Below are some of the comments from guest that visited us during the month February 2013.  Thanks to everyone you choose Hamanasi as your vacation destination. We hope that you all had an amazing Hamanasi experience!  We do hope to see each and every one of you again sometime in the near future. All the best from The Hamanasi Team!

“All of the staff we came in contact with was great.  So I must congratulate Management.  All of your staff has been oriented to all aspects of the organization and are helpful and knowledgeable.”

Bob and Elaine Hiatt, Topeka, KS

“Can’t imagine any better service!  Beautiful touches everywhere.”

Laura, Dennis and Tess Renfro, West Hartford, CT

“You are doing an incredible job!”

Ron and Dana Teitler, Middleton, MA

“Everything was absolutely wonderful.  We really enjoyed the beach setup. Really enjoyed the fresh produce and local focus; local products, local people and environmentally friendly is why we choose you”

Amanda and Cody White Lake, MI

“Keep up the excellent work!  Your eco friendly efforts were one of the best aspects for us, especially the vegetable garden, fruit trees.”

Steven Curtis and Family, Ontario, Canada

“We had a wonderful time, and Hamanasi made our honeymoon absolutely perfect!”

Kate Willcox and Andrew Deeringer, Sacramento, CA

“Done to perfection! Showed great respect for heritage and environment.”

Carol Robinson and Family, Sioux City, IA

“You have a magic atmosphere here already.  Whatever you are doing is working perfectly.”

Zachary and Shelly Cihak, Denver, CO

February was the month for World Spay Day.   For the third year in a row, HBHS hosted World Spay Day clinics to spread the message of spaying and neutering pets for the betterment of the world’s health.  HBHS has recently extended their coverage area to the south, servicing the smaller villages of Redbank and San Roman. Taking on these new villages in addition to the five we have currently been servicing has been a joy. The need is so great, and the desire for pet health care is huge.

With Dr. Orlando Baptist taking the lead, the HBHS team spayed and neutered 42 animals over the four day event, while also performing several tumor removals, eye surgery, beef worm removal, treating skin conditions, and many other things that present themselves during HBHS free clinics.  HBHS is so incredibly proud of out team of workers, volunteers and supporters.  Because of you, the animals AND people of Belize are healthier.

December 1st was a big night for Hamanasi as 3 of our staff members competed in the Belize Tourism Board’s “Taste of Belize” event held in the Cayo District. This competition determines the best chef, cake decorator and bartender in Belize. Hamanasi’s chefs took home 2 of the coveted prizes and our bartender came in second! The Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hon. Manuel Heredia opened the event, which consisted of 3 different competitions, Cake Decorating, Bartending and Master Chef for 2012. The evening kicked off with Hamanasi’s very own Executive Chef Sheridan Polanco creating an absolute masterpiece. The cake, which had a Mayan theme in honor of Maya 2012, took her just under 3 hours to decorate and won her the title of Belize’s Cake Decorator of the Year. Her inspiration was the Mayan chocolate fruit also known as “Black Sapote” which she tied into the whole story of the Mayan calendar and the history of the Mayan traditions here in Belize. Yum!! (Chef Sheridan image courtesy of San Ignacio Hotel)

The second event featured three bartenders competing for the title of Belize’s Top Bartender. Hamanasi’s “mixologist” Mark Jacobs invented 3 outstanding cocktails. The first was a Belizean Beauty, second was The Energizer and finally he wowed the crowd with his Monkey Business Creation. The final challenge was a mystery box in which he only had a few minutes to create a drink with Craboo Cream and Traveller Bitters. The result was the tangy Belizean Stinger. Mark earned second place in the competition!

The third and final event saw chefs countrywide going head to head for the title of Master Chef. The challenge: cook three meals with four mystery ingredients in one hour. After preparing a full meal made with all the mystery ingredients the panel of four judges chose Hamanasi Chef Marcia Nuñez as Belize’s Master Chef for 2012! The first elimination round was an appetizer, where Chef Marcia made a Zucchini & Sardine fritter sprinkled with a watermelon salsa. The second challenge was the main entrée. This time she created a delicious pan-fried pork chop and hibiscus cilantro potatoes drizzled with a papaya, cashew & white wine sauce. This put her into the top two ending the final challenge with dessert. This time Chef Marcia made a bacon, peanut & cream cheese wrap served with a stout reduction. Chef Marcia exclaimed, “I was so happy to win! I enjoy cooking and love to experiment with food and create new dishes filled with flavour.” And we love to eat your food, Marcia! Well done. (Chef Marcia and Bartender Mark images courtesy of The San Pedro Sun)

Hamanasi congratulates Chef Marcia, Chef Sheridan and Bartender Mark for competing well in Taste of Belize 2012. We hope to share their delicious creations with you!

