Village Insider
Here’s an article about sustainable tourism that I wrote based on my travel experience in Belize.
-Baker
Village Insider: An Up-Close and Personal Look at Mayan Indian Homelife
“I won you! I won you!” the 7-year-old boy shouts.
“Yes, you beat me,” I tell him with mock resignation, laying down my pool stick on top of the billiards table. “You’re pretty good for a kid.” The boy, a Kek’chi Mayan Indian named Marlon Cus, beams as he brags to his young friends across the room.
A pool table may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a tiny native village in Central America, but there it is nonetheless, new meets old. In an innovative guesthouse program that gives tourists an intimate look at Mayan Indian homelife, you’ll find that some elements of the modern world have been enthusiastically embraced. But most impressive is the sense of pride that the villagers have in their way of life — traditional and new.
Since 1989, the Toledo Ecotourism Association’s guesthouse program has placed adventurous tourists in the heart of Mayan villages in southern Belize. Guests sleep in a thatched-roof hut, enjoy home-cooked meals and interact directly with the villagers, all for less than $20 (U.S.) a day. It is a shining example of what has become known as sustainable tourism, wherein vacationers spend their money in a way that genuinely helps those who need it. Here, 80 percent of the profits stay in the village; the remainder is used to help maintain the tourism association.
Those visitors lucky enough to stay in a village for a few days can walk away with a profound understanding of Mayan homelife and culture. “We want all of our visitors to have an unforgettable experience,” says Pablo Ack, director of the guesthouse program.
Guests can choose from nine villages, all of which offer convenient access, and guided tours, to nearby attractions such as caves, waterfalls and ancient Mayan ruins. Organizers can place you in the village that best suits your needs. You’ll find the villagers exceedingly friendly, and most of them, especially the younger ones, speak English in addition to their traditional Kek’chi or Mopan Mayan language.
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