The Gurifuna Villages

Tela, on the north coast of Honduras is a sleepy beach town that one day hopes for greatness as a tourist destination. It's a long way off, but until then, there are wonderful mangrove forests and rain forests to explore, not to mention the miles of beaches and the truly unique Garifuna villages.


The Garifunas first came to the mainland in 1797 when they were exiled from the Caribbean by the British. As best as I can tell, the "Black Caribs" are a group of American Indians from South America mixed with escaped or shipwrecked African slaves on the Caribbean Island of Saint Vicente. Through the years and their coexistence on remote islands, they have mixed their culture, music and language to make a truly unique and proud culture. Their language was described to me as a mix of French, Spanish and Swahili. There are 50 some villages along the coast in Belize and Honduras. Some are more modern with concrete buildings, running water and electricity. Others, like the village of Miami, are still straw shacks, wedged on the sand bar between the Caribbean Sea and a fresh water lagoon. There is no shortage of wildlife for them to live off of, and the small stream of tourists (what seems like less than ten on any given day) they seem to be doing alright. Schools have even been started in the villages and taught in the local language. It’s by no means glamorous, but defiantly a good alternative to the cities and crime of places like Tegucigalpa.