Direct Water Taxi between San Pedro & Chetumal

From Ambergris Today:

San Pedro Belize Express' newest water vessel arrived in San Pedro on Wednesday, October 21, in preparation for the company's scheduled trips to Chetumal, Mexico. The water taxi company will introduce a new run to our neighboring city of Chetumal, making our commutes easier, cheaper and more convenient.
The new schedule to Chetumal will commence on Friday, October 30, 2009. Customs officials will be on hand at both docking stations in San Pedro (Ambergris Diver’s Dock) and Mexico (Chetumal Municipal Pier) to process regular passport procedures and customs checks (the same procedure you go through at the Belize-Mexico Border in Corozal).

The vessel has a carrying capacity of 100 passengers and reservations are required. Trips are set for weekends only (Friday – Sunday) and leaves San Pedro at 8:30 a.m. and leaves Chetumal at 3:00 p.m. San Pedro Belize Express is offering a special price for the month of November of $40US round trip and the set price after the promotion is $55US round trip. For more information call 226-3535 or 223-2225.

Half a Fish

After hooking a fish and reeling it half way in, guest Paul Eden felt a strong tug on his line. He soon found out why. A vigilant barracuda had made off with half his fish.

It's kind of you to share your catch, Paul!

John & Gail Lewis appear in the San Pedro Sun

Where did you read your San Pedro Sun?

Where did you take your San Pedro Sun & Visi-tor Guide? Take a photo of you and the paper and send it to us at: spsun@sanpedrosun.net

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John and Gail Lewis continue their travels, this time, to Petra, Jordan! Petra is one of the 7 wonders of the world, and this ancient city was where part of the movie Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade was filmed.

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John and Gail are pictured in front of a building known as the Treasury. Apparently people thought a bowl part of the sculpture at the top of the columns contained riches and jewels, but John says, it’s "just a good story, not true."

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Photos taken in unique and unusual places are preferred. Be sure to identify who is in the photo and where the photo was taken. Don’t forget to include your names and what you were doing.

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Click here to see the article and pictures at: http://sanpedrosun.net/09-40.pdf

Bicycle Buy Back Program

Interested in having your own bicycle to use while at Sueno? Now you can purchase a bicycle, use it while you are here, then Sueno will buy it back for half price at the end of your stay and add it to our bicycle collection.

So far I have received 5 orders, the first two of which were from Ross and Kristi Turner.
The bicycle we have chosen is the Nankon Hurricane. It is the beach cruiser of all beach cruisers! With an aluminum frame and seat post, stainless steel spokes and chain it is the ideal bicycle for cruising the beaches surrounding Sueño del Mar and is well equipped to withstand the harsh salty environment of the Caribbean.
The Hurricane is also available with a step through frame.

Here's how the program works. We special order the Hurricane from Belize City at a cost of about $250 US. We order it, charge it to your Sueno account or credit card, and have it ready in your villa before your arrival. The Hurricane is yours to keep at your villa during your stay. No more waiting for a bike to become available at Sueño’s bike shelter. No more rust, loose chains, and seats that are too high or too low. The Hurricane is adjusted to fit you personally and is yours for the duration of your stay.

At checkout we will credit your account for half the purchase price, about $125 US. Then the bike becomes part of Sueno's bike collection to be maintained by our staff and made available for our members to use. The Bicycle Buyback Program allows you to enjoy a brand new, custom fit bicycle and allows Sueño to improve its bicycle collection for the rest of our membership.

When Ross and Kristi aren't riding their bikes you can find them throwing a Frisbee in the 85 degree sea water.

Before and After

For the third month in a row we did our beach cleanup.

So is all this work making any difference on our beaches? Let's ask our August members. Remember this spot just up wind of building 1?Let me refresh your memory:

Baby on the way

Jessica has a week and a half left until the due date of our baby girl. Last night the girls from her youth group in San Pedro surprised her with a baby shower.

Oct Members Meeting

Members inhouse for the monthly members meeting: Ross & Kristi Turner, Glenn Powell, Forin Pindic, Mike & Tammi Coleman, Jack Cramond, Arlen & Aretha Mitchell.

