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The Toledo Howler Newspaper of the Toledo Chapter of the Belize Tourism Industry Association SEPTEMBER 2007 YEAR 1, ISSUE 1 BTIA Chairman Welcomes the Howler’s First Roar Dear Visitors, other stakeholders are joining to- INSIDE THIS ISSUE: gether for the protection of Toledo I personally welcome the first edi- and promotion of the area as a tourist tion of our Toledo Howler. I am VILLAGE LIFE 2 destination. sure it will be greatly welcomed by WA LEE BIT A 7 our hoteliers, tour operators and Our greatest resource is our 20,000 KREOLE travel agents, our guests and visi- people; warm, friendly and awaiting TOLEDO CRAFTS 3 tors and our Toledo tourism indus- you. And you won’t be bumping el- try in general. The Toledo District bows with too many other tourists.On GARBUTT’S FISH- 4 shows great potential for tourism behalf of BTIA Toledo, welcome to ING LODGE growth, and has seen a significant Bruno Kuppinger, Chairman of BTIA Toledo Toledo, our lovely jewel in the heart of RIO BLANCO NA- 4 increase in visitation over the last Central-America and the Caribbean. holders in Toledo are committed to TIONAL PARK few years. Toledo is now receiving We hope you have your best vacation building a first-class product that visitors BTIA TOLEDO 5 international recognition and I am ever. MEMBERS & RES- will continue to enjoy for years to come. sure our many visitors will enjoy TAURANTS In Toledo hoteliers, tour operators, tour this informative newsletter. BTIA VANILLA CULTI- 6 guides, community leaders, NGOs and VATION Toledo and the tourism stake- EXCITING AR- 8 CHEOLOGICAL PRETTY IN PINK FINDS IN PAYNES CREEK Local hotel wins prestigious award WATS COOKING? 8 As you drive along the coast road local couple Darius and Lisa Avila. Beya Suites offers 4 well designed into PG town, you are bound to Beya Suites opened its doors in rooms, each with private bath, air TRANSPORTATION 7 SCHEDULES notice the two storey, bright pink November 2005 to a full house for conditioning, cable T.V. and private building on the right just before Joe the Garifuna Settlement Day cele- balcony. Facilities at Beya Suites MAP OF TOLEDO 12 DISTRICT Taylor Creek. This is Beya Suites, brations and has been going strong include a bar, restaurant, laundry TRANSPORTATION 9 ever since. service and high speed internet. SCHEDULES There’s also a sun deck on the top This year Beya Suites won the Be- for relaxing and taking in the won- EDITORIAL 10 lize Tourism Board’s ‘Small Hotel of derful sea views. The shops of the Year’ award. This was a real TOLEDO EVENTS 11 Punta Gorda are a mere 15 minute achievement for the Avilas, who walk away. For more information were new to the tourism business and reservations contact Darius or when they first opened. The Toledo Lisa Avila on Tel: 722-2188; Fax branch of the Belize Tourism Indus- 722-2509; try Assocation congratulates them on the award. We’re proud to have Email [email protected]; you as a member of the BTIA! one of the newer hotels in PG. The Website www.beyasuites.com. hotel is owned and managed by “Responsibility is our Motto.” Watertaxi Daily Runs Punta Gorda Leaves 9am To Returns M Puerto Barrios ariestela Charters to Fulfill Your Needs 12 Front Street Contact: Julio Requena Tel/Fax:(501)722-2070 Belizean coffee, latte & ice coffee. Smoothies, bagels, hummus Punta Gorda Town & decadent pastries. Belizean music & crafts. Book trade. Email:[email protected] Toledo, Belize, C.A. Internet, copies, fax, printing, invitations, booklets, photos, cards. Site:www.belizenet.com/requena PO Box: #18 CARYSHA’S/DEJA BREW CAFÉ, Central Park, PG THE TOLEDO HOWLER Page 2 Village Life Laguna Village and the Laguna Village Women’s Cooperative up by sisters Paulina & Juanita Sacul. Paulina cooking over a wood fire hearth. So weav- and Juanita make deliveries and collect monies ing is done when other chores are finished. earned. Although cuxtal sizing and quality are Laguna Village is also the loca- fairly consistent, each woman’s cuxtales have tion of a test project in raising Gibnut their own distinct style. Bags are individually (Paca), a member of the rodent family, labeled with the name and photo of the woman which is a popular game meat in Belize. A who wove them. number of villagers received grants to Weaving is done on a backstrap build enclosures to raise Gibnut. The ani- loom, so named because the warp threads are mals are trapped in the wild, and brought stretched between a support and the weaver’s to the farms to breed. This program is still back. This makes the woman an integral part of