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A Whole lot of Holiday Celebrations

by tacogirl 18/12/2018
written by tacogirl 18/12/2018
Holiday Celebrations in Belize

This year is no exception in regards to December on Ambergris Caye. We have been experiencing intermittent cold fronts (lows in the 60’s highs in the 70’s) and a whole lot of holiday celebrations. So many that I could not possibly attend them all without super strength vitamin injections ha ha.

Thankfully as the Beatles once said ” I get by with a little help from my friends” There are some great photography contributions from other people that help show you the many sides of the early to mid-December Holiday Celebrations in Belize.

Nothing says holiday celebrations more than glitter 😀 These first 3 shots I took on a walk with my new temporary roommate Dennis – he is escaping Canadian winter for a month. They are the fun decorations outside of Hol Chan Marine Museum on Caribena St.

Ambergris CayeAmbergris CayeAmbergris Caye

San Pedro Lighted Boat Parade

Topping the charts, this year’s boat parade definitely had wow factor. Big congratulations to the organizers, prize sponsors and all who entered, you are helping keep a great tradition alive and many appreciate it. I heard more than a few comments in regards to this year’s line up and how good the parade was after a challenging year or two. While I may be a bit biased, I chose the croc boat for my featured image as it was my favorite one plus the designers Christina and Chris of American Crocodile Education Sanctuary are super cool people.

This other boat shot was one of the two “Las Vegas” style show boats entered by Ramon’s. If you know anything about photographing boat parades, the image stabilization on my friend’s camera was incredible, my same shot was not quite as clear as his and I was using the bar as a tripod. To see the full list of winners click through to Belize Navidad – 2018 lighted boat parade by San Pedro Sun.

Holiday Celebrations in Belize

My friends and I watched it from Palapa bar, like last year. It was packed as always and a great spot as the boats always come in close near there.

Holiday Celebrations in Belize

We did not stay for the after party but Sandbar was already getting packed when we left. I am sure it was like sardines before long.  When I snapped this shot, all behind me to the left and right the beach parking areas were packed with golf carts.

Tree Lightings

These next two pictures below come from the Truck Stop Tree lighting. I wanted to go but after my standing Sunday 3 – 5 pm personal commitment, I was too tired to take my friends Jon and Eddie’s offer of a ride. Thankfully Jon was willing to snap a couple of pics so I could share them with you.

Some of you may remember the two mentioned above from the write-up – A randomly timed walk landed me a night at Wayos Beach Bar. Jon contributed some great Full Moon over Ambergris Caye shots he had taken that evening to pair with my fun bar shots. We were playing ringtoss with Jedi ringmaster Jordani. If you love great island nature shots follow Jon on Instagram. He enjoys doing a lot of real-time and unfiltered work. He also captures event images as you can see from the pictures below.

You can also click through to see the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Ambergris Today news.

Holiday Celebrations in Belize
Black Orchid owners with Truk Stop Santa
Holiday Celebrations in Belize
Holiday tree lighting both by Jon J Foy

More Parades and Decorations

Not only do we have the annual lighted boat parade as you saw above, but we also have the 8th Annual Love Fm holiday parade. Click through to see San Pedro Scoop write up and pictures.

Town also gets decorated for Christmas as you see on the right, some decorate themselves as well as you can see left pic below. Tis the season at DandE’s frozen custard and Wednesday afternoon to Sunday evening, you can catch Eileen and see what styling Christmas creation she is wearing. Their cool creamy flavors are something that often has both travelers and locals coming back every 24 hours for a daily dose of sweet heaven and good humor.

Holiday Celebrations in BelizeHoliday Celebrations in Belize

Holiday Craft Sale and Cookie Competition

Next comes the annual Truck Stop holiday cookie competition. I was fairly confident when I hit up my friend Victoria on messenger that she and her boyfriend Ryan would have passed by the annual cookie competition and craft sale and sure enough she had one good sweet treat picture. Ryan bought Victoria a bad @ass brownie by Cranky Cori’s Catering. If you want to see more of Victoria Fearneyhough’s Truck Stop Christmas craft fare pictures check out bythesunandmoon on Instagram.

Holiday Celebrations in Belize

Ugly Beach Party

Next comes one of the first and most fun parties of the season. What could be better than starting the holiday celebrations in your ugliest Christmas sweater at Crazy Csnucks Beach Bar like the Fearneyhough trio? The picture below is courtesy of my friend Aimee.

