Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Years Eve in San Pedro Belize 2010

Here they are Bob and Pauline back for some R and R and hopefully some sun if it comes out to play some time soon!
No-one has aged a bit we all said, a bit older and wiser hopefully!

Just like all out guests they were treated to a BOGOF drink upon their arrival, Buy One Get One Free, Lime punch!
We started the night off by celebrating the British New Year so a load of Brits met at the Catamaran Bar at Caribbean Villas to count down and in 2010. Here is Graham and Ruth than run CV and hosted us for the second annual event.

A very tired Sharon who rushed straight from Lime and Beth, not a Brit but one of our group and an honorary one.

Some of the brat pack-oh I meant Brit pack! John, Chris, good Peter and Grant.

Tracey and Craig who are South African, well Tracey is dual but again they are counted in the group and speak with a strange accent so why not!

What can I say, apart from Phil and Marie are defineately British and Jimjam well we had better not go there-he he!
Helda and the girls!
Shaz n Trac!
From CV it was onto the new restaurant The Blue Igauna for some nibbly bits. Check out Tracey's tiara it flashed all night long.

They have a well stocked and spacious bar with a tv to watch while you wait for take away.

Christine, who will not like this photo but it is the only one I have of her all night to prove she was there. The restaurant was pretty full, many people had the same idea as to lining the stomach before too much alcohol.

Fiona joined us with her family, she is a Brit but hubby and daughter are not, good fun though.

The restaurant is above the beach bar Crazy Cannucks.

They were barbequing on the beach as well as the full menu.

Here we go it wouldn't be one of my blogs out to eat without some photos of the food eh! Here we have the crab cakes which were rather nice.
This was the surf n turf I think, red meat so not my thing but again was told it was good.

I had the chicken salad with blue cheese and that was very good.
Phil had the pork chops which came with proper baked beans so he was super happy!

Think this was Lobster of some discription again told it was good.

The restaurant is very airy and has a great atmostphere, they can seat large or small groups and we were ten and all got our food at the same time which was good as it was full.
Craig's head?
Myself and a cheeky Charlie that I had met earlier in the day who keeps turning up everywhere, well it is a small island.

He is very happy to be here in San Pedro and has been hearing about it for a whole year as his parents came before but without him.

I don't remember what this face was about but am used to Phil pulling some cracking ones so who knows, Maries happy so that's ok.
Trying not to pull a silly face, I weas very happy with my tasteful hairpiece from Tracey, she had us all kitted out.
This is one of the owners and I believe the chef, either way he is lovely and rather cute too and very tall!
We all loved this amazing piece of art, an Iguana carved in wood which is the centre piece, only in Belize.
There are more pictures to follow as of course we went on from here but I need to borrow them of other peoples cameras so stay tuned and once again happy new year gang and for those not here right now hurry back asap, cheers and TTFN.

Where does five years go?

This photo was taken nearly five years ago and has very special memories for me. As you may have guessed this is a wedding scene of Robert and Pauline from Michigan who came to San Pedro five years ago to get married on the beach.
They came knowing no-one and soon had some very good friends all over the island. Myself and the man of the moment Dutch Will were their witnesses and the little princess is my friend Bianca's daughter who made a beautiful flower girl.
I will be posting some anniversary pictures later in the week to show why people would chose to get married here and then come back to relive that day again and again.


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Appreciation dinner for Saga Humane Society

I was privileged to be invited to an appreciation dinner for people that have been involved with the Saga Humane Society this year. Our host was Valerie Gilbert who is a frequent visitor to San Pedro and has been very involved with Saga for many years.

Valerie chose Hidden treasure as the venue, all the present board members were there, all the Saga staff including volunteers and one or two others. As can be seen there was a crowd of about 20 of us, some familiar faces and some new ones too. Grant looks very happy as he finds himself surrounded by lots of women which is often the case as he is the only male board member.


Deep in conversation, it was lovely to be out together socially and not at a meeting or a fundraising event. It gave us a chance to get to know each other much better and talk without animals climbing all over us.


This was the naughty end of the group, needless to say I am at the other end with all the quiet grown ups!

Hidden Treasure is a great restaurant that can easily cope with big groups, you need to tell them if you are a bunch of wino's as we drank them dry of Shiraz and Merlot!


The two Mary's as these ladies are fondly known, Mary H on the left and Mary P on the right who has just stepped down from the Saga board. She worked tirelessly as a volunteer for over 8 years and helped Saga to survive all that time with little resources or money.


Ari, another Saga board member and myself, prior to drinking a wee bit too much red wine!


Ari and her fun loving hubby Caco, what a cute couple who have equally cute children.


Katie the chairperson of Saga made some speeches.


She had quite a few people that she wanted to thank, however she needs a pat bigger than everyone for keeping this strong team together in a very tough year.


Check out those local beauties, Kathy in the black owns pampered paws, next to her the lovely Ingrid who runs Saga and her right hand person. Seeing these ladies away from the clinic was great as they all scrub up really well!


Check it out total glamour.


The two Mary's!

Time to eat and I had the fish which was came with excellent coconut rice and steamed vegetables.


I was told that the ribs were very good but it is never something I would never order so wouldn't know.My new drinking buddy who is way too much fun, we need a night out on the town together!



My fellow Brit at the table.



Anyone would think we were having a great time!


Catching up with Val as now that I am at Lime I don't get to see her as much as when I was working at BBay.

I have known Val and her hubby Tom for a few years now and we are blessed at how generous they are to the people and animals of San Pedro.


A lovely evening was had by all and it was great to see a such a large crowd of people with the same mind set and aim, which is the well fare of the animals of San Pedro-CHEERS!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pelican Properties Christmas Party

Being as I pop into Pelican Properties most days to see Grant and hand over money for our fundraising account I was invited to their Christmas party at Banana Beach.

Chris Alnett is a top man not only because he is British but he is very respected within the real estate circle in San Pedro. He is known for his professionalism and honesty and for being an all round good guy. Here we have him thanking our hosts the new owners of Banana's, his staff and some top clients oh and me for just being there, and the odd doughnut on a Wednesday

For a small office he had a good size gang at his Christmas bash, friends and family made up the numbers.


My good friend Ruth and her hubby were part of this gang tonight so I wasn't the brunt of all the blonde jokes.

Steaks were a very popular choice for this evening and by all accounts they were very good as is known by people living here in Ambergrise Caye. If you are in the mood for some red meat then Banana beach is the place to go.


Kyle was very happy with his meal and it kept him quiet for a long time.



Not being a lover of red meat I went for the chicken breast option which was an absolute delight to the palate.

Somehow we decided that we had a wee bit of space for the chocolate dessert which really did finish us all off.

This was our cheeky wee waiter for the evening who did a stella job in keeping us all topped up with food and drinks and lots of humour.



I had this same glass of red for hours as was nursing a hangover from the previous party two nights ago.

These two were very co-ordinated so I had to get a photo of them together.


Ruth will not like this picture but it shows how the evening was coming to a close.


Cheers Chris for a great evening, great food and great company, here's to a very properous 2010 for one of the best realators in Belize and so says all of us.