I'm alittle late for this entry since I'm already back in the states few days ago but I wanted to document my experience in the southern part of Belize. Punta Gorda is quite a distance from San Ignacio since its located in the Toledo district which is in the south region of Belize. The area is mainly a quick overnight stay for travelers commuting toward Guatemala or to northern Belize, tourists usually don't traverse to this area since it carries less attractions. Its definitely the country side in these parts of the region and there are a number of Mayan villages scattered around where mainly the Kechi and Mopan languages are spoken. There are many other ethnicities in the area from Garifunas to East Indians to Mestizos so its more of ingredients to make up a salad type of environment.
The roads in the area are basically dirt ones where you're going to expect a bumpy ride everytime and hope the vehicle has good shocks except for the one main highway. Interesting observation during my ride to my destination is that there is quite a bit of Amish population (Mennonities) in different parts of Toledo district. And the weird thing is I don't think they speak English the way people are accustomed to hearing from the United States like its almost blended with another language that sounded like German. I arrived in Punta Gorda as being the only remaining rider getting off at the bus terminal which of course nearby people were looking at me as we pass by the neighborhood. I walked around a small bit just to survey my surroundings and its definitely a small town but seems tight-knit to me.
I did finally got to my lodging which is called Hickatee Cottages that is 2 miles outside of town on a dirt path road leading to a nearby Mayan village. I couldn't really do anything when I arrived in town since it was already late in the afternoon due to the buses run less frequently and it would require time and distance to reach the remote attractions. Though I made it for the lodging's once a week Garifuna drumming lesson which was a real treat and is a major stable in Garifuna culture. I got to observe our instructor Ray, whom is one of the best Garifuna drummers in the country and put on a performance display with great dexterity. It was definitely fun but very challenging to focus on providing the specific sound for certain type of rhythmic songs on these Garifuna drums myself. Obviously its similar to modern drums except you are using hands and not drum sticks but hitting at specific regions of the drum will create different sounds such as bass, tenor, etc..
The Cacao trail tour is something people should experience to get an idea how the beans could be made into hot drinks or chocolate. The tour was taken place on a few acre owned land by our Mayan guide Elado, and he harvested his crops close to his village for short distance travel. He showed us the appearance of the light and dark types of Cacao beans and how they vary in different tastes and contrasts. The primitive process of collecting Cacao beans and turning it into a drink or chocolate will take about 3 weeks roughly. But of course using modern technology will shorten the process time but drying Cacao beans out in the open is still the main stable for making the finished products. To finish up after seeing the development side of making cacao products, we headed out to Blue Creek Cave for some cave swimming.
I never experienced this before and it was exciting and obviously dangerous for the unknown. We geared up with lifevests and helmets with lights since entering the cave will be dark as well as embarking further into the caverns. This was the time to try out my underwater camera for the first in real world conditions, it worked but since it was pitch dark, my camera always switched into nightmode when I was shooting and filming. The swim throughout the cave was pretty exhilarating even though I'm not much of a swimmer, there were some areas where you had to climb out of the water onto some rocks to pass through some sections of the cave and get back into the water.
We only reached the 1st waterfall in the cave which was maybe a half-mile distance from the entrance and the strong water currents from the waterfall prevented us from proceeding on further into the cave so we headed back. The only bad thing about being in Punta Gorda or Toledo district in general is that it rains all year long and doesn't matter what season of the year, especially in the evening when the rain fall becomes heavy down pours. Though the rain makes it easier to not stand the heat when the sky is cloudy but walking in muddy roads is always never a good thing. The market area is very lively in downtown Punta Gorda and its an area where you do people watching even when it maybe seem people are not doing anything except walking around.
Snorkeling around the Snake Cayes east of Punta Gorda was the highlight of my experience in the southern region. There was quite abit of marine life I observed while snorkeling including an barracuda while I took photos and video with my underwater camera. That was the very first time experiencing sand fleas and they are more vicious than mosquitoes, they are just relentless with all those biting until you get into the water. All in all I enjoyed my stay in Punta Gorda and Belize in general and would look forward to visit again though trying out another area of the country that is less touristy is more of my interest.
Snorkeling at one of the Snake Caye islands off the coast of Punta Gorda
