Greetings!
We have returned safely to Houston from Belize, and we have exciting news. But, I will tell you about that later. First, I would like to share with you about our time in Belize.
My son and I were invited to Punta Gorda by the Wagiya Foundation Belize. We were hosted because I served as a fundraiser for a project with Wagiya to assist the Garifuna community of Seine Bight with aesthetic revitalization in order to boost their tourism economy.
We flew in from Haiti to Belize’s international airport, with a layover in Miami, and then caught a local flight to Punta Gorda. Our local flight was covered due to my service work, but it would have cost us each about $100 – 200US, depending on the season, to fly from Belize International to Punta Gorda. Another option, which we employed on the way back, is to take the local bus. Catching a taxi to the bus station is $25US from the airport, and then the bus trip is about $12US per person to Punta Gorda. The flight was pretty short, but the bus ride takes 6 – 8 hours.
Local flight to Punta Gorda
View from local flight
My son and I really enjoyed both the airport and the local flight. The airport lounge featured long wooden benches with a tilt that allowed you to learn back in your seat, rather than upright metal chairs. It was small and enclosed enough that I could walk around while my son sat, without feeling paranoid. There were also little stores inside with local food and crafts for sale. We ordered two large cinnamon buns, cooked from scratch, while waiting on our plane.
Once inside of the small plane, we settled into the very back seat, joking about how we were having this movie star experience on a ‘hood budget. As the plane rose and dipped with the wind, our stomachs tossed and tumbled, but it was never so bad as to make us sick. It felt like riding on a very non-intimidating rollercoaster, or more fittingly, in a flying car. There were only 10 seats on the plane, so we bonded with the other passengers as we appreciated the amazing scenery.
Trees from above
Once we arrived in Punta Gorda, we met our host and took a taxi to her beautiful farm. My son and I shared a one bed cabin there surrounded by fruit trees of every kind, healing herbs, salad greens, and fragrant flowers. As far as cons – a creek ran behind our cabin which, while scenic, attracted plenty of mosquitoes. There were also howling monkeys in the rainforest around us. They do not harm you, but they make a horrific noise that sounds like the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park growling menacingly. If I was not warned about them beforehand, I would have been scared out of my mind the first night hearing their growls.
Our shared bed
Over the first few days, as we got acclimated to the land, linked up with our expat friends, and met new friends, we also got absolutely torn up by mosquitoes and sand flies. Although I was using my same homemade mosquito spray (lavender and citronella) that had been very effective in Haiti, these Belizean creatures were swarming their way through it. Besides that minor inconvenience, everything was sweet as a ripe mango. We didn’t do anything too high energy on the first few days, as we were still quite tired from sweating and working hard in Haiti. We toured around the town, ate lots of fresh fish, vegetables, and mango, swam in the ocean, and spent time with friends. I also took my son to a Garifuna drum class.
Beach within walking distance of where we stayed in PG
Children at Garifuna Drum Class
Fish, beans and rice, and veggies provided by Drums not Guns Garifuna Drum Class
On the third or fourth day, we headed up to Seine Bight by bus to meet with the townspeople and plan the painting project and market day. We stayed with friends on the beach in Plascencia and I plotted my revenge on the Punta Gorda biting insects committee.
Seine Bight Multipurpose Center
Beach in Seine Bight, Garifuna community near Plascencia
We had a lovely time in Plascencia, having deep conversations with friends, eating, swimming, and enjoying the scenery. I also researched adjustments to my homemade mosquito spray to protect me and my son from future attacks. The solution was to use an oil based repellent to keep the sand flies away, and keep the citronella in for the mosquitoes. So, I mixed natural citronella oil with store brand Baby Oil and it worked! We only got a few more bites over the course of the whole trip.
On the street in Plascencia, vendors sold fresh fruit juice in little baggies for $0.50US, as well as many other little affordable drinks and snacks.
Belizean snacks and coconut water
From Plascencia, we caught the public bus back to Punta Gorda, bringing a couple of friends who flew in from the U.S. to tour and volunteer with us. In Punta Gorda, we learned about local herbs, helped with development of the future rental spaces and kitchen at my host’s farm, observed local wildlife, learned about Belizean culture and history, ate a lot more delicious food, swam in the ocean more, and met many new friends.
At one location in town, A Piece of Ground Hostel, we met a lovely homeschooling family from New York. My son enjoyed playing with this couple’s children so much that I began coming here daily for pancakes and tamarind juice, just to let them play.
A Piece of Ground Hostel in PG, owned by a homeschooling family
The food there was amazing, and they had many vegetarian options. For example, they boasted 2 distinct veggie burgers, the Afro-Burger, made of black eyed peas and chopped vegetables, and the Black Bean Burger, served with or without cheese. As far as meat, we only eat fish, but they also had chicken, prepared in several different entrees. The best part is, the owner, Jama, will gladly inform you on how to take a “Guerilla Tour” of the surrounding areas, saving you thousands of dollars.
You can see this cave on a “guerilla” tour suggested by Jama
We took our own “guerilla” style tour one day to Rio Blanco waterfall. The tour brochures offered this excursion for $85 per person. My son and I and one friend rode the public bus there from Punta Gorda for about $3US per person (an hour or so trip). Once we got there, I was prepared to pass for Belizean (don’t judge, lol – I was encouraged to do so by the locals), but no one was there to collect our payment. We walked down the trail to the waterfall, enthused by the bright red flowers, magically blue butterflies, and verdant green tree branches encompassing us.
I didn’t take this picture, but these are the butterflies that we saw
Rio Blanco waterfall
No picture can do the Rio Blanco waterfall justice. The water was perfectly clear. I could see miniature yellow and orange fish swimming around me, exploring the floral designs on my bathing suit. Tiny white flowers floated into the water from nearby trees, guided by the breeze. It was just perfect. I took a mental snapshot to use for future meditation. We swam for a couple of hours, giddy from the overload of nature and beauty. Our friend jumped from the high cliff into the water, but we both chickened out. Maybe next time.
While in Punta Gorda, we also made bus trips back to Seine Bight to plan the revitalization project and hold business development workshops. We helped the residents to define which products and services that they wanted to offer to tourists and set prices that were fair to them and the future visitors. Seine Bight is not a tourist town currently, so they are really excited about transitioning to offering their goods and services to incomers. It will really help the struggling economy.
I am working with educators here to define which services that they can offer to bring in extra money
b A Garifuna woman talking about the food that she will cook and sell to tourists
Once everything was planned and beginning to be set in motion, we left southern Belize and the Wagiya Foundation to bus up to San Ignacio. The project is still continuing as a partnership between Wagiya and the people of Seine Bight.
In San Ignacio, we rented a cabin on Smith Family Farm, a Black owned compound where several of our friends are living long term. While there, we ate the delicious local food, drank fresh fruit juice, and spent time with our friends. My son got a lot of play time in and I got a lot of rest and relaxation.
Through talking to my friends there, I found that they were able to maintain a very low cost of living while enjoying a peaceful life. My son woke up each morning picking mangoes and playing with other children outdoors. It was beautiful. Since all of my work is currently online and I do not have any pressing obligations in Houston, I made the decision to pack up our belongings and move to Belize!
I will still be homeschooling and blogging while there, but will be able to offer experience as an African Centered homeschooler living in Belize, rather than the U.S. We are hosting an investment campaign for others who are interested in doing business in or moving to Belize. I have so much more to say about this move and I’m sure that you have many more questions, but I will save it for another post. This one is already quite long. Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for this major move. I will write you again soon. Thank you for reading.
Love and Light,
Nikala Asante