Thanks to our entire guest that visit us on October 2012. We hope that you all had an amazing Hamanasi experience! Below are some of the comments from guest that visited us during the month of October. We do hope to see each and every one of you again sometime in the near future. All the best from Hamanasi staff and Management.

“We had our perfect “UNBELIZEABLE and beyond our expectations” 10th year anniversary. Thank you! Hamanasi, you were al amazing.”

Chris and Elissa Langeuegger, Austin, TX

“We’re happy that the eco friendly efforts is such a strong part of Hamanasi’s culture and that the guides stress it.”

Scott and Keri Agin, Chicago, IL

“The personal attention and hospitality of the entire staff was excellent. The food was first class. I am happy to see the commitment of the resort.”

Bobby and Paul Vargo, Lancaster, CA

“We can’t say enough about the wonderful atmosphere at Hamanasi. Please stay small! It makes it so much more welcoming. Your staff is what absolutely makes this place attractive. Very family feel here, totally pampered us. Thank you so much!”

Dorothy and Mike Ewenel, Ontario, Canada

“Everything was so wonderful! We loved every minute of our stay and are so sorry to leave. We had a wonderful and beautiful honeymoon. The staff is unbelievable! We will miss them.”

Shannon Atkins and Robert Schulenberg, Herndon, VA

“What a magical way to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We’ll be back again for sure! Thank you Hamanasi and Hopkins for being such lovely hosts during our stay. “

Allison and Wade Sisson, Knightdale, NC

“Keep doing what you are doing. First class place!”

Collin and Jenny Steward, Harlingen, TX

“We can’t imagine better service. The staff obviously happy and proud to be here, we want to take them home with us!”

Caryn Wolf and Ford Frazier, Oakland, CA

A BIG thank you to all our Hamanasi guests that somehow contributed towards the Back to School Project 2012, we could not have done this without you all.

From a pack of pencils, story books, crayons up to school bags, all these donations were given to the needed school children from Hopkins, Maya Center and Silk Grass which brought big smiles to their faces. 

The month of September was blessed with all the free clinics that the HBHS had for our animals from Hopkins, Dangriga, Silk Grass and Seine Bight.  They started the week with the Carroll County Vets Without Borders team of Tina Cone, Ramona Hambrick, and Anita Beeson — Belize veterans all. The idea was to have a half day clinic on Sunday, just to get back in the groove, and not be too rushed. Ha! FORTY TWO dogs showed up between 1pm – 4pm, needing surgeries (7), treatments and check ups! Thank goodness we had plenty of help! Volunteers from Saga Humane Society (Heather Beck and Kathy Marin), Humane Society International, and our regular crew managed to make some sense out of the starting gun dash out of the gate.

Next, ten of them caravanned to Seine Bight on Monday morning, to partner with the Placencia Humane Society for a two day clinic. PHS had secured the brand new Seine Bight community center, and they were blessed with plenty of space! Over two days, Dr. Tina Cone and Dr. Orlando Baptist treated almost 100 animals. The collaboration between HBHS, PHS, Saga Humane, Humane Society International, Dr. Baptist and the Carroll County Vets Without Borders was magical.   They returned to Hopkins for another busy half day clinic on Wednesday, seeing 33 animals, 12 of which were surgeries. Then on to Dangriga on Thursday, where they partnered with Dangriga Pet Care to treat EIGHTY FOUR animals between 8am and 4pm. They were working Dr. Cone all full capacity, when Dr. Kathy Kvam, arriving for her clinics the next week, stopped by having just arrived at the Dangrgiga airport… and jumped right into surgery. They were grateful she was such a trooper.  Dr. Cone, having well earned a rest, then passed the baton to Dr. Kvam.  Dr. Kvam and her team of Kerry O’Donoghue, Karin Mixon, Kevin Guyer and Tom McNeely then hosted 3.5 days of clinic in Hopkins, treating 98 animals, 50 spays and neuters and 4 other surgeries.  IN TOTAL…  Dr. Tina, Ramona, Anita and Dr. Kvam, Kerry, Karin, Kevin and Tom treated 376 animals, did 88 spays and neuters, and 10 other surgeries, including broken legs, tumor removal, exploratory surgeries and various wounds.

