Superheros Party on Caye Caulker!!
On January 26, 2012 in News
My son 'Mummy, do you know that Superman and Iron Man are down at the Split??' ... Mummy 'Son, you have been watching too much television, time for you to go to bed!!'
The past few days, 33 young revelers came from Houston and Calgary to Caye Caulker to celebrate Tammy Weir's 40th birthday party. David Tong's brother got married last year over New Years Eve and Tammy was one of the guests ... it was during this time that the bright idea was born to host her birthday here on the island.
David, now a firm friend of Raggamuffin, then put together a sweet itinerary for the guests including hiring out the whole of Seaside Cabanas for the guests, island BBQ's, snorkeling, diving and of course the whole group got together on one of Raggamuffin's famous sunset cruises!!
However, the highlight of their stay for the islanders was their Superhero Party. All the guest dressed up as their favorite superhero, walking down front street shortly after sunset and turning heads!! For many, we felt blessed to be allowed to somehow participate in their celebrations as their costumes were for everybody, not just the party goers themselves, including children!
Thank you David, Tammy and all of OUR Superheros!!!
The Chinese bring Caye Caulker Good Luck!!
On January 25, 2012 in News
As many of you know, the Chinese New Year was celebrated earlier this week! In Chinese tradition, a few days later they bless their community by taking out the bad luck and bringing the good luck into the business community with their costume dragon.
And therefore today we were treated to a spectacle of a beautiful Chinese custom. As the photos show, the parade went through the streets, beating their drums and waving their leaves with their bright gold dragon. Each individual business was treated to a 'dance' with bowing heads and waving hands all with significance, intended to bring prosperity to the community.
They left no business or part of the community untouched without their blessing ... even the Caye Caulker Primary School and Ocean Academy were treated to their own personal display!!
Thank you for blessing our Caye Caulker!
Raggamuffin’s Scooter Girls!
On January 24, 2012 in News
The Ragga Scooter girls .. sometimes known as Charlie's Angels are causing quite a storm here on the island. Maday has had her scooter for about 2 years and when she started working at Raggamuffin, Edith and Adela (who live near Maday) realized that life could be much easier with a scooter!!
Edith's scooter was a present from her husband (ah, how romantic) but Adela financed her red chariot herself. All girls are obsessively clean about their scooters ... when it is raining and their are puddles, the ladies would rather take a taxi than get their bikes wet!!!
The funny thing is that when the girls are in the office, the scooters lined up outside Raggamuffin makes tourists feel that they are for rent. Regularly the ladies have to inform persons that their scooters are not for rent, even when the tourist is quite insistent!!!
Frommers includes Caye Caulker in it’s World’s Top Islands!
On January 18, 2012 in News
The internationally respected travel guide Frommers have listed what they think are the top 10 islands in the world … and of course, our own Caye Caulker made the list! We are amongst the company of some of the most beautiful locations of the world so we are extremely honored – but we feel that we deserve it!!
Congratulations Caye Caulker – and indeed Belize!!!
Caye Caulker’s Palapa Parade cleans up!
On January 17, 2012 in News
For those who do not get the time to have recently visited Caye Caulker, the news that the art and craft stalls on the beach, beside Da Real Macaw, are looking better than ever.
It is the long term goal of the Village Council here in Caye Caulker to renovate and improve this area. To many it has been considered an eye sore as well as the sometimes hustler vibe did not do the location any favors. The Ministry of Tourism originally was to assist the Village Council with some money to help them in their endeavors but this has been put on hold. So for the past few months the Village Council has been seen encouraging those who have pride in their stall to invest into it and knocking down those stalls that remained empty and only gathered loiterers.
Thus as you can see from my pictures, this road - once not a particular scenic area - has now become one of the key attractions on the island. Albert's Art stall, carrying beautiful paintings from local artists around Belize is a wonderful sight - full of color. Not forgetting the charming Andres Hand-to-mouth food stall, serving quality Belizean food at a local price and of course the hand carvers, the fruit sellers and the list goes on!!
