Drumming, dancing, medicinal gardens, kayaking and homemade rum comprised the excursion waiting for us with the Garifuna in Belize. 
We had already hiked up the Maya temples in Xunatunich. We ate the street side barbecue and drank fresh lime juice in San Ignacio. We laid out at the beach, read books, kayaked, and swung in the hammock at our resort in Hopkins Bay. We hopped on the resort bikes and rode into the village of Hopkins to experience local life. We scheduled our bioluminescence tour for Anderson’s Lagoon but we had yet to do our excursion at a Garifuna lodge.
That morning, a driver took us to the entrance of Palmento Grove. Just around the corner from our resort, in fact, was the portal to a distinct encounter. The driver dropped us off and our tour guide appeared in the trail of the mangrove bushes on the edge of Fresh Water Creek Lagoon. We followed her through the trail within tall hedges of the mangrove with a dog scampering alongside us. I looked back at my husband with the facial expression of “how cool is this??!!” The tall hedges were a perfect screen or shield to separate us from our previous environment and led us into the next. Of the few, special times I’ve felt like Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe exiting the wardrobe and entering Narnia, this definitely felt like that, too. Our guide showed us the kayaks we used to travel across the inlet to the private island retreat. My husband and I rowed one kayak and our guide rode another. Her dog swam alongside us in this ultra-natural setting and experience. I was in love with this experience before it even got started!
The kayak ride was short but exciting. We arrived to the Palmento Grove Garifuna Eco Cultural and Fishing Institute. Its own private island and inland lodge was designed to represent the authenticity of a traditional Garifuna village. Who are the Garifuna? They are the Afro-Caribbean people who are indigenous to Belize. Garifuna descend from the Western Africans and Arawak Indians which make their traditions so fascinating. We walked the footpaths of this isolated sanctuary to learn about the sustainable farming practices. Our guide identified medicinal plants and herbs that are used to treat cancer. Soursap, Spanish oregano and the famous cassava were among the plants we studied. Spanish oregano is used to treat sandfly bites and cassava is made into a 10 year old bread as well as cassava fries (which are more delicious than French fries, in my opinion.)
Our guide uprooted a cassava plant and told us how the volume of it can feed a hundred people. We saw huge palm leaves drying in the sun. They’re used as shade covers. We saw coconut husks piled up in the corner of a kitchen hut where cooking classes happen. Guests can cook fish stews made with coconuts, plantains, and vegetables with the fresh fish they’ve caught. Reportedly, cooking classes are accompanied by the sounds Garifuna drumming. All of this lends to the therapeutic and holistic healing environment of the institute. While we were there for dance lessons and to enjoy the drumming, we walked past the lodging that’s available for guests who stay there and enjoy organized tours of scuba, snorkeling and trips to ancient Maya sites. Imagine awaking at this sanctuary and overlooking the Caribbean. Very unique!
After our tour of the medicinal garden, we donned tribal tunics and entered the hut where the dance lessons took place. The vibrant teenage girl danced barefoot across the hut to the drum beats of the musicians. Four generations were present that day from great-grandfather, to grandmother, to mother (the dancer) and even her infant daughter. 
We breathlessly followed her steps which are much more difficult to do than they looked! The homemade rum punch and wine offered at the end of the lessons was a welcome treat. Although it was still midmorning, the rum punch was needed to quench our thirst. 
We talked with our guide about more thoughts of the Garifuna experience and journey. It was epiphanic to me to understand how the oppressed prevail and maintain their identity. It was explained to me that the Garifuna were looked upon as the lowest ranking of discriminated ethnic groups in their area but they choose a life of positivity and optimism. I understood that to mean that it’s the oppressors who live mired in their negativity and toxic feelings while the oppressed rise above it and claim their identity and life values.
We boarded our little kayak to follow the guide back to the Hopkins Bay beach, said our good-byes and walked the shore back to our resort. This short excursion packed in so much knowledge and experiential learning. It sounds cliche to say it, but in a sense, while we haven’t walked in other peoples’ shoes to experience their same feelings, we did “walk with them” in the path of a mangrove into their recreated world. We opened ourselves to their teaching, traditions, practices, and entertainment. We listened and reflected about their feelings and experiences. Awareness is so critical to growth. As I walked the shore back to the resort, I felt fulfilled in realizing that we are still growing. In our fifties, my husband and I find each trip more meaningful when we immerse in the culture. The adventure excursions have their merit and they require physical stamina but the cultural excursions require mental fitness, mental daring, and a deeper connection.
©Gina Michalopulos Kingsley
photos by Gina Kingsley