Leisa & Josephine Banana Bank Blog

2007-01-15T11:01:00.000-08:00

See !! I am keeping my promise !! Only 15 days have gone by since my last posting !! Well, I mostly wanted to share a picture I found going through my emails. I thought it is pretty cool. An aerial foto of Banana Bank. Note the pool. We had already started the tiling on it. The picture I believe was taken in October 2006. The weather has been a little crazy. Quite abit of rain for this time of the year but we are happy since it keeps everything nice and green just like you see in this picture. The dry season is just around the corner so we need every drop. Not too good for the farmers though. (The brown spots in the photo are the corn fields right after harvest) They have had to postpone their planting. At Banana Bank there are about 900 acres planted twice a year. This time of the year they plant corn and then in 6 months they will plant black-eyed-peas. These alternate crops work together well in that they prepare the land for each other.
Anyway I thought you may enjoy seeing BBL from a different angle.

2007-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

New Year New Pool !!!
Here at Banana Bank we can hardly believe it. The pool is actually done !!
After one whole year (and some) we have finally completed the pool part of the project. Now the stairway you see on the side is actually the beginning of a 3 story building which hopefully by next year will be changing rooms, open grill and restaurant, Carolyn Carr art gallery, gift shop and a whole lot of other surprises. We are so excited as to what is in store for us this coming year. What ? I heard a question. Say that again. Oh, I am being asked as to what are my New Year's Resolution is. Well, ok, the first one is that I will be better at writing in the blog...... I know I had not posted anything since October but it is not because I didn't have anything to write about.
In fact, quite the contrary. I went to the states early October and we celebrated at Epcot at Disney World for my son's birthday. It was awesome. We got to see the musical group The Three Tops and my favorite was the fireworks display and the gran finale which displays a iluminated world.
For Halloween my son fabricated his own costume. You get to guess who he is............. After Halloween we spent the month of November enjoying the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale and resting up to be ready for another busy season at Banana Bank. Oh yea, my resolution. Well this morning I woke up and I realized that my resolution was going to be based on joy. I want to find joy in all I do. I wish to spread joy to others. I think joy is a wonderful feeling. When you truly experience joy you even get goosebumps, tears flow and warmth engulfs your being. Soon we will have our new Newsletter ready. I am sure many are wondering why there has not been one sent out lately but we are working on a new method of distribution and soon......it will bring you lots of joy !!!

2006-10-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh could this little guy be any cuter ? This is a kinkajou enjoying a banana. I am going to answer a FAQ. Are kinkajous and sugar gliders realted ?? The answer is they are not. The Sugar Glider is also known as the Lesser Flying Phalanger and the Short-Headed Flying Phalanger. This possum is an arboreal (tree-dwelling) marsupial that lives in forests and rainforests of mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and some nearby islands. The kinkajou belongs to the raccoon family and is directly related to the red panda that lives in the Himalayas and China, the olingo, the civet or ring-tailed cat and cacomistle, which are New World residents. It is sometimes referred to as a honeybear because of the color of its coat and in Belize it is called a "night walker". The kinkajou has a long prehensile tail that is used for balance, as a fifth hand for climbing and for snuggling as it sleeps. It is the only member of its family with a prehensile tail. The kinkajou is also a tree-dwelling mammal and uses its ability to see in the dark to look for food during the night. This awsome creature is very abundant at Banana Bank and is often spotted in its natural habitat on our night walks being a highlight of this tour.

2006-09-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 21st of September !!!
Belize's 25th year of Independence !!!!
Banana Bank was present at the Belmopan parade and celebrations with flying colors. John Carr on Aly Banana - decorations by Carolyn Carr. The Carr family moved to Belize and Belmopan in 1977. Belmopan was already considered the capital of Belize however at that time there were only maybe a little over 3000 habitants and the city was hardly a decade old. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmopan This link has interesting information about Belmopan and it is in fact, THE SMALLEST CAPITAL IN THE ENTIRE WORLD !!! So, even another reason to visit Banana Bank Lodge which is only a few miles from Belmopan. In 1981 Belize aquired it's independence. The Carr family were actually living in Belmopan at that time and attended the ceremonies. Belmopan has grown quite abit since then and becomes a busier place every single day, it still doesn't need stop lights though !! No traffic jams in Belmopan !

