Sunday, December 21, 2008

It's Better in Belize....

We've been getting e-mails saying, "Where are you?", which made me realize I hadn't updated the blog lately!

We arrived in Belize on Dec. 7th after a whirlwind trip to Alberta with visits to family and friends. We went to Edmonton for 1 night and celebrated an early Christmas with Brad and Anette --she prepared an incredible feast with all our favorite foods and we had fun just hanging out with them.

Because our plans were to stay a month, this time we chose to stay at a condo right on the beach (Belize Yacht Club -- pictures below) where our good friends, Sara and Bob Morris from Illinois, were also staying.

Roger has been doing some work and there are some days the cell phone seems to be glued to his ear --- but, if you have to work --- it's a pretty great place to do it!

We co-hosted, along with Bob and Sara, an evening for the staff of the Corona del Mar Hotel where we have stayed everytime we've come to the island. They still treat us all like family, and we enjoyed having a good visit with them.

Roger and I were the only guests this week on a 30 ft catamaran. We went snorkeling at one of our favorite places, Mexico Rocks, and enjoyed an incredible BBQ on board. The first mate, Justo, caught a lobster, which was also prepared for us along with red snapper, potatoes, coleslaw and rum punch....heaven!


We've also gone sailing on a Hobie Cat and will go out again this week as we love doing that -- there is nothing like skimming over the turqoise waters and just hearing the water underneath us.

It's amazing, and a little disappointing, to see how much development has taken place since we first came here 5 years ago. The hand pulled ferry has been replaced by a bridge, and the condos on the north island have filled in much of the land. Fortunately, there is not a Starbucks in sight, nor big chain hotels and stores. We hope it stays that way.

Returning to Belize is still like walking into a Cheers bar and we're constantly amazed how taxi drivers, restaurant owners/workers and others remember us. The number of tourists are down and hotels and restaurants are feeling the economic crunch, they are definitely worried about the coming year.

We drove around on our golf cart last night looking at the Christmas lights --- here is a taste of "downtown" San Pedro....

We hope everyone is safe and warm as news of the cold weather makes us even more grateful to be in a warm climate. Some how the aches and pains seem to lessen in the warmth, and we definitely don't miss the winter weather --- but we do miss our friends and family.

Have a wonderful holiday season, and please stay in touch.

No comments: