Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

Video of the week.  Learn about the Elijio Panti National Park is this 5 minute video, which covers many facets of the park and Don Elijio Panti.

The 2019 Another Beautiful Day in San Antonio event is just 2 weeks away.  ABDISA is a cultural celebration, and they'll have many cultural presentations and events for the entire family.  The Don Elijio Panti Cycling Race will kick the day off.  Fun for the entire family.

"Join us on June 16th 2019 as we celebrate our community, San Antonio, Cayo!

San Antonio is a vibrant Maya agricultural community that is striving to maintain its identity. Over the years, the people’s connectedness to specific long-standing lifestyle, language, and agricultural subsistence practices has waned. ‘Another Beautiful Day In San Antonio’ (ABDISA) seeks to celebrate our identity to ensure that it is passed on to our children. ABDISA seeks to build on the success of last year’s event, which brought hundreds of villagers and visitors to the village to experience a day filled with Maya traditions, food, dances, art and craft, games, educational booths, a football marathon, and a bicycle race (The Don Elijio Panti Cycling Race).

This year we seek to connect sports, nature, and agri-culture. Our emphasis this year will be on the sustainable agricultural practices of milpa farms. Agricultural practices in San Antonio have historically produced healthy food for our community. Our livelihoods, nonetheless, continue to change. Learning and adopting healthy lifestyles by consuming healthy food and practicing an active life are important to have a resilient village. In addition, celebrating our language and cultural traditions are fundamental to the integral development of our village. ABDISA, thus, seeks to highlight these important themes."

Trip Savvy compiled a list of the best hikes in Belize, and of course, Cayo hikes dominate the list.  From Mountain Cow Cave to Guanacaste park to the Black Hole Drop to the Don Elijio Panti Medicinal Trail, they have it, along with some trails in Cockscomb Basin.  Definitely worth a read.  

"Belize is filled with beautiful secret beaches and breathtaking mountains that are just waiting to be explored. Here are the best hikes for adventurous travelers in Belize...

The Blue Hole National Park managed by the Audubon Society is rife with beautiful forests (and of course, blue waters) for visitors to explore. We recommend signing up for the Crystal Cave Tour to hike nearly an hour through the tropical forest before exploring the gorgeous Crystalline Cave within the jungle. You will notice caves are a big deal in Belize and well worth the effort to explore (especially when the interior looks like a crystal.) We recommend always signing up with a guide for these types of explorations, as repelling is involved, as well as more technical aspects of climbing. Plus, having a local guide is the best way to better understand a local culture."

Great article about the SAWG!  Great pictures in it too.  They recently went to SUNY Cortland in New York, to exhibit their beautiful works of art. 

"Tucked in a lush green valley en route to the rich rainforest of Belize lies one of the most picturesque villages of Belize: San Antonio. I may be a bit biased considering it is my home village, and to my Maya heart, the prettiest ever.  Populated by primarily Yucatec Mayas, San Antonio has a history of churning out bright, talented Belizeans.  From its start with the Garcia Sisters and their slate carvings, to the historic and revered Doctor Don Elijio Panti – revolutionary herbal healer, to our newest generation of ceramics artisans, San Antonio has shown the world over just how much can be done with a whole heap of passion and a little instruction and guidance.