Tropical Childhood

My childhood tropical memories fueled my desire to move to Belize later in life. The twins below are very lucky to be living in North Ambergris Caye and enjoying winter without snow. Jodi Chytka Shell was happy to share their family adventure of getting a Christmas tree macheted and bringing it home on their golf cart. In Jodie’s words “It was really…like tourists were laughing and saying where they were from and ya, We do that…locals were like WTF are you doing???”

Holiday Celebrations in BelizeHoliday Celebrations in Belize

Give a Christmas

Not everyone on this island is as lucky as the twins above. Many kids would not have much of a Christmas if it were not for the Adopt a Bear Program started by Brittney O’Daniel. See all the elves below wrapping presents so that disadvantaged kids can have a brighter holiday.

This is a very important cause. If you cannot spare a present you can spare two hands. They will likely be doing more wrapping sessions at Hope Haven Shelter soon. I have seen some the things kids ask for, some of it basic necessities. While my brother and I were not spoiled as children, school supplies and clothing never would have made it on our wish lists. Nikes maybe 😀 and we always knew our Mom was going to stuff our large Mele Kalikimaka stockings (memories of an incredible Hawaiian Christmas one year) with a new stock of socks underwear and other practical items as well as some fun stuff.

Christmas “Adopt a Bear” Christmas wish list program – present wrapping in action at Hope Haven Shelter, lots left to adopt. Picture courtesy of Brittney O’Daniel. There are 300 kids that needed presents this year. There are still bears let to be adopted and the kids will be handed out their presents, on Thursday the 20th. This is an urgent need Islanders, please drop by the shelter and see what is still needed if you are able to help. 

Women and Children Shelter Belize

Related

tacogirl

Laurie Norton grew up dyslexic and was very challenged by the school. She never dreamed she would move to Belize and become a writer. A year after her move to Ambergris Caye, Laurie became an entrepreneur and professional writer starting tacogirl blog in 2007. Since then she has helped many people plan their vacations or move. She also has been published in Great Destinations Belize Guidebook, Moon Guide to Living in Belize, Insight Guides, Island Magazine several times and USA Today. Currently Laurie resides in downtown San Pedro and enjoys being a "city girl" on a tropical island.

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2 comments

jEANNE LAUGHLIN 19/12/2018 - 8:37 am

Hi, arriving in San Pedro tomorrow. Are you aware of any fun holiday events coming up over the next week? Or, are there some great sites, decorations that we should visit? Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Reply
tacogirl 19/12/2018 - 8:58 am

Jeanne, a drive around the island is a great way to see all the tropical Christmas decorations.For an easy way to find places, download facebook local on google play it lets you advance search locations and events this is a good way to watch for the parties – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.Socal&hl=en or iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-local/id1153443320?mt=8

Glad you enjoy my pictures 🙂

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I just returned from my trip to Belize in mid-June 2022. I had been planning the trip weeks / months in advance and... Laurie (taco girl) wasextremely helpful in preparation for my trip. Her intimate knowledge as an expat who was ONCE a tourist, really helps because she is able to share first hand knowledge of how a tourist can explore Ambergis Caye like a "temporary local". An example of this, was she recommended 2 yoga classes for my wife to enjoy while on vacation that we would not have known about otherwise and the class was far better than a class arranged by a hotel, as you get the local experience not a staged one. In addition, she was helpful in providing recommendations for dinner and sharing some discounts she has arranged with local retailers. Reviewing the taco girl blog and reaching out to Laurie is like having a tour guide, but more important a tour guide that KNOWS Belize.read more
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It was my first time visiting Belize and San Pedro so naturally I had a ton of questions when it came time to planning... the travel. Taco Gril's blog was an invaluable source of information for all the travel questions in Ambergris Caye. I was able to learn a lot of basic information, as well as many tips and tricks. In addition when I reached out to Taco Girl for advice on finding a local photographer and a restaurant recommendation, she was very quick to respond and gave me many helpful suggestions. She also provided a lot more information from a local's point of view, which was much for valuable than than a typical guidebook. Thanks to her helpful suggestions we were able to celebrate my daughter's birthday at a nice restaurant, and had a great photo family session with a local photographer. I'm very thankful for all her resources and knowledge.read more
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Belize Blog Est. 2007

belize travel specialist

ABOUT ME

I took the plunge and moved to San Pedro Town on the Island of Ambergris Caye, off the coast of Belize, Central America. Originally from Canada, I made the life-changing move to escape winter for good (in 2006) after one three week vacation. If you have any questions or want Belize help planning and booking, please feel free to contact me.

SPARKING MY DESIRE

A few childhood memories that shaped my desire to move to Belize from a young age. Sailing in the Virgin Islands, seeing a rainbow out the window of an island hopper as we flew from Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, Christmas in Hawaii and many trips to Florida.

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