My pictures do not do this area justice ... you will just have to come back here soon to see it for yourself!!
We love Caye Caulker!!
On January 12, 2012 in News
We are the luckiest people in the world - to be able to live and work in Paradise!!! The island at the moment is at its most vibrant .. the weather is absolutely beautiful - the sun is shinning, warm with a light breeze and there are enough people that the island feels that it is a buzz with life!!!
Today at Raggamuffin's office it was business as usual, nobody taking for granted that we are truly blessed to be living this life - happy to be here, happy to be healthy!!! Emilio from Intrepid is in town and working on the boats will be Jacob and Kevin today - lucky passengers!
All the girls in the office - Edith. her sister and Madai, today. Nobody can escape the exhilaration that good weather brings and therefore the girls too have a spring in their step.
We all enjoy what we do and what we put together as a team. We are all hugely proud of what we do and we are aware of the incredible joy that our tours bring to our passengers. Our camaraderie is genuine - we function just like any other family and pull together for each other - what we have is special and Caye Caulker plays a huge part of that!! Give thanks to Caye Caulker and all its beauty!!!
Vito (or Evaristo Rosado) joins the crew!!!
On January 09, 2012 in News
So for a long time we have had our eye on Vito and we have often used him as and when he has been available. Just before Christmas we managed to persuade him to commit to Raggamuffin and indeed since then, he has become a fully fledged member of our our crew!!
Born 16th September 1955, very much raised in Caye Caulker in one of the largest families here on the island (the Rosados) - Vito has been raised on the sea and therefore he is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his environment. He has been in the tourism industry for over 20 years, guiding for snorkeling and fishing and therefore the move to Raggamuffin was obvious for us!
Vito comes to us as a Captain that can also sail, which is a bonus to us of course and therefore he will be both Captain and Guide for both day trips and overnights. Already (over Xmas) he has made a welcome contribution to those who have had the pleasure for joining him on tours - extremely popular with both young and old - and very much a favorite of the crew!! Welcome on board Vito!!!
Caye Caulker mourns the loss of Miss Petty
On January 05, 2012 in News
Petrona Joseph or Miss Petty as she was fondly known, passed away in the early hours of yesterday morning. She was an integral member of our community touching every bodies lives either through her children (5 girls and 6 boys) or grandchildren (over 37) or her work within the church – her love and humility the reason for the immense respect this lady had amongst her piers.
Miss Petty moved here to Caye Caulker with her husband and most of her children back over thirty five years ago. She became very much the matriarch of the Garifuna community and a personal friend to all that her life touched not forgetting her enormous role in Nuestra Senora de La Ascuncion here on the island.
For those abroad who may not have had the pleasure of knowing this wonderful lady you have most probably had the pleasure of meeting one of her off-spring … our own Ellis Nicholas is proud to be her grand-son, Miss Rose (the best rice and beans and potato salad on the island!!), many persons have been driven around by either Jason Joseph in Belize City (son) or Adrian Joseph (grandson). Not forgetting the lovey Dawn Joseph (her youngest daughter) who serves drinks at the Sports Bar, Captain Charlie Joseph, Jun Jun from the Sandbox and the wonderful Michael Joseph from Oasi.
Rest in Peace Miss Petty, you are now an angel watching down and protecting Caye Caulker!!
Happy New Year and Photo of the Month!
On January 02, 2012 in News
As ever, Caye Caulker brought in 2012 with a bang … fireworks at the split along with what seemed to be the whole island was a blast. And when the split closed everybody poured into both the Oceanside and Hypnotic – those who stayed in bed, fearing that it may rain really regretted it yesterday and those who came out nursed their hangover!!
New year and also new month brings along our ‘Photo of the Month’ … our new profile photo will be our own ‘springy feet Shane Anderson’ doing what he does best – back flips!! The photo was taken by Dawnette Overbo and we love it!!
The Queen gets new sails!
On December 30, 2011 in News
