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PUNTA GORDA |
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 The Southern Highway comes to an end in PUNTA GORDA , the last town
in Belize and the heart of the isolated Toledo District , an area that
has always been hard to reach, though work on paving the highway north
from Punta Gorda is well under way. The town is populated by a mixture
of Creoles, Garífuna and Maya - who make up more than half the
population of the district - and is the focal point for a large number
of villages and farming settlements. The busiest day is Saturday, when
people from the surrounding villages come into town to trade. Despite
the recent minor building boom, Punta Gorda remains a small, unhurried
and hassle-free town. Its position on low cliffs means that cooling sea
breezes reduce the worst of the heat, though there's no escaping the
rain - this is the wettest part of Belize and the trees here are heavy
with mosses and bromeliads. |
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