Santa visits kids in San Pedro

Tis' the season to be jolly, and over the weekend, hundreds of San Pedro's children got a very special visit from Santa Claus, along with some much deserved Christmas presents. Smiling kids, some good and even some naughty, were all treated to some Christmas cheer.
On Sunday, Santa visited the Lion's Den, where several hundred kids anxiously awaited their turn to sit with Santa. Also on that same day, the San Pedro Town Council held its annual gift giveaway at the Central Park. Here, kids were called by their names and one by one they climbed up to the stage to meet the 'big red robed guy', as some kids stated. With over several thousands in gifts and surprises, no child went home empty handed.
Here are a couple shots of the Christmas cheer!

This little girl recived a doll for x-mas.
While most kids were delighted to meet Santa, some were a bit shy.

The Central Park was packed with eager kids and their parents as they waited for their turn.

Santa forgot to bring this little girl the RIGHT gift, she seemed a bit upset.

Santa visits with kids at the Lion's Den.

Children get their picture taken as a fond memory of Christmas 2008.

Seems you have been a good boy huh Davin?!

Aaron gets a gift from Santa too. Smile!

RC School Burglarized - AGAIN!

Between Friday, December 12th and Thursday, December 18th the Infant 1 classrooms at the San Pedro Roman Catholic School were broken into. The culprit (s) entered through a window which faces the alleyway. Once they had gained entrance to the first class, the made a hole on the ceiling and crawled unto the second classroom. Another hole was made and the ransacking of the middle class began. The third classroom did have something that the robbers managed to take – a Toshiba laptop belonging to Teacher Apo. Police officers were alerted to the incident and investigations began, however no leads have been received.

Bacalar Chico Field Guide to be launched

Long in the making, this field guide was finalized through the funding from Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation Programme (COMPACT). It was an effort by many that made the fruition of the guide a reality. However, at the forefront of it was Director of Green Reef Mito Paz, had for years the dreams of printing a guide such as this one. With many great things being shaken up at Bacalar Chico, the manual came at an apropos time. With many more visitors to the area, students, professors and tourists, A Field Guide to the Natural History of Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve will certainly prove to be highly informative.

This important guide will be officially launched on Sunday, December 21st, 2008 at Rico’s Bar and Grill at 3:00 p.m. All are cordially invited and books will be available for purchase then. Read more on this story in our Christmas edition of The San pedro Sun!

Gwen Lizarraga Girls & Sadie Vernon boys are basketball champs!

The Gwen Lizarraga High School girls and the Sadie Vernon Technical High School males are the national ATLIB basketball champions, after winning the two day tournament hosted by the San Pedro High School under the auspices of the Association of Tertiary Level Institutions of Belize (ATLIB) at the Angel Nunez Auditorium on December 12 and 13th. In a much heated competition, the nationals brought out seven high schools from across the country to fight for the hoops title in beautiful La Isla Bonita but only one would reign supreme.

Free throws for the Gwen Lizz team...
Securing the ball...
Nice layup in traffic..

3 point attempt ....
Sadie Vernon boys took home the net as kings of the court..

So did the Gwen Lizz Girls....respect!

In the male competition, Sadie Vernon Technical High defeated the Sacred Heart College in an exciting encounter 58-53.

In the girl’s side of things, the back to back champs of Gwen Lizarraga came in with a mind set for a three peat. And so they did! Congrats on the 3Peat!

The Sun will have more on this story in our Fridays Christmas edition of The San Pedro Sun!

Beach & Underwater Clean-up

White Sands Dive Shop in cooperation with The Project AWARE Foundation’s Go ECO – Explore, Conserve, Observe campaign has adopted a mile of Ambergris Cayes beach. The mile of beach begins at Las Terrazas/Journeys End Resort and extends Northward to Mata Grande. White Sands Dive Shop Manager Emiliano Rivero commented.” The Beach will be patrolled and cleaned regularly of plastics and glass with an emphasis placed on not disturbing naturally occurring beach wash such as sea grasses and drift woods necessary for the prevention of erosion and biodiversity of the area. We are not just cleaning the beach we are protecting it. This barrier island beach is a part of the reef system and were going to treat it with the same respect we give the corals.”AWARE ECO educates travelers about keeping natural areas pristine and encourages tour operators to implement environmentally responsible business practices. Tourism is the world’s largest industry and travelers are increasingly concerned about their destination’s environmental condition. San Pedros divers and industry leaders have a responsibility to preserve local resources they depend on every day. Project AWARE ECO Operators Such as Ambergris’s White Sands Dive Shop provides customers with experiences that enhance visitor awareness.