Visiting the Toledo District and its principal town of Punta Gorda
means stepping onto the footpath of high adventure. Way off the beaten
path, this rough and tumble outpost has been characterized as edge of
the world. One local refers to the area as the "back of beyond". Others
say it's beyond description. Cradled by mountains, jungle and sea, the
southern region of Belize has a Garden of Eden mystique. Toledo is
steeped in thousands of years of Maya tradition.
Nestled on the coast, Punta Gorda is
near Guatemalan border, about 200 miles south of
Belize City.
Seaside Punta Gorda is the last
sizable town in the southern Belize. lettering on a downtown clock
welcomes visitors in different languages: Garifuna, English, Kekchi
Maya, Mopan Maya. Five main streets run parallel to the sea.
Plentiful rain at night during the
year keeps vegetation lush in Toledo. Wildlife is abundant. Three
species of toucans (keel-billed, emerald toucanet and collared aracari)
and 10 species of hummingbirds forage through fruit and flowering trees.
Butterflies abound. Jaguars, ocelots and jaguarundis prowl the thick
jungles.
The largest Mopan Maya community in
Central America is the village of San Antonio. Maya children spread
cacao (chocolate) beans for drying in front of their thatched huts. Each
year in August, San Antonio is the site of Deer Dance, a nine-day
celebration of Maya culture. In the village of Santa Cruz, Maya women
and their daughters wash clothes waist-deep in creeks, peering at you
through trees.
