– Mickey Hart

  Throughout of Hopkins Village are live drumming concerts you can immerse yourself in a cultural experience second to none in Belize. We watched, listen and participated in dance as we caught local Garifuna people making music and sharing the culture of their ancestors. These young boys and men are talented musicians who deliver the true essence of the Garifuna culture through their music and dance. Noted drum maker Austin Rodriguez makes many drums at the nearby town of Dangriga from mahogany or mayflower wood with deerskin hides. They are tuned by ropes on the sides and placed in the sun. The Primero drum is also called the male drum birthed from inside the larger female, carved from the same log. The Primero drummer and lead singer, or Gayusa, directs the musical changes, shows the highest virtuosity and calls the songs for the others’ response. The drums played by hand, and the trick is to be able to play fast while keeping the tone strong. Other instruments include the shakas (or shakers), which contain seeds from a fruit tree inside a calabash gourd, and the turtle shells are precisely that strapped around the player’s neck. Some of the basic Garifuna rhythms such as the Punta, Paranda, Chumba can be heard all through town. The town of Hopkins is full of rhythm and Garifuna culture.