There isn't really such a thing as "autumn" in Belize. The rainy season runs from June to November, with a risk of tropical storms and even hurricanes. But all through there are still leaves on the trees, and fruit continues to ripen. It's October, and we've just had the first coconut from one of our trees. Very good it was too! Although we hadn't realised just how tricky it is to remove all the fibrous outer coconut husk, to get to the nut itself inside.
The celebrations of nationhood and independence continued through September, and haven't entirely ended yet. October 13th we will be celebrating "Pan America Day" - formerly known as Columbus Day, and marking the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Churches are decorated much more than I had ever seen in the UK: St Ann's Church had a national flag on every pew, as well as bunting and hangings in red white and blue.
This is also an opportunity for steel bands and marching bands to show what they can do. The bandstand in the park was repainted in yellow and green (the Belmopan City colours) and various school groups performed. Steel bands are LOUD!
October is also harvest, so we thought we'd show you some of the local produce we come across regularly. The local honey, made by bees in the tropical rain forest, bottled by Mennonites, is absolutely fantastic. Honey, but not as you know it. Definitely worth a trip to Belize to taste this.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of the local beers. There is one local brewery, Belikin, and they make a range of beers. But none of them are particularly special. So not worth a trip for.
As lifelong tea drinkers, we were anxious when we first moved to Belize that we wouldn't be able to find a replacement for our favourite blends. Belize grows some coffee, and the local beans taste very good. But there's no local tea, only imported. Would we find something we liked? Fortunately there is a good range of imported brands to choose from. Some of them managed to taste almost completely unlike tea. But then we found Dilmah. Good Sri Lankan tea is now a daily part of our Belizean experience. (You can even try some yourself:
Click here for a free sample.)
Harvest, of course, means harvest festival celebrations in the Churches. These pictures are from St Andrew's in St Ignacio. We had two services, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and both were full to overflowing. And a fantastic range of fruit and vegetable produce was on display, including some fruits I hadn't seen before.
The produce was all sorted; some of it was sent to people who were housebound, and the rest was sold, with some of the money going towards a local social project, and the rest contributing towards the feeding programme at St Andrew's School.
There isn't really such a thing as "autumn" in Belize. The rainy season runs from June to November, with a risk of tropical storms and even hurricanes. But all through there are still leaves on the trees, and fruit continues to ripen. It's October, and we've just had the first coconut from one of our trees. Very good it was too! Although we hadn't realised just how tricky it is to remove all the fibrous outer coconut husk, to get to the nut itself inside.
The celebrations of nationhood and independence continued through September, and haven't entirely ended yet. October 13th we will be celebrating "Pan America Day" - formerly known as Columbus Day, and marking the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Churches are decorated much more than I had ever seen in the UK: St Ann's Church had a national flag on every pew, as well as bunting and hangings in red white and blue.
This is also an opportunity for steel bands and marching bands to show what they can do. The bandstand in the park was repainted in yellow and green (the Belmopan City colours) and various school groups performed. Steel bands are LOUD!
October is also harvest, so we thought we'd show you some of the local produce we come across regularly. The local honey, made by bees in the tropical rain forest, bottled by Mennonites, is absolutely fantastic. Honey, but not as you know it. Definitely worth a trip to Belize to taste this.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of the local beers. There is one local brewery, Belikin, and they make a range of beers. But none of them are particularly special. So not worth a trip for.
As lifelong tea drinkers, we were anxious when we first moved to Belize that we wouldn't be able to find a replacement for our favourite blends. Belize grows some coffee, and the local beans taste very good. But there's no local tea, only imported. Would we find something we liked? Fortunately there is a good range of imported brands to choose from. Some of them managed to taste almost completely unlike tea. But then we found Dilmah. Good Sri Lankan tea is now a daily part of our Belizean experience. (You can even try some yourself: Click here for a free sample.)
Harvest, of course, means harvest festival celebrations in the Churches. These pictures are from St Andrew's in St Ignacio. We had two services, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and both were full to overflowing. And a fantastic range of fruit and vegetable produce was on display, including some fruits I hadn't seen before.
The produce was all sorted; some of it was sent to people who were housebound, and the rest was sold, with some of the money going towards a local social project, and the rest contributing towards the feeding programme at St Andrew's School.
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