Belize Snapshot: Garifuna House

Garifuna House – Hopkins, Belize

One of the beautiful things about Belize is that it is not an over developed country.

Compared to other Central American countries, Belize has managed to conserve the roots and basic lifestyle of many of its cultures – including the Maya and Garifuna. Thanks to this, it is very easy to encounter rustic scenes, like the one pictured above, all throughout the country.

The concept of villages and communities is still very present in the mentality of many Belizeans, and in my opinion, that is one of the most charming aspects of this country.

This house, located in the Garifuna village of Hopkins, represents vividly how life in a Garifuna village was decades ago, and still is today for some of the villagers.  This is a small wooden building for the main living areas, with two separate shacks for bathroom and kitchen.  Just by looking at its basic architecture you can imagine the simplicity of life inside those wooden walls and the hard work required to maintain that simplicity.

Hopkins has become a small tourist destination in recent years, not because of any activity or sight in specific, but because of the village itself and the charm of houses like this and its residents.

While many Garifuna and Maya villages have evolved and adapted to the standards of modern society, a significant numbers of them do cherish their lifestyle and strive to keep that aura and character that has identified them for decades.

This is how a typical house in most communities in Central America and the Caribbean looked like forty to sixty years ago, but in Belize, this is a sight that is still present.