St. George's Caye

September has arrived in Belize!  And September is a month-long celebration:  Battle of St. George's Caye, Independence Day, Carnaval.  So many activities!

We began the month perfectly with a trip to St. George's Caye with the Rotary Club!  The September celebrations were actually opening on St. George's Caye with the Governor General there to do the honors, but our boat first headed to the Royal Palm Resort on its own little Caye for a day in the sun.

While waiting for the departure from the Radisson Pier, a rain squall hit!  And then we boarded the boat and never saw another drop of rain on the trip (though Belize City received rain during the day).

As we approached St. George's Caye, sculls were sailing in a regatta! So pretty!  The coastline of St. George's Caye is lined with private homes and one resort.  This island is a popular one for vacationing, but we are currently in the rainy season when the houses are generally boarded up.

We went beyond St. George's Caye to a small island with the Royal Palm Resort.  This was a beautiful resort, also closed for the rainy season except for their hosting the Rotary group.  What a beautiful place, warm with gentle breezes, beautiful colors, and the relaxing ambience one expects in the tropics!

The Royal Palm Resort has small houses, cabanas, and one was open for our use.  Yvette, Dave and I, with others who joined now and again, sat under a thatched roof with a table and rum punch, beer or water.  We arrived mid-morning, and watched the children play in the water.  Lunch was served in the center of the compound. Adjacent to the compound was a spa and a beautiful wood-lined room with couches and big screen T.V.  A restaurant is on the premises, and they served a wonderful lunch.  Some people took naps in the hammocks.  What a relaxing day!

These are some scenes from the Resort, including Yvette in the hammock!
And a rare picture of me, since I am usually the photographer.

One of the nice bonuses for us was a chance to talk to our neighbor, Angelo, who lives in the other half of the building.  He is seldom here, as he is often in Greece (from which he came), Mexico, or the United Kingdom.  He gets around!  He is actually going to live on a very big boat in Cancun, if I remember correctly, but he will keep this place, too.  He has a housekeeper, whom we see and talk to frequently.  Anyway, he was up early on the 1st, and motored over to the resort on his own boat, which is in the picture below.

In mid-afternoon, we hopped back on the boat, and quickly went over to St. George's Caye.  We first went to a small aquarium that a British man has developed over the years.  Then we walked to the St. George Caye Resort, passing people partying with the beginning of September.  The person who runs the resort is in Rotary, and we stopped there to have a drink before returning to Belize City.  I took several pictures:  a picture of a typical house in Belize, a picture of a summer home, the path to the town, and the bar at the Resort.  

The day was a wonderful respite from the business of life!  Dave had a day off from flying, which was great, and even better that there were no emergencies that had to be denied.  A tropical holiday!