Track 3 West African Musicians from Gales Point  18 November 2009
 

After our schooling by the Kids, we set out for the town. In a short time the main street had been 
completely transformed. Street food vendors lined the street, selling homemade tamales, fried fish, boiled
chicken and every possible homemade wine you can think of. The street was packed with people, but 
somehow we managed to find our friends from Tulum!(We had arranged to meet them there)

They had found other travelers and we banded together, creating a motley posse of mostly white people, from all
over the world-we definitely stood out amongst the dark black Garifuna and Rasta!


Jason had his guitar on his back, and his pirate hat on his head and I carried my Hula Hoop which elicited comments
of all kinds from EVERYONE. As we walked up the crowded street, we were swept up in the excitement and sounds of 
the festival. We were informed that this was the beginning of 4 solid days of dancing, drumming and celebrating-The
end would be signalled by the arrival of Monday Morning, when people had to go back to everyday work and life.
At one point on a street corner we were approached by a crew from a TV station, asking us to play a song. We were 
surprised, and told the crew we weren't FROM there and they said, "Oh, we want to document all the tourists" So, we
proceeded to embrace our 15 minutes of Fame, introduced ourselves as "THE SCALLYWAGS", of course, and sang "Ladies 
of The Sea", accompanied by our new friends and many bystanders. Moments after we finished, with lots of laughter, 
A School Bus drove by and a bunch of kids leaned out the windows and shouted "SCALLYWAGS!!" We were absolutely 
dumbfounded and chalked it up to a mysterious event. (Later, in Belize City, we learned that the Broadcast had been live-
HELLO, INSTANT FAME!)


We Walked further up the street and heard a familiar style of West African drumming. We turned the corner, and there,  
in a perfect little spot on the bridge by the river, were a group of drummers dressed in traditional African garb,
playing their hearts out. They were singing songs-and one wild man was dancing ecstatically in the center of the circle.

Aaron and Emma went in search of fuel to spin fire, and I Hula Hooped and let others use my hoop. Emma and Aaron came back, 
did a fire show(lit by diesel gas, ayi!), and the dancer invited me in to the circle to hoop around him.

Later I talked to him and the main drummer and learned they were from Gales Point, a drumming community on a remote 
peninsula in Belize, also a popular hangout for Manatees. They made all their own drums from their own Mahogany. 
Roland, the dancer, gave me 2 beautiful necklaces, also made from Mohogany, which he had worn while dancing and 
some very bitter berry wine. We shared stories and it turned out they knew many of the West African drummer/dancers 
I know in Boston! 
It is a very small world!

This track is a clip of their ecstatic rhythms