Belize
This is a very small country in terms of population. It is almost the same size of El Salvador, which has about 6 million people. And Belize? Just about 312,000 people! Serious, no typo! I spent a few days in Dangriga and Punta Gorda, both south of Belize City, and the experience was very good.
Dangriga (Griga), Belize
In Griga I made a very good friend, Jasper, a Garifuna man who has done all sort of jobs and traveled around the world. We spent an entire morning talking about his life and what it means to be a Garifuna. Along the way, we stopped at the Gulisi Museum and Pen Cayetano's Art Gallery. In the evening we went with some other guys to a local bar for traditional drumming and dancing.
The Gulisi Museum has a collection of pictures, literature, videos and artifacts that explain the Garifuna culture and history.
Garifunas are a cultural mix of Carib, Arawak and West African people. They concentrate in the Caribbean side of Central America, particularly in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. Something interesting about the language is that some terms are used by gender, creating situations in which men and women would say the same thing in two different ways.
Their culture is very interesting in every way. I particularly like their music. Punta and Dumming are as Garifuna as the people themselves. Two of the most prominent Garifuna music performers are Pen Cayetano and Andy Palacio.
Garifuna Drumming is one of the most interesting experiences I have ever had. A group of men start playing with their drums and turtle shells, and the entire room and street is transformed into something else - alive and exciting. A group of women dance to the beats while singing all with one voice, using "call and response" tunes. The dancer and the drummer communicate by looking into each other's eyes and feeling the rhythm, coming up with a very exciting combination of drum and turtle shell beats and step dances. For a video in youtube of a Garifuna dance, click here.
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| Picture from Pen Cayetano's website http://www.cayetano.de/ |
Pen Cayetano included guitars and a faster beat, creating a new variation of Punta called Punta Rock. He was also the first member of the Original Turtle Shell Band. Pen exposes his paintings in his Art Gallery, where he also has a small collection of Garifuna tools to cook Cassava Bread and other cultural artifacts. For a video in youtube with a brief explanation about Punta Rock on Pen's own words, click here.
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| Picture from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Palacio |
Andy Palacio (1960-2008) was one of the most important exposers of Punta Rock, and a Garifuna activist. His music is really good, although I have difficulties understanding the lyrics of his songs mainly because they are mixed with Belizean English, Garifuna and other dialects. What I do understand more easily and totally appreciate is the meaning of his messages. His songs have deep meanings that have to do with the Garifuna culture and identity, and national consciousnes. For a video about Andy's last album Watina, click here.
Hopkins and Punta Gorda (PG), Belize
I had no time and money for a trip to the cayes in the Belize Barrier Reef, second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. So, I looked for beaches near the coast line. Griga's beach is not necessarily nice. There is no sand and the water is brown. Further south there is Hopkins, a Garifuna fishermen village (1,000 pop) with a very short sand beach and lots of palm trees. I stayed here for a few hours, then hitch hiked my way back to Griga for one more night.
PG is about three hours south. Here, I stayed with some friends who are volunteers at Peace Corps. One night we went to see some drumming at Ocean's View. I liked the one I had experienced in Griga a bit more, but it was good.
The day after we went to a soccer match, which was a fundraiser event in Santa Cruz. We were riding on the back of a truck, on Super Bumpy Road, but the view of the villages along the way was very nice. My back was in pain for two days after that and my team didn't win, but we had fun playing.
Back to PG, we spent the night at Bamboo, a new place in town for beer and a view of the water. At the distance I could see the lights at Puerto Barrios, in Guatemala.
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
At this point I only had 4 days left before heading to El Salvador, my last stop in Central America. On the boat ride from PG to Puerto Barrios in Guatemala I met a Canadian journalist. We had a good conversation about the coup in Honduras, the war in Iraq, and some interesting facts about Canadian law. Seems to be Canada still has some laws from the time when the Queen of England was the head of State. Who knew!
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| Picture from Wikipedia http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_Sula |
I spent one night in San Pedro Sula at Tamarindo Hostel. It is not cheap to be here or anywhere in the city, and it is far from downtown, but it is a comfortable place and the staff is very helpful. Earlier, at the border with El Salvador, I had run into a German friend I had met in Quetzaltenango, and also met a Swiss girl who turned out to be a Salsa dancer. We prepared pasta and salad for dinner, and for drinks they mixed beer with ginger ale... wierd, but good. Next day I walked around, but didn't get to see much of the city and didn't take any pictures.