in its infancy. Seeing these nocturnal ani- the loom, as the weaving is strapped around mals, which resemble giant guinea pigs Not far from PG lies Laguna Village, her waist. The weaver controls tension to the with buckteeth, is an interesting experi- one of the most beautiful, friendly and easily threads by leaning forward or back. The weft ence. To see them, ask for Vicente Sacul; accessible villages in Toledo. Here you will find thread is then passed through alternating informal tours are $5 BZ. the Laguna Village Women’s Cooperative, a threads of the warp, using a bobbin stick. One group of ladies who have organized to sell their Cuxtales are available for sale at weft goes under the warp, and the next goes weavings and improve their lives. The Laguna Machaca Hill Lodge, and Carysha’s Deja over it. Several rows are done and then the weft Village Women’s Cooperative was started about Brew Café in Punta Gorda. For the largest is beaten to make it tight. A batten stick is used 3 years ago with the help of Crissie Ferrara, a selection, head out to Laguna, and ask for to separate the threads of the warp, which al- peace-corps volunteer from New York City. Juanita or Paulina Sacul. The village phone lows the weft to pass through them. When I Women in the Mayan villages of southern Be- number is 702-2970. They are happy to have watched the ladies weave, this process is lize have been weaving cuxtales (bags) and provide you or your shop with cuxtales. If done so fast that you can’t see the threads other practical items for many years, but very you wish to stay over night, there is a TEA moving. They make it look deceptively simple; few were sold as crafts to tourists. Crissie saw guesthouse in Laguna; cost is $20 per but when I tried it, it was difficult and I felt very great potential in the weaving of the women person. Meals are taken with families, and clumsy! I wasn’t able to weave, but I was able and was able to work with them to increase the range from $6.50 to $8.00 BZ. Tours can to make them all laugh. quality and marketability of their cuxtales also be arranged; cost is $7 BZ per person (pronounced “cush-talls”). She helped them Backstrap weaving is not as fast as per hour. Contact Vicente Sacul in Laguna improve the color selections of the yarn they weaving with a treadle loom, but loom parts are for information about tours and accommo- were using in their cuxtales and taught them inexpensive, and the loom is portable, so weav- dations. The Laguna turnoff is 13 miles the importance of consistency in sizing of the ing can be done anywhere. The weaving of a from PG, and a further 2 miles on a good bags, quality workmanship and finishing. This cuxtale can take up to several weeks, as most dirt road leads you to the village. You can has created more of a demand for the cuxtales women work on their weaving in between doing get there on the Laguna village bus, which as craft souvenirs for tourists, and the bags are daily tasks. runs on market days (Monday, Wednes- now sold in two locations in Punta Gorda, as day, Friday and Saturday), or take any bus The latest improvements to the vil- well as a gift shop on Caye Caulker. from PG and get off at the turnoff and lage are a running water system and internet walk. Any taxi driver will be willing to bring The cooperative is a loosely knit access, yet most families live in a traditional you out here also. group consisting of about 6-10 women, headed fashion, patting out corn tortillas by hand and Our jungle lodge is nestled between river and rainforest, beneath a towering cottonwood tree, not far from Punta Gorda by river or road. We offer horseback riding, kayaking, caving and waterfalls. Belizean special: Unique tours, from Mayan chocolate making to Garifuna drumming. Horseback ride, lunch & swim in the river. Please call for price and reservations. Contact Toledo BTIA at the Tourism Information Center, Contact The Howler Editorial Team Tel. 722-2531 E-mail [email protected] Front St., Punta Gorda Tel. 722-2531 E-mail [email protected] Features Editor: Marta Hirons 671-7172, Advertizing Manager: Juli Puryear, 722-2276. Chair: Bruno Kuppinger, Secretary: YvonneVilloria Production Manager: Rob Hirons 671-7172, Editorial Assistant Zoara Gutierrez 722-2531 Treasurer: Leonie Requena YEAR 1, ISSUE 1 Page 3 TRIBUTE TO CRAFTER OF THE QUARTER SPOTLIGHT ON CRAFT Fileon Choc (35) helped in the first place by his wife who ple heart, and teak and Mayan harps, vio- was born and comes from Maya Center which has its own lins, and guitars which he can make to bred in the vil- strong craft traditions.