It seems that rainy season has finally arrived. The tempurature dropped to the 70's and brought plenty of rain with it. It was cold enough for Kevin to sport a sweatshirt. But don't worry today was warm and beautiful again.

Sueno Claus is Coming to Town

Last year Sueno members provided Christmas presents for 10 San Pedro families. Ten bins lined the Christmas tree in the center of the Palapa, and were filled little by little with toys, clothes, and food, then delivered to the homes of the families by our members.

We plan to do the same this year and hope to make it even bigger and better! Many commented last year that they wish they would have known about it in advance so they could bring some things from the States or raid the Dollar Store before they came. So this is a reminder for those Nov/Dec members. See you at Christmas time!

"Backpacks for Belize" excerpt from Ambergris Today Newspaper

BYOB – You might interpret this as “Bring your own Beer” however, Mrs. Aretha Mitchell, owner and founder of National Development Services has her own interpretation of BYOB “Bring Your Own Backpack” Party. Mrs. Aretha Mitchell and her family reside in the United States and return to San Pedro, their second home at Sueño del Mar. While in the States, Mrs. Mitchell continually has fundraisers and speaks to local businesses and Catholic Churches regarding the needs of the children of San Pedro.

“As I was gathering up the school supplies for the students of Isla Bonita Elementary School, I thought let’s make a fun party while putting the school supplies in the back packs” commented Mrs. Aretha. “I called my sister, my niece and a few of my girlfriends and we all filled up the backpacks with school supplies.”

According to Mrs. Artha, the only requirement her friends had was to bring a new backpack, food and drinks were optional. The back packs were filled with pencils, crayons, color pencils, pencil sharpeners, glue sticks, folder paper, notebooks and erasers. Thankfully everyone showed up with brand new backpacks and the party was a huge success. Mrs. Mitchell plans on implement the BYOB for future projects for the children of San Pedro.

The National Development Services helps promote and assist students and their education. NDS is looking forward to working with the Prime Minister of Education in South Africa for the 2010 – 2011 school year. Wal-mart also contributed a percentage of the backpacks for the project. Special Thanks to Mayor Elsa Paz, her personal assistant Mr. Felix Ayuso and the entire staff of the Town Council.

This year was the first year of many to come that the teachers of Isla Bonita Elementary School received their year-end monetary bonuses. Many Thanks to the National Development Services for their support especially to Mrs. Aretha Mitchell and many other donors.

Thank you, Penny Bauer for the following pictures of our Aug/Sep group.

August was a month of much pool volleyball. Every afternoon we had a pool full of competitors.

Fun at Hol Chan & Shark Ray Alley

Moonrise
Blue Lotus opened its doors for a special visit from Sueno members.

Many a full boat

Not a bad looking bunch! Lovely ladies of Sueno

September is a big party month, celebrating Belize's independence. Everywhere you look the Belize flag adorns all the streets and shops.

Miss San Pedro Raquel Badillo (Miss Mellie's daughter) in one of two September parades.

Victoria Procop and Aretha Mitchell surprised Jessica with a baby shower. Our baby girl is due on Nov 2, but she is kicking like she wants out now!

The second Tuesday of every month we hold a beach cleanup. These pics are from the September cleanup.

We saw substantial improvement over the previous month's cleanup. We were able to go further in both directions. It's easier to cleanup a month's worth of garbage than a year's worth.

Amy Swartz & a neighbor from up the beach

Maria, Elda, Sarah, and Leidy from housekeeping

Lisa and Marty Kampfer

Beth Cooper & Walt

Paul Davis & Jane Unger

Aretha, Arlen, Jesse, & James Mitchell, one of 2 year round members currently in building 11.

Rachael, Emma, Victoria, & Roman ProcopMark & Cheryl McDonald and family
Amy & Arnie Swartz & friendsDan & Penny Bauer & friends Mike & Tammi Coleman

Captain Joe with Kevin & Maria Solloway

Alex, Maria, Jack & Elizabeth Cramond

Kay & A.G. Robertson

Jean & Jamie Escarpeta

Congratulations Paul & Morgan Robinson who were married at Sueno in September.

I think it goes without saying that August and September were a great couple of months at Sueno.