While we were closed in September for yearly renovations, Dive Master Shawn Lozano better known as “C-Dog” took time out of his vacation to go to Honduras and attend the PADI Instructor Development Course with Utila Divers. The course is run by Andy Phillips and it took two weeks to complete. It  entailed long days of class and water works culminating  in a two day exam which he sailed thru. C-Dog has now join the ranks of PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and he is very enthusiastic for this coming season as a Hamanasi Instructor. He is looking forward to creating fantastic new divers and impart his knowledge of the marine environment with his new students.  Hamanasi is very proud of his efforts and wishes him the best of luck!

Below is a selection of comments from guests at Hamanasi this September. From the Hamanasi staff to all of our guests this past month, Thank you for coming. We hope you had a great time, and we can’t wait to have you back!

“I have travelled many places in my life and this is by far one of the most fabulous boutique resorts I have stayed at.”

Maureen Evaskevich, Alberta, Canada

“Our stay has been absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for all your eco friendly efforts.”

Marsha McArthur, Parker, CO

“Don’t grow too much and too fast to lose that venture one on one service attitude, that personal by name friendship your staff builds is perfect. We’ve spend many vacations in the tropics over the years and I wish we’d have found Hamanasi sooner.”

David & Pam Metzger, Amherst, OH

“What a welcome change to stay with a family who cares so much about leaving as little negative impact as possible.”

Jana & William Sprayberry, Boerne, TX

“Continue doing what you do. You’ve got it down right!”

William Roell and Family, Waynesville, MO

“Hamanasi has 3 things that set it apart. Best staff/great atmosphere/best variety of trips.”

Jon and Renee Gregory, Oxon Hill, MD

“Love the natural atmosphere and that you keep as much nature as possible.”

Tricia Wynne, Bronx, NY

“I have fallen in love with Hamanasi with all the wonderful staff. I want to be more eco-friendly because of Hamanasi!”

Samuel and Praisy Matthew, New York, NY

“You and your staff are superb ambassadors for Hamanasi and Belize. The staff is so proud of Hamanasi, of Hopkins and of Belize. We will miss you all.”

Scott Valentine and Family, Des Moris, Iowa

“The eco-friendly efforts were very noticeable and added a nice touch to the experience.”

Jessica Patton and Andrew Overton, Long Island City, NY

“Thanks for making our honeymoon an unforgettable experience!

Jessica and Kai Nielson, Vancouver, Canada

“Stay simple and relaxing! You have a very good operation going.”

Jamie Trout, Herndon, VA

“Everyone was amazing – nice – again above and beyond. Keep it the same, very personal. Keep the resort small and intimate. It’s excellent and we can fell everyone is passionate about great service. “

Charles Ablores and Family, Spring, TX

“Keep doing what you do – getting to know your guests even though your stay is short is a wonderful personal touch.”

Mike and Colleen Way, Calgary, Canada

“How to improve perfection? No suggestions, it was perfect!”

James and Becky Carter, Odessa, TX

“Keep doing what you are doing. Your people are your greatest assets.”

Caitlin Burns and Family, Angola, IN

“This place is A+++. I loved feeling part of the Hamanasi family. Every detail was thought of. Thank you for an amazing vacation.”

Stacey and Rob Bladen, Herriman , UT

“Hamanasi has 3 things that set it apart. Best staff/great atmosphere/best variety of trips.”

Jon and Renee Gregory, Oxon Hill, MD

The Sittee River Seventh Day Adventist Church hosted a summer vacation Bible School program for a week where over 32 children from Sittee River Village attended. Mrs. Shelmadine Robinson, born and raised in Sittee River was the organizer of this event and was very happy with the attendance. She is a children lover and is very passionate of giving back to the kids and community. Art and Crafts, singing, acting classes and many more fun activities were all included in the program.

Thanks to all our guest who have contributed and continue to supporting our Back to School program, with your assistance we were able provide suitable supplies along with school bags to the children  who attended this year  Summer Bible School Program.