Gracias Lempira, Honduras
Gracias is one of the colonial towns in the Ruta Lenca and a part of the Colosuca region on the western side of Honduras. I thought it was a mix between Antigua and Granada. The architecture, the streets, the colors are all very old, which gives the town a very colonial air.
Gracias was established in 1526, and at one point was the capital of Spanish Central America. It then became the Capital of Honduras before it was moved to Tegucigalpa. There are three very old churches from the XVIII and XX centuries. The San Marcos and Las Mercedes churches are very nice, with impressive decorations on the outside. I also visited Casa Galeano, which is a museum of the culture and history of Colosuca. Not too far from it there is Castillo San Cristobal, where I had a good view of the town.
The termal waters are close from the downtown area. Walking back I met a young archeologist from Holland. It was very interesting to talk about the differences between the different indigenous groups in Central America and the Caribbean. I also met a group of Hondurans at a food stand in the park for dinner. Every day, I came to the park for a cup of coffee at the tower, right in the middle. The place is relaxing,has a good view of the streets around, and coffee is good.
There some good pictures and more information about Gracias at http://blog.graciaslempira.com/
Colosuca
This is a region of colonial towns in west Honduras. Gracias forms part of this region. Leyend has it that Colosuca was a woman whom Gad converted to bird. She had lots of children and was always asking God for help. In turn, he turned her into a bird. I didn't get an explenation as to why God would do this, but it would have to be a good one, plus, I am not sure yet what happened with the children.
The indigenous groups in this region are Lenca, the largest in Honduras. They have their own language and traditions, but very few are now left. The villages stretching from Santa Rosa de Copán to Macala, including Gracias, and continuing into El Salvador form the Ruta Lenca. One of their religious traditions is the Guancasco, in which two towns exchange images of saints and celebrate with traditional costumes and dances. It is still practiced in a few towns, and symbolizes friendship and peace.
I wished I had had more time to spend in both Belize and Honduras. These two countries have a lot of cultural history and beautiful natural settings. Maybe next time I will. Now, I am in El Salvador, spending time with my family from my mother's side. I visit them every 5 years, and it is always so good to see them.
I am in my last stop here in Central America, next is Europe... yes, to the other side of the pond! First stop is Prague.
Photo albums
Gracias is one of the colonial towns in the Ruta Lenca and a part of the Colosuca region on the western side of Honduras. I thought it was a mix between Antigua and Granada. The architecture, the streets, the colors are all very old, which gives the town a very colonial air.
Gracias was established in 1526, and at one point was the capital of Spanish Central America. It then became the Capital of Honduras before it was moved to Tegucigalpa. There are three very old churches from the XVIII and XX centuries. The San Marcos and Las Mercedes churches are very nice, with impressive decorations on the outside. I also visited Casa Galeano, which is a museum of the culture and history of Colosuca. Not too far from it there is Castillo San Cristobal, where I had a good view of the town.
The termal waters are close from the downtown area. Walking back I met a young archeologist from Holland. It was very interesting to talk about the differences between the different indigenous groups in Central America and the Caribbean. I also met a group of Hondurans at a food stand in the park for dinner. Every day, I came to the park for a cup of coffee at the tower, right in the middle. The place is relaxing,has a good view of the streets around, and coffee is good.
There some good pictures and more information about Gracias at http://blog.graciaslempira.com/
Colosuca
This is a region of colonial towns in west Honduras. Gracias forms part of this region. Leyend has it that Colosuca was a woman whom Gad converted to bird. She had lots of children and was always asking God for help. In turn, he turned her into a bird. I didn't get an explenation as to why God would do this, but it would have to be a good one, plus, I am not sure yet what happened with the children.
The indigenous groups in this region are Lenca, the largest in Honduras. They have their own language and traditions, but very few are now left. The villages stretching from Santa Rosa de Copán to Macala, including Gracias, and continuing into El Salvador form the Ruta Lenca. One of their religious traditions is the Guancasco, in which two towns exchange images of saints and celebrate with traditional costumes and dances. It is still practiced in a few towns, and symbolizes friendship and peace.
I wished I had had more time to spend in both Belize and Honduras. These two countries have a lot of cultural history and beautiful natural settings. Maybe next time I will. Now, I am in El Salvador, spending time with my family from my mother's side. I visit them every 5 years, and it is always so good to see them.
I am in my last stop here in Central America, next is Europe... yes, to the other side of the pond! First stop is Prague.
Photo albums
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