Belize Love Is In The Air: Belize’s First Telenovela and Frisky Land Crabs

Yesterday was Day 3 of the filming of “Isla Bonita Telenovela” – the very first Belizean made TV series filmed in San Pedro.  (You can check out one of the casting calls I attended last September when the soap opera was announced.)   And as the word telenovela suggests, there seems to be lots of drama, lots of red lipstick, broken hearts and tears and plenty of screaming of “Ay Dios Mio”.

Day Three was the wedding scene and here’s what I saw at the Roman Catholic church.

The wedding cart had already arrived.

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And I tip-toed behind a fake wedding in progress.  A fake wedding that looked pretty darn good.  Tourists were whispering so as not to disturb.

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The church was decorated.

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Beautiful Miss Susanna, fake mother of the bride, gave me a quick pose.

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And then the fun part.  The bride, entering the church with a priest and her father…ACTION!  In some distressed flurry of Spanish she cried out and threw her bouquet to the floor.

The wedding extras were directed to be shocked!  This lady is GOOD!

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A quick picture of the beautiful bride/actress before I go…she seems to have recovered.  She is also a celebrity.  Denny Mendez, 1997 Miss Italy in the Miss Universe Pageant.  Check out her bio in Wikipedia.  Interesting (her crowning was an Italian scandal!) and well, a little bit random.

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I headed to get something to drink.  Though our bride looks flawless, I look like a wet towel.  It’s HOT!  Getting in the water or drinking lots of it are critical.  Yesterday, I tried the chocolate coconut water at the Belize Chocolate Company in town.  Also known as my favorite place to cool off with air conditioning and chocolate.

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Sweet and COLD.  I somehow left without even a piece of my favorite chocolate torte.  The water hit the spot.

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And look at these cute little bags I spied.  For a small camera or change or your phone…tres Maya chic.

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Exactly.  And now on to some crab love.  Something that I haven’t seen with my own eyes but is happening about 5 miles north on the island as we speak.  First week in July every year…

Here are Finn’s picture, manager of the Rojo Beach Bar, one of my very favorite spots AND just named a summer HOTSPOT by Conde Nast’s Traveller magazine.  Kind of a big deal!

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Here’s the article.  Conde Nast Summer Edition.

The hermies definitely think it’s a hot spot.  Here is 5am Finn and his minions.

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Heading into the water to lay eggs maybe?

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SO so so crazy.   Apparently it happens between about 8pm and 6am and then they all retreat.  If you are anywhere in the area, head out there!

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THAT is romance.

So as you can see, love IS in the air in San Pedro.  And for those who ask me how I write a blog every day (or almost every day), see how much strange stuff just this little caye provides?

To check out a cool little video of the first two days of  the filming of the telenovela, here is a Facebook link.

For more information on Rojo Beach Bar, check the link below and follow them on Facebook for more land crab love.

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