The day was warm, yet rainy. Another December day in Belize affected by the stronger La Niña fall rain conditions. Apparently it’s been happening more and more frequently. In fact, it rained the entire week I had been on Caye Caulker Island, with the sun finally coming out in San Pedro. The rain found me again in Placencia.
With my poncho matted to my skin, flapping in the wind behind my bicycle, I braved the light rain to Seine Bight, the small village along the single road that follows the peninsula of Placencia from north to south. Please don’t let me be thrown off my bike before trying some Garifuna cuisine. I braced myself and gripped the handlebars as I focused on following the road as close to the edge as possible, as car after car whizzed past me.
Seine Bight is charming and colorful, but also easy to pass by if you’re unaware of its food and beach offerings. Most visitors head straight for Placencia Village at the southernmost tip of the Placencia Peninsula, which offers nice beaches that aren’t as easy to come by in other parts of Belize, as well as bars and restaurants frequented by locals, expats, and tourists who are quickly welcomed into the small town. Everyone there knows each other.
As does everyone in Seine Bight. Visitors do stand out but are greatly appreciated. As I turned off the main road, I found myself bumping along a dirt road, dodging puddles and splats of wet sand. I came upon an art gallery, Lola’s Art Gallery, owned and featuring artworks by Lola Delgado-Crossman. The whimsical and colorful scenes of local women and island life take your breath away as you climb the stairs into her gallery of self-taught hand-crafted artworks, where you are greeted by her son who helps her with her business. She happens to be the first woman to have opened an art gallery in Belize.
“I wish I could take all your pieces home with me,” I’d gushed.
“I would love that!” Lola exclaimed. “We do ship all over the world, you know.”
It was as she was wrapping up two small pieces I’d purchased when she’d commented on all the rain, saying it was more than usual. I remarked that it was more preferable to cold and snowy Chicago. She seemed to agree before bidding adieu and a happy holiday to be spent with family. No matter where wanderlust takes me, I find that I’m consistently humbled by the universal importance of community and family being one thing people around the world hold onto closely for dear life.
Back outside beneath the rain clouds, I biked along the village’s dirt roads and returned to the main road where I found a most delicious Garifuna cuisine restaurant inside a small yellow house called Vern’s Kitchen.
The Garifuna people are descendants of an Afro-Indigenous population from the Caribbean who were exiled to the Honduran coast, with some having moved to Belize. That’s the short version, and I encourage you to read up on the longer version. It is still not particularly easy for the Garifuna people in Belize, as is evident by the town’s run-down appearance in relation to the rest of Placencia, but they do have several dedicated communities throughout Belize and have been increasingly recognized as a significant part of Belize’s culture alongside the Mayans, Mennonites, Mestizos, and Creoles, among others. English still remains the official language since Belize achieved full independence from the United Kingdom in 1981.
Miss Vern was in the middle of a jovial conversation with her cook when I entered her restaurant. In fact, the entire time I was there smiles and laughter never seemed to leave her face. She loves what she does for her village and her community.
She has been in Seine Bight with her restaurant for 28 years now, and is Placencia born and grown. After living in San Pedro for 9 years, she knew she needed to move back home. “My village needed me. Who else is going to do this? We open at 5:30 every morning. Who else will wake up 3:30, 4:00am to feed everyone?”
When asked what she wishes more people knew about Garifuna culture she said, “The best is to visit the village and then you try the food. You need to start with the food to really understand. It is about passion and love.” Passion and love, her two main ingredients in each dish she serves to her customers.
The special of the day was Hudut, a coconut fish stew with mashed plantains. She said this is the main traditional Garifuna dish that one should try and, despite a hesitant first glance at the boney fish stew, I can tell you firsthand that it was absolutely delicious and something I’d put in the comfort food category. Especially on a rainy day before a 30 minute bike ride back to my hotel.
I parted ways with Miss Vern & Co. before it grew too dark to bike back, leaving with a satisfied stomach and gratitude that my one goal for my two-week trip to Belize had been realized on my last day in the country: to meet and learn more about Garifuna culture. Like Lola, Miss Vern seemed pleased that my trip was ending in time for me to spend the holidays back home with my family. Just as she would be doing in her hometown of Placencia.
I love my Lola turtle!