San Pedro Garifuna Calender of Events

San Pedro National Garifuna Council Calendar of Events 2009

- Friday November 13th, 2009:

*All day Huduth Sale @ 11:00am to 6:00pm

*Cultural Foods fundraising, Cultural Drumming

-Saturday November 14th, 2009:

*Uraga Night / Garifuna king @ 7:00pm

*Story telling night

*The Mr. Garifuna Competition at the Lions Den

-Sunday November 15th, Monday November 16th 2009:

*Garifuna Awareness day @ 10:00am to 5:00 pm

*Cultural Garifuna Exhibition

*Drumming at Central Park Palapa

- Tuesday November 17th, 2009:

*School Talent Show @ 7:00pm

*Cultural talent show at the Lions Den

- Wednesday November 18, 2009:

*Battle of the Drums / all night drumming. @ 7:00pm

*Cultural night Show at central park

*Jankunu Dancers from Dangriga

*Live band Punta rock music

- Thursday November 19th, 2009:

*Garifuna Settlement Day Celebrations / Award ceremonies @ 2:00 pm

*The reenactment of the Garinagu, arriving to Belize @ 6:00 am

*Cultural Parade around San Pedro Town

*Live Band Punta rock music

*Cultural Activities at the Central Park

Rapper Busta Rhymes 'Shines' in San Pedro

Moses Leviy or Shyne as he is known celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday. Reports are that he did it with family and close friends in his penthouse at the Renaissance Towers. Two of those close friends were rap star Busta Rhymes and Hot-97 deejay from New York City Angie Martinez.


They arrived on Saturday and flew straight to the La Perla Resort in North San Pedro. They returned to Belize City Sunday for what one family member described as a quiet and emotional dinner. Busta Rhymes and Angie Martinez made an appearance on Wave Radio last night. Before leaving yesterday he told Wave Radio why he came to visit Shyne.

Busta Rhymes, Visiting Shyne

“I just came out here to support my man Shyne and you know, just show and see him after this long stretch. The last time we saw him, we know it was in New York, it was winter time, it was cold, it was ten years ago so I just wanted to come out here and show love to the brother and make sure the people understood that the support for him is extremely importantly, especially at this time.

He is an incredible, number one. Number two, I think he has a greater purpose than just music. It is obvious what he is doing, running around speaking to the kids, trying to bring a whole another life to the city. You can see he is bringing people like us to the city.

We coming back in a couple of weeks because I am coming back for several reasons. I am coming back to spend more time, I am coming back to again visit my brother Shyne, and I am also just coming back to just enjoy the country a little bit longer because the trip was brief, I want to come back and sponge some of the culture a little more.”

Busta was very friendly with the locals on Saturday in San Pedro and after a quick interaction with his fans at the Tropic Air terminal he headed to BC’s Bar where he enjoyed a Belikin Beer while he waited for his skiff to take him up to his resort in North Ambergris Caye.

Seafood cook-off a succulent success!

The Lime Bar held its fourth installment of their cook-offs this past Friday night. The menu for the nights cook-off was strictly seafood. Seafood lovers and chefs put their best dish to test, whipping up their best flavors, sauces and spices. Despite the inclement weather, a hand full of people came out for the tasting. At only $10 Belize, attendees were able to sample all dishes and ate 'til yu belly full'. It was a great success for the Lime Bar who graciously donated the proceeds of the night to New Horizon School.

YUMMMM....the seafood fare was magical....finger lickin' good! Cant wait for the next cook-off, Sharon! What will it be??!!

Bikini Bar opening a smashing success!

Despite the downpours, the long awaited opening of the most artistic watering hole in Ambergris Caye, BIKINI BAR was held. All day, the word of the opening was spreading like wild fire all over town and attracted a party crowd eager to take on the FREE BEERS! Only 20 steps from the Central Park, the BIKINI BAR is nestled at the Big Daddy's beachfront and offers something different to party goers. Bikini wearing barmaids serve up the best in concoctions and cold beers! Live entertainment was provided by FIYA, the Punta Boys and Barrington Castillo was the MC.  Their infectious beats kept the crowd grooving all nite. Below find images of the grand opening....

The Bikini Bar is now open for business! Stop by and grab a beer, realx and enjoy San Pedro's newest and prettiest bar! Opening Hours are MOnday to Sunday from 1pm to 10pm! Bikini Bar - wher the pretty people of Belize come to party!

Rains persists due to tropical storm Ida

All eyes are on Hurricane Ida, now downgraded to Tropical Storm status. James Wilson, Lead Meteorologist, The Weather Channel


Nov. 5, 2009 1:09 pm ET

Ida is now inland and downgraded to a Tropical Storm, and will move very slowly now across northeastern Nicaragua. As of 1 PM EST, Tropical Storm Ida was located about 65 miles south-southwest of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua with top winds of 65 mph. The current movement is stationary.

Tropical Storm warning is in effect for the east coast of Nicaragua from Bluefields to the Honduras border.
The system is expected to stay in weak steering environment the next few days with a slow movement off to the north into eastern Honduras and then the Yucatan Channel. Ida will weaken rapidly over land to a tropical depression by Friday before re-emerging into the Caribbean Sea north of Honduras early Saturday.

