Who is Mr. Nicolas Varela? And why was he so happy? He was the original owner of the Varela building located on Barrier Reef Drive now occupied by his son, Mr. Lioli Varela, who operates the cargo boat and barge, Ema V. Mr. Varela was a coconut farmer who spent countless hours of hard work in the coconut plantations. This meant walking among weeds, collecting coconuts from the ground, carrying them to the beach, husking them, loading them into his boat and bringing them to the main pier to deliver to the person who would take them to Belize City. And after a hard day's work, Mr. Varela, like all the other coconut farmers, went home to take a fresh bath, enjoy some nice frijoles, take a little rest and then spend time with children and grandchildren. It is a humble life but it is good living- no debts, no malice, no competition, no hatred- just plain humble but happy living. Such was the case of Mr. Nicolas Varela and his granddaughter Dulce Vasquez Wolfe. Looks like Melody Sanchez Wolfe, right? Well, it is her great grandfather.

Ambergris Today