horses.




  Plenty of pigs.

The end of that chapter of our life, out of photos.

jim king

Just found the last ones .



We did have some problems with small cats like this as well as the large jaguars killing pigs in the zone.  When they were spotted near someone would sleep in the top of the pig buildings.



This is the level of technology yet today.  Here he is grinding oil palm nuts to get the oil out.



Goodbye from Amos and Andy for now.

gunman63

truely amazing , love the pics and stories.

ErikC

 Thanks Jim. Any time you find more, I'd like to see them.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

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