Due to the very small wind field, waves from Ida will be less the 15 feet and any surge will be less than 3 feet. Heavy rain is a huge threat and will impact Nicaragua and Honduras. The heaviest amounts of 15 to 20 inches, with locally 25 inches are possible in eastern portions of Honduras and Nicaragua.
Life-threatening flooding and mudslides will be likely as a result. Be ready and take precautions if you live in a low lying area or flood plain.

PROJECTED PATH

On average, about one tropical storm develops every two years during the month of November and every three years a hurricane develops. The southwest Caribbean is the most favored location for this to occur.
The last season with a named storm in November was 2008 when Paloma developed and impacted the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

2009 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season Summary

2009 will go into the record books as a very uneventful hurricane season, to this point anyway. The question "why has it been so quiet" always arises as a season like this one comes to an end, especially after a series of very active years. Hindsight is sometimes 20/20 so I will give my hindsight "opinion" of what happened. But the prediction of the occurrence of the following features is not at all easy to forecast or extrapolate before it happens! There are two primary reasons for the quiet season in my opinion;



1) The mid-latitude westerly winds were much farther south than normal and this southward displacement caused three upper level wind features across the Gulf Caribbean and Atlantic to also be shifted south. The diagram below shows the three upper level circulation features, only one is readily conducive to tropical cyclone formation (the Subequatorial Ridge) and it was displaced south of the typical genesis area and where tropical waves normally track. Read more at weather.com

SP gears up for the magic of the Boat Parade!

The Fourth Annual Holiday Lighted Boat Parade will be held on Saturday, December 5th. This eagerly awaited event promises to be even more spectacular than last year with beautiful lighted boats bringing in the Holidays by motoring the shoreline of San Pedro Town from Boca del Rio to Caribbean Villas and back.

This colorful parade is scheduled to commence at 7:00 p.m. Last year the committee opted to change the event from Sunday to Saturday to give our friends and neighbors from Caye Caulker and the mainland a chance to enjoy this wonderful holiday tradition. With the support of the business community, attractive trophies and cash prizes will be awarded to the winners in the various categories like Most Original, Best Religious Theme, Best Overall, the Mayor’s Trophy and others. Like last year a prize will also be given in the Junior Category in order to encourage schools to participate.

From now through to November 26th you can join in the parade for FREE. A late entry fee of $25 will be charged to anyone registering after the abovementioned date. There will be 1st and 2nd place trophies for boats of all sizes. Enter a kayak, canoe, power boat, catamaran or sailboat - the only requirement is that there MUST be lights on board.

The Parade Committee will be collecting sponsorships for this beautiful event. Sponsorships can be in the form of cash donation and/or trophy sponsorship, etc. Watch for more details to come your way soon.

If you are interested in participating by way of a sponsorship, boat entry or help on the committee, please contact Jan Brown at 226-2059/662-2725 or stop by Coral Beach Realty to register. For more information please visit our website: http://www.sanpedroboatparade.com/

Belizean Do's and Don'ts by Coastal Living Magazine

To make your visit to Belize a breeze, follow this practical advice...

1. Don't sit under a coconut tree bearing brown coconuts. "Brown means they are ready to fall, and we've had people knocked out by them," says Ranguana Cay caretaker Steve Rowland.



2. Do wear insect repellent and long pants at dawn and dusk. Too late? Buy some Rainforest Remedy at the pharmacy. It's the Belizean antidote to itching.


3. Do get proper vaccinations before you go. Visit cdc.gov/travel/vaccinat.htm to see what you need.

4. Don't speak Spanish. Belize, once British Honduras, was an English colony, and that language remains widespread.


5. Do go to the local health clinic immediately if you have medical problems. (The Belizean method of overcoming illness may be admirable―"When I got the bug last week, I played soccer and then built a fence," Steve says―but not necessarily wise for travelers.)


6. Don't step on the coral or touch it when snorkeling. Second largest in the world, the Belize Barrier Reef is highly fragile.


7. Do wipe the lip of a Belikin beer before drinking. It's a tradition for good reason: The bottles are dirty.


8. Don't worry about paying in U.S. dollars, but expect your change in Belizean currency. (At press time, the U.S. dollar is worth about double the Belizean dollar.)


9. Do save $32.50 U.S. from your rum-punch funds to pay departure tax when leaving the country.


10. Don't even think about checking your PDA. "When you're in Belize, you're at ease" is the local saying.


(published December 2006)
Coastal Living Magazine

A Perfect Halloween Night!

Every year during this ghostly time of Halloween, spooks, goblins, witches and monsters from the buried past make their presence felt in the many halloween fairs around town and this year was no different. Saturday night was the long-awaited night for the adults. The day started with heavy rains that lasted throughout the evening, but in San Pedro, during Halloween time, rain really is not much of an obstacle. Rain didn't stop the ghoulies from a party!

Photocredits: AmberToday and SPSUN Newspapers!