Tourists Embracing Culture as Part of Tourism  

Belize’s tasty Garifuna dish, the Hudut, has become part of this country’s cultural tourism. The Martinez family of Hopkins Village has craftily woven the making of Hudut into a cultural experience that they offer to tourists in that village. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali and George Tillett took a tour of Palmento Grove Eco-cultural and Healing Lodge. And as their report reveals, Hudut is but one of many components of a tour the family has mapped out for the tourist at heart. We present that story on cultural tourism as this week’s edition of Belize on Reel.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

The experience at Palmento Grove Eco-cultural and Healing Lodge begins with a one-minute kayak journey across the Fresh Water Creek Lagoon to Kalipuna Island, where Palmento Grove is located. The island is carefully mapped out for the tour the Martinez family has designed. Wasani Martinez, a certified dive master, guides you safely across to Palmento Grove. A quick walk to the main area affords you the choice of changing into a comfortable cultural dress to begin the tour. Leading off, like any spiritual family, the experience takes one through an interesting lecture on history and spirituality by the patriarch, Eugene Martinez. Martinez then leads the visitors on an educational tour about some of the trees, including the cashew and cocoplum fruit trees and the anato tree, used to make recado. The only visitor on the day-long tour today was this woman who gave her name as only Iesha from the state of Maine, USA.

 

Iesha, Tourist, Palmento Grove Eco-cultural and Healing Lodge

“I love how immersive it is. It’s not just someone sitting and lecturing. You’re actually in the spaces and seeing the plants and making the foods and the dances and all of that, so I really enjoyed it. Yeah.”

 

Marion Ali

“You got to climb the tree, take down the coconut.”

 

Iesha

“I did! I picked my first coconut today, so it was awesome, yeah.”

 

Marion Ali

“And then you huxed, and then you actually made the Hudut.

 

Iesha

“All of it, yes, and I do not know my way around the kitchen (laughing) the way I should, but they were very patient and taught me everything, so it was very nice.”

 

Marion Ali

“And now you’re learning how to dance and to drum.”

 

Iesha

“Yes, that too.”

 

It is this kind of educational experience that owner, Uwahnie Martinez says her family wants to share with everyone who signs up for the experience.

 

Uwahnie Martinez, Owner, Palmetto Grove Eco-cultural and Healing Lodge

“The trip across the lagoon – we managed to give you that kayak experience over because our boat was stolen. So instead of giving up again, we relented once more and we said, you know what, maybe it’s for a cause. Why not just count the blessings, despite the situation And turned it into something good. So, that’s how we started with the kayak ride across and it has been embraced by our guests coming as an extraordinary part of the experience. So, the idea here is to actually immerse yourself, be hands on, learn, and make sure you can appreciate the culture, the people, by the time you leave from here, and have fun at the same time. Doing that, we give you a feel of what our clothing is like. It’s nice and cool, you get the opportunity to participate without feeling extra hot despite the heat. We get a lecture from my dad. My family is that of politicians and activists. It’s well known here in Belize, so a perspective from their eyes, their views, telling their own story. Then we move on into the herbal garden, where we teach you and show you some of the herbs that we use for medicinal purposes and food purposes and holistic health on a whole – all part of Garifuna culture. You get to learn about the cassava baking process, you see the implements, you see the murals on the wall, and moves your senses, and that’s the idea of the experience we offer. We want you to be able to hear, see, taste, touch, smell, and feel. That’s for sure. So it moves your senses, it feeds your soul. And it revives your spirit, and by the time you leave from here, you’re well immersed.”

But the tourism package is a relatively young one that complements cultural tourism. The family purchased the land on the island and started the business in 2018, after a major setback.

 

Uwahnie Martinez

“When we first started here, it was out of necessity. We had an operation in the village, and that was burnt down. We went into financial foreclosure, so we lost that property, with 30 days to find where to go. My dad had this property, so refusing to give up and making sure that we can live to tell our ancestral story, our story from our perspective, we relented to move over here, cleared the place and fashioned it into a traditional Garifuna community where we can actually live culture with dignity and then share it with guests who want to learn.”

 

Part of that learning is making Hudut, which includes grating the coconut and extracting the milk, seasoning the fish, which today happened to be a barracuda, and frying it. While that is being done, someone is stirring the coconut milk as it cooks, while another beats the combination of boiled green and ripe plantains to complement the dish. The visitor’s experience ends with a session on drumming and dancing to Garifuna music, led by Rayton Martinez and Tiana Nunez.

 

Marion Ali

“How do you find the reception from the tourists? Do they like it?

 

Tiana Nunez, Dancer, Palmento Grove Eco-cultural and Healing Lodge

“Most guests, when they come, they’re pretty receptive. They want to learn, they want to interact, so it’s pretty easy. Sometimes they do it on their own, or they’d ask if I can do it and then they just follow along.”

 

Marion Ali

“So tell me this: Rayton teaches by showing us: you start with one hand, and then you tap with the next hand twice, and then you go back to one. Is it the same way with the steps?”

 

Tiana Nunez

“It is, yes, because if you notice, whatever movement I make, the drum reacts. Yeah. And he also has to be pretty attentive to what I do so that he, knows. Yes, exactly.”

 

Uwahnie Martinez says the tour can be personalized to suit anyone with any time limit from only one session to all day, and even for overnight visitors. And where tourists want additional tours, like horseback riding, Palmento Grove outsources those portions to other tourism tours in communities that offer them. Marion Ali for News Five.

 

If you would like to book a tour with the Martinez family at Palmento Grove Eco-cultural and Healing Lodge, you can contact Uwahnie Martinez at six, six, one, six, zero, three, nine, or you may log on to their website at www.palmentogrove.com