Blogs from Dangriga, Stann Creek District, Belize, Central America Caribbean

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One week in Belize! One week of yoga, nature, and adventures! The yoga retreat was organized by Maya Valley Yoga Retreats and was held at Toucan Ridge Ecological and Education Society (TREES) in the Stann Creek District of Belize. I had my own cabin, with our yoga space a few steps away, and meals in a shared space prepared by a vegetarian chef! Each day we ate amazing food and practiced yoga morning and late afternoon. The yoga teachers were lovely and all of the other yogis were a special group! Each day a different optional excursion was offered. My favorites by far were: snorkeling in Tobacco Caye (pronounced "key"), the Belize Zoo, and St. Herman's Cave. Our snorkeling day was a beautiful blue sky day. On our boat, on the way to Tobacco Caye, we ... read more
TREES yoga space
Jaguar at Belize Zoo
Stork at Belize Zoo


Dangriga is the capital of the Southern Region of Belize. It is a laid back, working town on the coast and doesn't itself have much to do. During the week that I have been staying here, the town has grown on me and shown a lot more character than I have anticipated. It's population is a varied culture of people, from Mayans, To Garfuna, Creol and apparently the ChineSE who run the supermarkets! With regards to elective, We have been working in the Southern Region hospital which is a lot more developed that I expected- it has paeds, Obs and gynae, surgery and internal medicine as well as a polyclinic (which is basically GP). The populations main obvious problem is diabetes, which can be easily explained by the sugary drinks and cheap fried food available everywhere. ... read more


So the next leg of my trip was in Belize. It was a short one because Belize is substantially more expensive. Thijs and I left for the border around mid morning, two shuttles, a taxi, and two busses later we arrived in Dangriga, Belize. Dangriga is known as the Garifuna center of Belize. The Garifuna people are a mixed race of carribean slaves and South American natives. They speak a dialect of English that is very hard to understand. But its cool! We had decided to skip Caye Caulker, the backpacker mecca of Belize, and go for more culture. The Garifuan people were very friendly and their food was good. I must pause to explain that Mexican food is the best by far on my trip so far. Guatemala had close to no food culture eventhough ... read more
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Tabacco Caye
View from balcony


After Orange Walk we got up early in the morning to take the bus to Dangriga in the south. This was our first experience of public buses - now we are far more expert. I badly timed a trip to the bathroom before the bus ride - returning when chad and the bags were on the bus, all the seats were taken and people were cramming on so they wouldn’t get off. I could see chad right down the end of the bus, and I had to struggle my way through people who did not want me to pass (and potentially take their seats, even though they weren’t moving down themselves) and get to my seat. Though, when I got there, chad had been kicked out of his seat. He gracisouly gave me the only seat ... read more
rum & coke in paper cups
Dangriga beach
jelly fish (?) on beach


In going through some photo CDs that I have, I discovered pictures that I'd never placed on my computer or shared with you. Turner and I had traveled to Belize in 2005 to visit friend Rodger Christopher. We briefly experienced Belize City before traveling and being chauffeured by Rodger to his base of Sittee River Village. The towns of Dangriga and Hopkins Village were part of our experience as well. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures at Mama Noots where we had a blast while at the Mayflower Bocawina National Park. Rodger has the Sittee River Lodge and invites visitors. The web address is http://sitteeriverlodge.com/index.html. You will love the area. This is not one of the resort areas. Sittee River is just as great but not the coast. The area in this part of Belize sports Mayan ... read more
At Sittee River Lodge - 2
Jerry, Rodger and Enfield on dock
Just to the left of Rodger's dock


Hello there amigos Unfortunately we're not able to upload photos on this computer - so we can't show you the photo of adam wrestling the shark, but needless to say we ate well that night ;-) Thanks for all your messages - sorry if we're not replying to them individually .. but it's great to hear from you all ... just in response to a couple though ... Taragh - adam shooed the tarantula to the room next door - phew hannah - mobiles firmly off - hurrah kate - you may not do long haul ... but you really would love it out here H - which country is that ?! a lot of you mentioned the floods back home - bummer - but you'll be glad (?) to hear there's been some major flooding ... read more


The ultimate barrier reef... read more


It was the weirdest thing in the world to cross the boarder into Belize and all the sudden be reading signs in English. We had to adjust to speaking English, although the local language is Garifuna, the people also speak using a sing-song English that is a blast to listen to. The bottom line is that we don't know which language to use. While here in Belize we plan to spend copious amounts of time on the beach. I am also having a drum handmade by a drum maker here in Dangriga, the town we are at. The drum maker's name is Austin Rodriguez. He has been making drums for 37 years. Mahogany shell and deer skin drum head. Pretty exciting! Life is slow here in Belize. Nobody is in a hurry...ever. I am wearing a ... read more
On the Caribbean
Ruthie
Our Cabana


Belize...home...so familiar...so welcoming...I can't tell you how happy I was when my feet stepped on to Belizean soil. Not that I didn't like Honduras, because I truly did. I was just ready for friends, fellowship, English! So I had a couple of days to relax and do a little trip set up before Jennie and Jason (my co-workers) arrived. The village we were ministering in was Dangriga. A quite, calm village right on the coast. It's about a 2.5 hour drive south of Belize City. And that drive is absolutely gorgeous, driving through mountains passing villages. I was super excited to see Jennie and Jason! I had spent too much alone time in Honduras. Even though I enjoy and need alone time, I had had enough, and that says a lot coming from me. I ... read more
Praying Pelican Missions mascot
Kelsey...my fav
Crazy Doctor


South Water Caye is part of the South Water Caye Marine reserve. It's home to a huge collection of coral reefs just a half hour boat ride from Dangriga. Our group stayed at the International Zoological Expeditions lodge (IZE) and got classroom instructions on how to identify and evaluate coral health. The beach on the south side of the island was incredible. It had a breath-taking view of Victoria Peak, and the reef could be accessed right from the beach. Other than that, it was a pretty sleepy little island and what time we didn't spend on the beach was out on the reefs. This place was amazing.... read more




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