2006-09-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

BETEX 2006 http://www.betex.bz
has come and gone. What a show !! It was dynamic and well organized. My special congratulations to Nicole Usher and her company Ideal Lab for their success in all they did. We are sorry to say we did not place for the best booth but an extended congratulations to Caves Branch who had the largest booth (I guess size does matter), it was a little jungle all in itself and they won the 1st Prize. Good Work Guys !!! But don't worry, Jo and I learned ALOT this show (my first, Jo's second) so watch out in 2008 !!! We are already scheming !!! We also want to thank the many people who visited our booth and took the time to learn more about Banana Bank. After the Marketplace which was held the 13th and 14th we had 20 agents visit Banana Bank for their Jungle/Wildlife Expedition. It was so much fun !! Some went horseback riding (I went also and rode Aly Cat - I love that horse) and others went on our river tour. Dinner entertainment with Pito our local folk singer. A special thanks to C & C Travel , Sunshine Travel , Joy Store Travel , Sky Travel , Carlson Wagonlit Travel http://www.carlsontravel.com/marcopolo , Travel Network , American Travel Bureau http://twopalmstravel.myatb.com ,
Focus on Travel http://www.focusontravel.com , MVP Travel http://www.mvptrvl.com ,
Ocean Blue and Associates , Pack & Go Travel http://www.packandgotravel.net , Middlesex Publications http://www.njparentweb.com and
Philadelphia Sun Newspaper http://www.philasun.com for coming to Banana Bank and allowing us to host the first portion of their expedition. Great Trip !!

2006-09-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't written anything but that's because my computer was giving me trouble. Now its working very good. Anyway, I was wanting to write about my dog Lola. Lola has been well known to Banana Bank and has become a part of everyone's family. Lola is that kind of dog that jumps up in the morning, out the door, straight in the office, greet all the office staff, out the office door and bathes herself in mud . Then runs right back to the office shakes herself , sprinkles mud all over the floor and desk then runs back outside and act like she didn't do anything. Not one day would pass without Lola bathing in the mud. This is her- isn't she cute:

2006-09-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

BETEX is around the corner and Jo and I are putting all of our creativeness together to come up with the best booth ever !! Of course we are depending on the mastermind (Carolyn Carr) of creativity for ideas ! We have our sights on the Best Booth Prize !! Any ideas & suggestions are welcome !! We are sharing a booth with our buddies from San Pedro Banana Beach and we are so looking forward to an exciting show. Not only will we be present with our booth but we also will be part of the BETEX Expedition where we are going to be hosting over 20 agents for a night. A special thanks to the organizers for allowing us this opportunity.

2006-09-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Time flys when your having fun !!! I can't believe over a week has passed since my last posting !! Well, I have a good excuse, I was visiting my sons in El Salvador !! I have 3 sons, William, the oldest, is 23 (well he will be in a few weeks) Giovanni (the artist) is 21 and Adriel who is 14 (going on 24) The purpose of the trip was to bring Adriel back to Belize after spending the summer with family in El Salvador. My mother went with me. We got on the bus in Melchor (border town between Belize and Guatemala) at 8:00 pm on Friday. We traveled all night and arrived to Guatemala City the next morning at 6:00 am. We then caught another bus from Guatemala City to San Salvador and we arrived around 11:00 am Saturday morning. The buses are really nice and comfortable with bathroom facilities, reclining seats and movies (we got to see Braveheart - a first for me) plus it is much less expensive than flying. In El Salvador we spent our time shopping, eating too much (everything from Sushi to Jungle Snow ice cream) I even went to get my hair cut and styled :) On Wednesday we headed back to Belize. Here is a picture of me with my two older sons at Multi Plaza in San Salvador (right after my haircut)
Photo starting from left to right - Giovanni, me, William

2006-08-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hi, allow me to introduce myself. I am the cutest, most photogenic, adorable, hard-working and smartest individual at Banana Bank. The girl in the purple shirt isn't bad either : )
My name is Mini-mi and I am a coatimundi. We are very abundant in Belize and Banana Bank is my home. I was about six months old in this picture and since I have gone back to the wild and I even had babies !! Sometimes I visit Banana Bank Lodge, I especially enjoy visiting the laundry area and if I am lucky they leave some laundry soap around so I can make my tail smell really nice (that is very important in Coatimundi world) The person holding me was the one who raised me. Her name is Leisa and she one of the staff members at Banana Bank and her job is to help everyone have a pleasant stay
(just like she did for me). When ever I would see her walk across the yard I would run down from my favorite tree and run across the yard and climb up to her shoulder and nibble on her ear. (but I wouldn't recommend you doing the same)