Track 1 Hopkins, Belize 17 November, 2009

We set out for Hopkins on Nov 17 because we had been told it was THE PLACE TO BE two days before Settlement Day.

To our surprise, when we arrived in the afternoon, all was quiet, as though the entire  town was taking a siesta. I felt I had been transported to 
Africa as we drove by dozens of tiny houses built on stilts, none more than a story tall-shaded by coconut trees. When we arrived at the beach
 I was at once enraptured by the mother ocean, as she gently lapped the fine ochre sand and small fishing boats. We dove in to perfectly clean, 
soft water. After our swim we went in search of lunch and ended up at the Octopus Garden ironically a couple of blocks IN from the sea. There we 
met our first human in Hopkins, who informed us that the drumming would start when the sun set, probably.


We had already become acclimated to "Jungle Time", so even though it took over an hour for our food to arrive(we were the only guests in 
"The Garden"), we weren't fazed a bit. We sipped Belikin, the national beer of Belize(I had a Lighthouse Lager, which had "Blissfully Belizean"
etched on the side, making me feel verry important) and whiled away the early afternoon. Our food came and was delicious, accompanied by coconut
 flavored beans. Jason's fish was a WHOLE fish, and Emma enjoyed the eyeballs, even though they were fried(she prefers boiled)


Since we still had some time before the drumming began, we set off to Placencia further south. MUCH further South as it turns out, but that's
 a different story. 


We returned to Hopkins that night to find the drumming in full swing. There was a small but energetic crowd at the ONE little restaurant on the beach.
There were only ever 3 drummers playing at one time, they would rotate as people got tired, needed to pee, needed a beer, etc..
They played the traditional PUNTA rhythm and EVERYONE sang. This was my first experience of live Garifuna drumming and I could tell
my soul was already hooked. We had an amazing time-the only drawback being the town crazy who kept insisting I dance with him.
Emma kept him in line by slapping his hand.
The recording is one of the jams, accompanied by song.