Dangriga

            We anchored off of Dangriga in murky water that made you hear the Jaws theme song in your head when you look at it and paddled ourselves into shore.
The town is built on either side of Stann Creek, the mouth of the river and the town ending when it meets the Caribbean Sea. Dangriga is not a big tourist destination and the town has a tougher, perhaps even dingier feeling to it. We instantly like it. The heart of Garifuna culture exists here and this culture is centered around drums and dancing, and probably a few other things that usually go well with drums and dancing. Two large, open aired thatched roof houses greeted us when we entered the creek. This was where the drums and wooden canoes were fabricated. There were wood shavings everywhere and drums in varying stages of production strewn about in the shady areas. There was a grill and a circle set up near some tables, perfect place for a drum circle I thought. As we were looking around, a pretty woman, holding a half naked baby drinking a bottle, hollered hello to us and asked if we were looking for anything in particular. I didn’t want to interrupt what was clearly close to a done deal of putting her kid down for a nap but I decided to inquire about purchasing a drum. She said she would show us what she had left but most of the drums were bought up for the Easter celebration. That sounded like a fun time.  The woman stood up, placed her unfazed, eyes still closed child in her chair and walked in the shop; nap time crisis averted without difficulty apparently. She brought out three small drums, all well made, beautiful, and reasonably priced but smaller than what we had hoped for. We thanked her for her time and then set off down the creek to grab some food.
        We did some quick grocery shopping at the “supermarket” that was in my opinion, only an “ok market” and then went into the Riverside Café to order some breakfast. Even though we had been warned by a vocal local that the café was “ridiculously expensive” we entered the small store and looked at the menu. We ordered two breakfast burritos and what we received were two huge homemade thick burritos stuffed with eggs, bacon, tons of cheese, beans, lettuce, all covered with a delicious homemade fruit chutney, all for just $2.50 USD each. Nice. After we finished our breakfast and wondered where that local guy possible ate his breakfast burritos, we went for a leisurely canoe paddle down the canoe to the outskirts of town.  Short but nice trip to the city of Garifuna culture.
M.

Our boat is that tiny speck in the distance, rocking around in the unprotected anchorage



The end of the river meeting the sea



Where the drums are made

we may have developed a small coke addiction here

Paddling through town