Dear Dangriga,
It’s hard to write a letter like this, but we have to. We tried to like you, we really did. We normally see the good in a lot of places, but you did disappoint. Perhaps we came with expectations. We were warned via our bus breaking down twice on the way to see you. We patiently waited while it got fixed, only to be taken advantage of by a traveling salesman selling meat pies. How did we know we were gringo-ed? Oh, the smiles and laughter of the rest of the bus told us “No one pays that much for meat pies”.
Had we known that the center of town was a 8 minute taxi ride away, we would have utilized that option, but we didn’t know. We got excited seeing the statue of the big Garifuna Drums.
Finally, we got to see your wide streets filled with shops selling cheap, Chinese rejected goods. If not Chinese stores, then mattresses. How many mattresses can you really sell in Dangriga…are there that many beds?
Your beach? Blah. Your selection of restaurants leaves much to be desired. Why do you only have 2 Belizian restaurants in town and the rest Chinese, aren’t we in Belize? And why oh why are they VERY uninspiring? Thank you for suggesting that the ants on the outside of my glass might be Belizian sugar. They weren’t. We’re so sorry, but we just didn’t have a great experience.
Your tagline is “the culture capital” of Belize, did we miss it all? We loved the Garifuna culture that we experienced in Hopkins, but here we saw more Chinese culture than anything else. Where was the drumming? All we heard was heavy rap coming from loud speakers lining the streets.
You weren’t all bad. The gem in the center of town called The Bluefield Lodge was an oasis. Louise created a sense of warmth and authenticity to your vibe that we appreciated. Her little hotel was the best part of Dangriga.
You even spited us when we tried to catch the 8am express bus out of your town, only to be the first people to NOT make it on the nice, air conditioned bus. Instead, we took the old school bus back to Belize City and the Water Taxi back to the white sands of Ambergris Caye. Home.
We know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it was our experience. Many have visited you and enjoyed their time…we simply did not, but are glad that we got to visit. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be back and we won’t miss you, dang it.
With sincerity,
The Kings
Heading out of Dangriga
Photos of Dangriga
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Streets of Dangriga
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Typical Dangriga House
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Typical Dangriga House
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Louise @ Bluefield – You are the sunshine in Dangriga
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The Bluefield Inn
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Heading out of Dangriga
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- Streets of Dangriga
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- Typical Dangriga House
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- Typical Dangriga House
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- Louise @ Bluefield – You are the sunshine in Dangriga
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- The Bluefield Inn
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- Heading out of Dangriga
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January 27, 2012 at 11:25 am
I am also a frequent visitor to Dangriga. I’ve been there 8 times. Personally I love Dangriga because I have many friends there; I love them all like sisters. It’s true Dangriga doesn’t have much to offer in the way of entertainment, mostly bars + Chinese restaurants. I always go for the Settlement Day festivities on November 19th, but even this left me wanting this past year (2011).
I will continue to visit Dangriga because of my friends and their children. I’ve fallen in love with the kids and I’ve made a commitment to myself to see them through school, to help when I’m able to keep the water on, electricity paid in their homes, food on the table, school supplies, + uniforms. I realize it’s a third world nation and it’s important for me to help them; they do not exist to entertain me.
Thank you for letting me use this forum to express my love for Dangriga and my extended family.
January 27, 2012 at 2:42 pm
When I started to read, I supposed, you wrote a letter/email to someone named Dangriga but published in your blog as a mistake! When I finished it, and searched more about it in Google, I totally surprised because I found it as a town in southern Belize :O
So, what? “Your writing style is being greater day by day.
January 28, 2012 at 5:47 pm
My name is Ben and I from Dangriga. I want to apologize about the way you were treated in my beautiful town. As far as the idiot who took advantage of you with the meat pies, I’m afraid he wasn’t looking at the big picture. He didn’t look any farther than his nose. I’m quite sure you won’t be buying any more meat pies from that Einstein. I hope the folks who read your blog, can take a page from the folks in Hopkins and own more traditional Garifuna restaurants. I’m glad the folks in Hopkins made up for your stay in Dang.
Keep on doing what you doing.
February 9, 2012 at 7:13 pm
Thanks Ben…We’ve been to Dangriga several times now (only because the bus stops there), and each time we get near I look for that meat pie man. By my count, he owes me 4 meat pies.
February 18, 2012 at 10:03 pm
yo wtf!…its cool, i know, i understand..im a resident here (dangriga), so i know 1st hand the available entertainment, or lack there of..my associates and i are currently on a rehabilitation project for the town..focusing mainly on entertainment attractions and visitor-friendliness..hopefully by the time you decide to visit again, we will have done enuff for you to enjoy ur time spent..:D