Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MAYA SEA SALTS
The cayes and coastline of Toledo were once home to ancient
Maya sea traders
and salt
works. Archeological fieldwork by Heather McKillop (through Louisiana State University) has
documented sea-level rises since the end of the Classic period (900 AD), which submerged
ancient sites and created the modern mangrove landscape. The Maya port of
Wild Cane Cay
,
a mangrove-covered caye twelve miles north of PG, was once responsible for the trade in salt
(produced in nearby Punta Ycacos Lagoon) - a necessity for the inhabitants of the great
inland cities.
Although the works were abandoned with the Classic Maya collapse, Wild Cane Caye
continued to participate in sea trade with Postclassic cities as far away as Chichén Itzá in
Yucatán. McKillop's project also documented unique
coral architecture
, in which coral rock
was mined from the sea to build platforms for structures of perishable material. The coastal
area is managed by TIDE (see p.208); anyone planning to visit the site must check in at the
ranger station
on nearby
Abalone Caye
.
6
Jocelyn's BBQ
Front St
T
661 9267.
This small green
shack, with a few outdoor plastic tables and chairs
scattered at the sea's edge across from the petrol station,
serves great jerk chicken and fried fish (with coco-rice and
beans) for less than Bz$10.
Daily 6am-9pm.
indoor bar; every weekend, locals flock to the dark, sweaty
dancefloor to get down to punta, soca, reggaeton and rap.
Mon-Thurs 7.30pm-midnight, Fri & Sat 7.30pm-4am.
Waluco's Bar & Grill
Front St
T
702 0073.
Large,
thatched seafront bar, on the main road a mile short
of town, that puts on live music and/or Garifuna
drumming, at the weekends especially, and is also
renowned for its bbq.
Tues-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri-Sun
11am-midnight.
BARS AND LIVE MUSIC
PG Sports Bar
Main St
T
722 2329.
Punta Gorda's
liveliest nightspot, opposite the clock tower, with a huge
SHOPPING
Cotton Tree Chocolate
2 Front St
T
621 8776,
W
cottontreechocolate.com.
Take a tour of this tiny
chocolate factory, in the northernmost house on Front St
downtown, to see mighty pots of fresh chocolate, made
with locally grown, organic “fine flavour cacao”, churning
on the stove. Then eat it. What's not to like?
Mon-Fri
8.30am-noon & 1.30-5pm, Sat 8.30am-noon.
Fajina Craft Centre
Front St
T
666 6141.
Run by a
Maya women's cooperative whose members come from
rural villages all over Toledo, this central crafts shop sells a
fine assortment of baskets, bags, jewellery, carvings and
even cookbooks.
Mon-Sat 8-11am & noon-4pm.
The cayes off Toledo
Marking the southern tip of Belize's Barrier Reef, the cayes and reefs off Punta Gorda
get relatively little attention from visitors. Roughly 130 low-lying mangrove cayes
clustered in the mouth of a large bay north of PG are protected in the
Port Honduras
Marine Reserve
, which was established in part to safeguard
manatees
living in the
shallow water. Further out to sea, the
Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve
incorporates
another group of irresistible islands.
Snake Cayes
The first real
beaches
north of Punta Gorda appear on the idyllic
Snake Cayes
, a group
of four islands seventeen miles northeast of PG. Surrounded by glorious white coral
sand beaches, they're quite easy to visit on day-trips. Beyond here the main reef is
fragmented into several clusters of cayes, each surrounded by a small independent reef.
Sapodilla Cayes
The most easterly of the caye clusters at the southern end of the barrier reef are the
stunningly beautiful
Sapodilla Cayes
. Each of this chain, which consists of five main
islands, is encircled by coral and holds gorgeous soft-sand
beaches
. Some cayes have
accommodation and others have even been used by refugees; the area faces increasing
