Seafront Inn takes the top prize at the Eco-Challenge

The 7th Eco-Challenge Kayak Race saw 33 teams total participating in this much anticipated annual event.
Early Saturday morning, the teams gathered at the lagoon side of the island, ready to start the 42-mile, 2-day race.
Teams paddled through the many lagoons of Northern Ambergris Caye, up to Bacalar Chico and down to Robles Point.


Teams camped overnight and the next morning, the race continued to the finish line at Central Park.

There a large crowd anxiously awaits to see who will be the first to cross the finish line.

That doesn't mean that the first to cross the line are the winners. The winners are determined by the times logged over the 2-day course of the race.

This year's Senior first place winners are from Seafront Inn ($3k plus 1 round trip ticket on Tropic Air).

Following in Second Place was Tortugas de Coco Beach ($2k plus 1 round trip ticket on Tropic Air), and third place, A Toda Madre ($1k plus 2 round trip tickets on Tropic Air).

In the Junior Division, the first place was taken by Gonzalez Finishers, followed by El Pescador with Second Place, and third place, Searious Boys.

Congratulations to all the participants and winners!!

The purpose of the race is to promote awareness, protection and conservation of mangroves, lagoons, reefs and the diverse species found in these natural habitats.

Thanks to the organizers of this great event, and see you in 2012!!

Read more in this week's The San Pedro Sun...

Art of Life: Night walk in town

By Christopher Emmanuel

It’s Saturday night in San Pedro Town and the whole world is happening right here. Walking by the park in town the air is alive with the sounds of night pleasure. The carving and jewelry sellers are in full decor as they greet the evening visitors. Streets hustlers saunter past in anticipation. Laughter rises from the swings at the mini playground as children clamor up the slides, racing in the sand. “Stay out of the water,” a mother hollers. Nearby, a young man courting his new love, smile at her in promise under the moonlight.

Past the statue of St. Peter, the doors leading to the Catholic Church spread light on the dark. Filled with the evening mass, the voices swell at passerby as the priest lead the Holly Maries. Stepping past the church, sounds of the reggae band blares from Fido’s Courtyard, calling the party goers, “don’t worry bout’ a thing,” Bob Marley lyrics drown out the house of worship voices.

We can say there’s a lot wrong in the world, but that’s just our opinions. When you travel around after a while you will see that people are basically the same wherever you go. They all have the same dreams and goals when you get right down to it. You can spend your whole life looking for meaning, judging rights and wrong, but over time you will come to see perceptions give way to reality and the truth is somewhere in between. It’s good to look for meaning at times, but no matter where you are, the world is a smorgasbord of experience, better to enjoy than to try and make sense of it all.

Books by Christopher Emmanuel can be purchased at his Art Gallery in The Sunbreeze Hotel, Art of Touch, Pages Book Store, Black orchid Spa and Sol Spa.

Festival of Arts held at the Angel Nuñez Auditorium

Under the theme " Education empowers: Creating change, nurturing minds embracing the future", the various schools from San Pedro converged at the Angel Nuñez Auditorium on Wednesday May 11^th to showcase the culmination of months’ of preparations.

This year’s Festival of Arts saw the participation of students from St. Peter’s Elementary School (SPES), Holy Cross Anglican School (HCAS), San Pedro RC School (SPRCS), New Horizon (NH), Isla Bonita Elementary School (IBES) and Ambergris Caye Elementary School (ACES).

One of the Gold Presentations!!

The presentation started around 7:00pm with the opening prayer by Mr. Miguel Hernandez, followed by the national anthem and a welcome by Principal of SPRCS, Mrs. Roxani Kay. Following this, the adjudicators were introduced by Ms. Candy Jones Armstrong, Education officer for San Pedro.

Read the full story in next week's edition of The San Pedro Sun.

Farewell Dr. Otto Rodriguez

He was a wonderful community doctor who served with a smile. He was always available - 24 hours a day, every day of the week, including Sundays and holidays. He helped deliver babies on Christmas day, and always with a smile of satisfaction.
A proud Lion member, he embodied the Lion motto: "We Serve". Sometimes, he would leave meetings to attend emergency calls. Often times, when at a Lions Club Social, he would have to leave halfway through to attend to patients. But always, he smiled.
Today the community of San Pedro shed tears for a man it knew and loved so much.
His desire was to be laid to rest eternally in San Pedro - and today, May 13, 2011, Dr. Otto Rodriguez was laid to rest at the San Pedro Cemetery. He touched thousands of lives, gave of his time and care selflessly, and it is his humble and kind nature that will reverberate. Thank you Dr. Otto, for your loving care. You will live in our hearts eternally.

May you rest in peace.

SPRCS Students embrace their school

In honor of Education Period, students gathered all around their school compound and "hugged" their school. Education Period this year runs from May 3rd through May 15, 2011.