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More about Dangriga

 

Before the time of Christopher Columbus, Amerindians from South America came by canoe to the island of St. Vincent in the southeast Caribbean. They conquered, and then intermarried with the native Arawak Indians, adopting much of the Arawak language and culture. They went by the name Kwaib, from which the names Carib and Garifuna, meaning cassava-eaters, probably evolved. The first recorded arrivals in British Honduras (Belize) began in 1802 and Garifuna communities in Punta Gorda, Dangriga and Belize City celebrated November 19th 2002 as the Bicentennial of the arrival. Activities for Garifuna Settlement Day include the re-enactment of the arrival by canoe, drumming, John Canoe dancing, and music in celebration of the successful resistance of the Garifuna people to enslavement, colonization and deportation.

In November each year there is a week long festivity leading up to Garifuna Settlement Day, attended by Garifuna people from around the region. It includes a torchlit parade and wreath-laying ceremony at the monument of the patriot and social activist Thomas Vincent Ramos, selection of Miss Garifuna, parades and special church services, and The T.V. Ramos Classic Bike Race.

 

Wooden houses perched on stilts to catch the Caribbean breeze sit alongside coconut palms and mango trees giving the place a dreamy, tranquil air about it. With rainforests and the Maya Mountains to its west, cayes and the reef in the Caribbean east, Dangriga is a marvelous spot to spend a few days of discovery. Dangriga is also where the Caribbean music, Punta Rock, originated and where some of Belize's folk bands can be found.  Three of Belize's banks, Scotia Bank, Belize Bank, and Atlantic Bank, have branches in Dangriga Town, and Belize Bank has an ATM that works with foreign-issued ATM cards.  The outside market is a great place to get fresh produce and visit the drum maker Austin Rodriguez.  While walking the streets of Dangriga, you will see many of the locals and find many locally run businesses that offer a great variety in supplies.  Habet's Hardware has anything you will need for your many projects.  There is no Home Depot, but this one works well. On one of our visits, we visited the home of Nichols Benjamin. The Institute of Technical Training maintains a R.V. Park just outside of town.   Maya Island Air and Tropic Air fly into the Dangriga Airport on the north end of town while most of the lodging and restaurants are located in the southern part of town. On the outskirts of town there is a Garifuna Memorial and many of the Garifuna people are memorialized along the roadside.