Garifuna settlement day is for sure one of my favourite Belizean holidays- especially in Punta Gorda, one of the major Garifuna communities in Belize. So much fun! Lots of fantastic drumming, dancing, singing, drinking and eating hudut (a delicious coconut curried fish dish with mashed plantains) - a fantastic celebration of culture. A culture that is vibrant and a people that are obviously proud of remembering their roots. Garifuna people are a unique racial blend of escaped African slaves and indigenous Caribbean islanders.

My trusty travel guide provides the following info on the Garifuna people: In 1635 two Spanish slave ships carrying Nigerians were ship wrecked off St. Vincent. Many of the captive Africans swam ashore and found shelter on the island of St. Vincent. The escaped slaves and the indigenous Arawak people of St. Vincent mixed and by 1773, this hybrid people, now known as the Garifuna, was the dominant population of St. Vincent. However, colonial powers eventually drove these people away "more and more British settlers landed on St. Vincent, until there was no question of the British design: the colonial forces would never tolerate a free black community at the very heart of their own slave plantations" (p252 of the Belize Insight Guide). So the Garifuna people fled to Roatan in Honduras and eventually after trouble in Honduras they eventually landed on the shores of Belize in 1823.

For more info on the Garifuna people of Belize out check the website for the National Garifuna Council of Belize Garifuna people continue to fish to support their livelihood and continue to make amazing music and speak a really beautiful language. Settlement day is a holiday to celebrate their landing on the Belizean coast. Yesterday morning at sunrise there was a re-enactment of the arrival of the boats. Many folks had been partying and dancing all night and others (like us) came out of our sleep to the sound of drumming and came to the docks to the see the action. Lots of people were wearing their traditional dress and of course drumming, singing and dancing, waving palms and sugar cane. Following their landing everyone proceeded by procession to a church service.

One of the local NGOs TIDE (the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment) organizes an annual Fishers Festival this weekend. So we spent a good part of the weekend watching all kinds of competitions- from Hudut eating to punta dancing (kids too!), coconut husking, cast net throwing and finally the weighing of the barracuda, jack fish and grouper that were harvested that day! Lots of fun. Last night Jim and I went to our friend Judith's birthday party where her kids, nieces and nephews got a real kick out of our digital camera and teaching us how to punta dance! Super fun!