For the past couple of years, I’ve visited a different country for my birthday (Mexico & Colombia). This year, I chose Belize and I’m glad I did. As an African American Studies major at Merritt College in Oakland, CA, I’ve learned about the Garinagu (Garifuna), the Afro Indigenous people from St. Vincent.
Upon my arrival, I hadn’t planned any activities. I knew that I wanted to visit a Garifuna community and get some rest. Before my arrival to Belize City, I met two Belizean women at the gate at LAX. As we waited for our flight, they both gave me tips on how not to be overcharged and additional history of the Garifuna beyond my textbook knowledge. One even arranged for her Goddaughter to give me a tour of Belize City and I met her mom via FaceTime. Three initial strangers became instant family. I flew into Belize City for an overnight stay at The Palms Belize before I headed to a resort in Placencia.
In order to move around Belize, you have the option of a bus or a short flight with Tropic Air. I chose a flight. My flight to Placencia was less than 30 minutes. I stayed at the Umaya Resort where there was nothing but peace and quiet on a beachfront property. Placencia has various eateries where I had no complaints about the food and a golf cart can be your mode of transportation. Everyone was very nice and accommodating.
“Au bun amuru nu”
(“Me for you and you for me” )
A 15 minute flight from Plancecia landed me in Dangria, the cultural capital of Belize. There I would find a Garifuna community along with the Gulisi Garifuna Museum. A tour of Hopkins (another Garifuna village) would be arranged by one of the locals the next morning. It was there in Hopkins where I would harvest a coconut out of a tree, sit in the home of an elder that lived on the beach as he spoke to me in Garifuna (language), dine at Ella’s restaurant for my first Garifuna dish, Hudut, and visited Holy Family R.C. School.
“ I thought you were one of us.”
My personal tour of Belize included stops in Belize City, Placencia, Dangria and Hopkins. While in Dangria, I stayed at The Pelican Resort. The staff at the resort gave the history of the Garinagu through artwork. One thing that was mentioned to me was that the African country that they were connected to was Nigeria. For me, this explained why so many people thought I was Belizean and even further, Garifuna. My taxi driver to/from the Garifuna museum told me that he thought I had grew up in the states but that I came to Dangria to visit my family. The next day, I prepared to leave Dangria on a short flight to Belize City.
For the first time on any trip, I wasn’t exactly ready to leave. It saddened me to leave a place where the people just loved on me. I had already changed my flight back to the states from Belize City once. Apparently, it was written on my face. While boarding my flight, I see one of the ladies from the beginning of my trip. I was so happy to see her. We talked the whole flight and when we got off the plane she said, “you look like you’re not ready to leave” and hugged me. We got off the plane to go inside of the Belize City Airport. As I gathered my luggage, one of the Airport employees said to me, “you look like you’re not ready to leave, just change your flight!” I continued through customs and was told, I reminded someone of their sister. Another person, said “I thought you were one of us until I read your shirt.” I had my Memphis Born, Globally Made t-shirt on. We ended up having a side conversation that was resulted in me being told, “you look like you’re one of us.”
Garifuna Settlement Day in Belize /Guatemala - Nov. 19th /Nov. 26th
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