More Costa Maya Beauties!

Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama join the roster for La Reina De La Costa Maya Beauty Pageant, 2008!

Miss Guatemala Universe 2008 will be representing her country at the International Costa Maya Festival. Miss Jennifer Chiong recently returned from the Miss Universe pageant in Vietnam and is bringing all her experience to the Reina de la Costa Maya pageant. Miss Guatemala is 25 years old and stands at 5’ 5”. Currently she is a business woman who enjoys modeling and traveling and she aspires to be the owner and manager of an international modeling agency in Guatemala.

Nicaragua’s beauty ambassador for the Costa Maya Festival 2008 is 18 year-old Karina Gordon. She is a 5’6” tall model who is both beauty and brains, as she pursues her degree in Public Contracting and Finances Management. Miss Nicaragua intends to graduate with honors especially in her finances courses. For her, an education is very important for a young woman to obtain because it opens the door for many wonderful opportunities. Miss Nicaragua enjoys reading, modeling, and spending time with family and friends.

Natalia Soledad Ruiz Alvarez is the fourth delegate to accept participation in this year’s International Reina de la Costa Maya Pageant. The 20-year-old beauty stands at six feet one inch tall and was born on March 19th, 1988 in Tuxtla, Chiapas. She is currently a student working on her Master’s in Tourism and enjoys swimming as a sport, while her hobbies include shopping, modeling and reading terror books, as well as novels. Natalia’s motto for life is, "If you want, you can," and she could. Last year, she was crowned Nuestra Belleza Chiapas 2007 but said that, according to her, her biggest body flaw is her butt, laughing while she states the comment. The body parts that she loves most about herself are her face and legs. Natalia is a down to earth young lady who loves spending time on the Internet and believes that it was the greatest invention in the 20th Century. With much charisma, glamour and beauty, Natalia plans to give the rest of the delegates "a run for their money" as she proudly represents The Land of Tequila, Mexico.

Daniella Maria Augspurg Jimenez is a 17-year-old blonde, green-eyed beauty hailing from El Salvador. She is the fifth contestant to confirm her participation for the Costa Maya Pageant. She is currently in her last year of high school, looking to further her studies and become an excellent psychiatrist. She enjoys reading, singing and kick-boxing, and is especially proud of her awards for her performance in the school choir and for her participation in science fairs. This reading buff counts Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende and Paulo Coellho among her favorite authors. Daniella looks forward to representing her beloved El Salvador, a country she believes is truly impressive with its wealth of natural beauty and culture; a place she is so proud to call home.

For the first time since the inception of La Reina de La Costa Maya, we have a Panama delegate. Anais Solis is a 22-year-old, 5 foot, five inches tall brunette. She is currently studying Business Administration. Her hobbies are dancing and having fun. She was crowned at Miss Realmente Bella, Señorita Panama 2008, a "reality show" inspired by the hit show "America's Next Top Model" that was created to select the Panama delegate to the Miss Universe 2008 pageant. We welcome her to Belize and wish her the best of luck!
For more on the International Costa Maya Festival history, photos, schedule of events and more, visit their website!

Ticket prices are as follows:

La Reina De La Costa Maya (Thursday) Adults: $25.00BZD Children: $15.00BZD

Opening Gala / Mega Concert (Friday) Adults: $25.00BZD Children: $15.00BZD

Noche Internacional (Saturday)Adults: $75.00BZD Children: $25.00BZD

A Night for the Family (Sunday)Adults: $25.00BZD Children: $15.00BZD

Season Pass (Valid for all four nights)Adults: $100.00BZD Children: $45.00BZD

Hot off the Press!

Keep informed - The San Pedro Sun is hot off the press, so get your copy today!

Available at your local stores countrywide.

This week's issue, July 24th, 2008. Vol 18 #29

Monkey business!

On Saturday while The San Pedro Sun was busy assisting the ACES crew with relocating the crocodile, police officers responded to a report of an animal disturbance at a resort down south. Reports claim that on Saturday July 19th, a tourist by the name of Laura Sutton was attacked and bitten by a monkey reportedly belonging to Marina’s Grocery in San Pedro Town. Sutton received numerous bite marks to both arms, along with several scrapes and scratches for which she got medical treatment. Sutton was not the only victim as the monkey also attacked Belizean American Lisa Ali at the Banyan Bay facilities. Ali was treated for wounds to her left leg and received nine stitches. When The Sun arrived at the scene at Banana Beach on Saturday, Pancho, the monkey was suspended on the verandah of the resort where an individual was trying to coerce the monkey to come down. After several futile attempts, a ploy to attract the monkey with food and then trap it with a cloth went awry as the monkey hissed at him signaling another attack. After it was becoming too much of a nuisance, the police decided to take matters into their own hands and struck the monkey on the head hoping that it would knock him out, instead the blow proved to be fatal as Pancho succumbed to his injuries.

Beware!

Come on little guy, i won't hurt you!

Several attempts to get him down proved futile.

Pancho was convinced that he was the ruler of that porch and no one would get him down.

Placing a cloth over Pancho to capture it failed miserably also.

Feeding Pancho a snack to calm him down.

Swinging away like monkeys do, not a care in the world.

NEMO steps up!

NEMO District Coordinator, Kevin Gonzalez.

The San Pedro Emergency Committee in conjunction with NEMO San Pedro and Caye Caulker has launched a series of public information measures to better inform the public of hurricane preparedness. This week, the District Coordinator along with volunteers posted a series of large hurricane preparedness posters at the San Pedro Town Council bulletin board and in Government offices such as, Belize Post Office, Immigration, Customs, Labor, Election and Boundaries, to name a few. In addition, a set of new hurricane signal flags will be delivered to the San Pedro Police Department and it is planned to deliver over 2,500 Hurricane Preparedness Bulletins to businesses and households. Already NEMO San Pedro has secured a 10% discount from local business Castillo’s Hardware for emergency items such as flashlights, tarpaulins, plywood and other such related items.
NEMO San Pedro and the San Pedro Emergency Committee (SPEC) takes this opportunity to remind the public to insure that they continue to monitor weather activities daily and be prepared with their family plans.
For further information on Hurricane Preparedness visit the NEMO website at nemo.org.bz or you may contact the District Coordinator, Mr. Kevin Gonzalez at (610) 4266.

Pool Tournament Sundays

As a first installment since its re-opening, Casey Moore’s Boat Yard bar hosted an eight ball pool/billiards tournament on Sunday afternoon that proved a success and crowned the competitions first overall winner. With a mix of amateur and experienced players, the tournament saw ten participants sign up and take the challenge to win the pot of two hundred dollars at the end of the day. Robert collected the pot and will play against players in this coming Sunday’s tournament. Here are some highlights!

Evan cooks up a finger licking barbeque on Sundays!

Kids enjoying the company of pups!

These youngsters can't help but get a good view of the pool action.

Spectators watching from the sidelines.

Don taking his time to set up a good shot but El Campion continued to play a good game and won second place.

Emory was undisputed until the last games where he lost to "El campion".

Evan was also involved in the tournament but was unsuccessful.

Party goers mingling

Robert (the champ) setting up for a great shot!

Pool tournaments will take place every Sunday and it is only $20 to enter. With finger licking BBQ, drinks and kid friendly atmosphere, Casey's Boatyard is the place to be. Games start at 3:00 p.m.