A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

The calendar tells me that we are into December.  Hard to believe the last month of the year has already arrived.  I think it’s partly because November was so chock-full of events that it came and went faster than other months seem to.  It was also a month full of firsts.

November saw the first annual Belize Birding Festival that was put on by the Belize Tourism Board and a bunch of other sponsors.  It was a day of presentations, exhibits, and slide shows that was bookended by “bird walks” – an early morning walk in Belmopan and an evening walk at the Blue Hole National Park just outside Belmopan – and then a post-festival cocktail party.  (Wouldn’t be an event in Belize without rum drinks.)  The walks were led by local tour guides who really know their stuff.  I tagged along with my colleague Bryn and her mother (who had planned her visit around this event).  We managed to see a few new birds for me – including an orange-breasted falcon right here in Belmopan!  (Although it went swooping by way too fast for me to get a photo.)  Besides the birds, it was a fun day hanging out with Bryn and being reminded that one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about this post is the people I’ve gotten to meet and spend time with here.

I had tempered expectations, but it was really a well-organized and fun event!

Bryn and me in action.

And a group action shot - on the evening Blue Hole walk.

November also saw Embassy Belmopan’s inaugural Marine Ball.  The vast majority of embassies around the world have a Marine Security Guard force, as well as an annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball to celebrate the founding of the Marine Corps.  Little ol’ Embassy Belmopan didn’t have Marines until this year, and so there had never been a Marine Ball here.  But last month, the Marines put on a great event and we all got to dress up and have a great time.  Happy birthday, Marines!

We clean up all right.

November also brought a group of folks from the embassy to Royal Palm Caye for a long weekend.  This was the second time Andrew had organized a group outing to a private caye but the first time Andrew got to experience it since he was sick and had to sit out our last excursion to Hatchet Caye in January.  We were treated to a weekend of great weather to kayak, swim, play croquet, relax and hang out with a fun group of folks.

View from the front door of our cabana.

I never get tired of the sunsets here.

The day we left the island, our friends Paul and Kim arrived from Portland for a week-long visit, and the weather immediately changed from sunny and warm to cloudy and rainy (but still warm, of course).  We didn’t let the drizzle keep us from showing them the sights, including Mayan ruins in San Ignacio and the beach at Placencia… although the sky looked decidedly more like Oregon than Belize.  They came all the way from Portland to experience… Oregon.

View from the top of "El Castillo" at Xunantunich.  That sky looks just like Oregon... but the short sleeves give it away.  Oh, and the ruins too.

And, most noteworthy of all, November was Andrew’s 50^th birthday.  A group of us assembled at the house of our friend Claire (the deputy British High Commissioner), and we had a roast lamb and beef dinner with all the trimmings served on the Queen’s china.  Nothing but the finest for his big day. 

Ready for a party!

The birthday boy.

The 50th birthday revelers.

As much as November was a month of firsts, it was also a month of lasts.  It was our last Thanksgiving, likely our last visit to the Xunantunich ruins, and our last November here in Belize.  It was definitely a November to remember.