The Garifuna Belize is one of the earliest people in the country. Learn the many ways that you can experience Garifuna culture and tradition in Belize.

Know about the Garifuna people more

Drumming by the beach, moving with junkanu dancers and eating plates of mashed plantain aren’t exactly experiences that you’d imagine on a trip to Belize. In fact, you’d have to venture off the newbie trail, and go to the Toledo Districts and southern Stann Creek to experience the unique Afro-Caribbean Garifuna culture of Belize. The Garifuna live along the coast, in the most picturesque areas of the country where miles of beach run east to south. Garifuna Belize is one of the smallest groups in the country, making up a mere 4 percent of a total population of around 325,000.

Descendants of West Africans and Carib Indians, The Garifuna escaped Spanish slave ships that were wrecked off the coast of St. Vincent in 1635. When the British invaded in 1763, the Garifuna exiled to Roatan, where they then migrated to mainland Honduras and then along the coast to Nicaragua, Guatemala and in Belize via a digout canoe in 1802. There are about 500,000 Garifuna worldwide, with large populations in the United States. An estimated 15,00 remain in Belize, particularly in Barranco, Punta Gorda, Seine Bight, Dangriga and Hopkins. Below are some ways to experience their place and culture.

1. Visit a Garifuna Museum

Belize’s main collection of Garifuna artifacts is housed at the Luba Garifuna Museum in Belize City. Housed here are arts and crafts, cooking utensils, books, photographs and traditional clothing. Others that are worth visiting are the Barranco Culture House in the Toledo District and the Gulisi Garifuna Museum in Dangriga.

2. Taste traditional Garifuna dishes

Traditional dishes is made up of fish, cassava, masshed plantains and coconut. Every Garifuna kitchen has cooking utensils like mortar and peste, coconut graters and other tools from their West Africal ancenstry. At Hopkins Village are eateries that offer traditional dishes to expose visitors to local cuisine, with their most popular offering: hudut, which is fish cooked in coconut broth served with mashed potatoes.

3. Take drumming lessons

Drums represent their African ancestors connection, and is a symbol of the Garifuna culture. In Hopkins, the Lebeha Drumming Center offers group and individual lessons. Students can learn the difference between segundo and primero drums and paranda and punta beats. The Warasa Garifuna Drum School is Punta Gorda is another good choice.

4. Tour a cassava bread farm

Just a few miles outside Dangriga is a family-run Sabal Farm produces the Garifuna staple cassava bread. This cracker-like snack is sold across the different parts of Belize. This is the only cassava-making farm in Belize. They’ve been here for 25 years and bake twice a week.

5. Create a drum

On a corner of Y-Not Island in Dangriga carves the finest Garifuna drums of the country. Stop by their beachfront space for a scheduled or impromptu lesson in exchange for a donation. You can try any of its crafting stage, from hollowing out the wood to preparing and attaching the deer skin. You can also buy an autographed instrument on your way out.

6. Visit Hopkins Village

Hopkin’s Garifuna Village has almost 5 miles of sand, with a few people in sight at one time. Aside from the distant drums, there are no noise or vendors. The village has a wide range of Garifuna restaurants, affordable accommodation and a drumming school. This is a great place to experience Garifuna culture.

7. Experience Garifuna Settlement Day

On November 19 every year, the Belize Garifuna Settlement Day celebrates the arrival of the Garifuna people in the country by dugout canoe. It comes complete with a live reenactment on the shores of Dangriga. The day goes on with a religious ceremony, drumming on the streets and an afternoon parade.

Garifuna Belize is one of the most interesting things about Belize that’s worth discovering

Once you’re done with your adventures and touring, take things slow and spend a day or two discovering the beauty of the Garifuna people and their culture in the Belize garifuna community. Afterwards, you’ll have a better understanding of the richness of this Belize’s history. Ask about touring packages to Garifuna Villages now to get the best rates.