Andrew Zimmern on globalization, immersive travel, and the royal rat—my interview with “El Pelón” on World Hum

September 15th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

“Travels in a ‘Bizarre World’ — Joshua Berman asks the Travel Channel host about his new show, his book, and the impact of globalization on culinary diversity”

Last winter, I served as a researcher and guide for Travel Channel superstar Andrew Zimmern and his crew during the filming of episodes in both Nicaragua and Belize. Nicaraguans love giving nicknames—they called Andrew “El Pelón que come gusanos” (the bald one who eats worms) and “Chamboaca,” the latter a highly complex term of endearment which is short for “El que come como un chancho, duerme como un boa, y caga como una vaca” (or “He who eats like a pig, sleeps like a boa, and shits like a cow”).

(more…)

Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Belize: Tuesday, Sept. 8, on the Travel Channel

August 18th, 2009 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

“Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World” (the new travel show from the “Bizarre Foods” guy) premieres next Tuesday with an episode in Cuba. The new show is more expansive than the old bugs-n-balls version, and will feature as many wild, nonfood cultural exotica as it will strange organ dishes.

On September 8 at 10 EST, the Belize episode of “Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World” will air. In it, AZ visits some remote corners of the country where he “sinks his teeth into Maya-style pork brains and the country’s most prized rodent.” Along the way, he experiences a shamanic cleansing at Nim Li Punit archeological site, “jumps” the sambaii in Gales Point, and enters the cave of the crystal maiden. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together…

Episode description (includes slide show and menu)->

Obama appoints Coloradan Vinai Thummalapally as Ambassador to Belize

June 12th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Perhaps its their predilection for the outdoors and active traveling, but people from Colorado seem to end up in Belize in disproportionate numbers than other travelers and expatriates. I myself bounce between Boulder and Belize and I’ve met many-a reformed mile-higher who has opened a bed-n-breakfast or dive shop in Placencia, Hopkins, and Ambergris Caye.

Well, get ready to add one more Coloradan-in-Belize to the list: As reported in the Times of India, “President Barack Obama has nominated on old Indian college classmate and buddy of his to be the American ambassador to the tiny Central American nation of Belize, in keeping with the American tradition of rewarding political contributors, personal friends, and party groupies with sinecures.” (more…)

Earthquake shakes Belize and Honduras, maybe farther

May 28th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Several major quakes, including a 2:30-a.m. whopper measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, shook much of coastal Belize and Honduras last night. There was more damage in Honduras, where several people (maybe more) died from collapsed homes, but reports are still coming in. The ensuing tsunami threat was lifted today.

Central America is riddled with major geologic fault lines (Belize is one of the only countries in the region without any volcanoes); but earthquakes are rare in Belize.
Are you in Belize? Did you feel it? Any reports would be much appreciated in the comments below. In the meantime, here are some links to find out more about last night’s events:

BBC: “Major Quake….”

AmbergrisCaye.com message-board reports

USGS site for earthquake M7.1

(I originally posted this on the Chaa Creek Travel Blog)

My final day in Belize…

April 16th, 2009 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

… was as ridiculously hot, vibrant, lazy, and as unpredictable as any other day I’d ever spent in this strange, tranquilo, tucked-away little corner of the continent. It began in Gales Point, at the tip of a snake-skinny peninsula that juts into the vast brackish Southern Lagoon. It was the morning after a full moon and Easter Sunday sambai fertility dance. On this day, I was traveling with a television producer and a cameraman, in search of the bizarre. A green snake slithered across the red road just as we reached the mainland. It was a slow, easy day, especially compared the the previous week, working up to 19 hours inside caves, in remote Maya villages, underwater, from the air. Nope, today was a simple drive with only one mission: talk with Gilly the Snake Man and take his picture. (more…)

Back in Belize for Holy Week

April 5th, 2009 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Ah … Belize in the springtime—hot (102 in the shade yesterday), dry, dusty, and as vibrant and full of life as ever. I spent my first day day tripping to Cayo where I stumbled upon a marching band festival on the streets of San Ignacio, then pushed westward into the bush where I finally had a chance to visit the Poustinia Art Park, a truly bizarre, extraordinary environmental museum, of sorts. There I met Gilvano Swasey and Luis Alberto Ruiz, visionary Belizean artists featured in the New York Times article, “And You Thought Art in New York Was a Jungle” by Bruce Barcott. Then it was back  to the Caribbean, arriving in Belize City in time for sunset and happy hour.

New images in my stream, scroll forward from here–>
Belize with my baby daughter (July, 2008)–>

Moon Belize author blog–>

Bad-Ass “Belize City Boil-Up” is Funkiest Album I’ve Ever Heard.

March 30th, 2009 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

Seriously. It’s a bold statement, but I stand by it. Stonetree Records released Belize City Boil Up in 2005 to instant international acclaim—which was accompanied by international surprise that Belize could produce something other than reggae and punta. Belize City Boil Up consists of freshly remastered vintage Belizean recordings from the 1950s, 60s & 70s when the Belizean music scene actually included cool jazz, smooth rhythm and blues, and even psychedelic funk. Turn up the volume — awesome samples on the album site and on Amazon.

Home Cooking in the Global Village by Richard Wilk looks at Belizean food and its place in the world

March 23rd, 2009 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

Stew chicken, rice, stew beans, potato salad, and fried plantain. That’s the delicious combo on the plate above, prepared for me last July in Gales Point. The story of how these foods came together on my plate that day as a “typical Belizean dish” is a long and interesting one. But Home Cooking in the Global Village: Caribbean Food from Buccaneers to Ecotourists by anthropologist Richard Wilk has more far-reaching themes then Belizean culinary identity. From the book’s get-go, Wilk argues against the simplistic notion that in today’s hyper-connected world, “…culinary diversity is disappearing under a monotonous food landscape of burgers and fries.”

Rather, the advancing steamroller is only one way to look at globalization; another way is to “compromise and reduce [globalization’s] impact by adapting and preserving local and ethnic traditions of food, music, dance, and language.” (more…)

Sustainable Harvest International offers volunteer opportunities in southern Belize

March 17th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

In a unique partnership with Cotton Tree Lodge, a highly acclaimed eco-lodge up the Moho River in Belize’s Toledo District, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) has a number of ongoing projects that take advantage of Belize’s rich soil and plant diversity.

Sustainable Harvest International has been working in Belize since 1999—they’re also active in other Central American countries, “providing farming families with training and tools to overcome poverty while restoring the planet’s tropical forests.” In addition to overseeing an impressive organic garden at Cotton Tree Lodge, which supplies many vegetables for the kitchen, SHI offers a Sustainable Chocolate Tour in which participants can incorporate several days of volunteer work, chocolate making, and adventure activities. Proceeds from these trips benefit SHI’s Belize programs. SHI has also offers one-day volunteer opportunities to lodge guests.

Belizean Maya Land Rights Case Update

March 10th, 2009 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Despite the Supreme Court of Belize’s landmark 2007 decision “affirming the rights of the indigenous Maya communities of Belize to their traditional lands and resources and declaring those rights protected by the Constitution of Belize in light of relevant international law” (also called “the most far-reaching application of international law by a domestic court to recognize the rights of indigenous groups to their traditional lands”), the Maya of Toledo District continue to have to fight to uphold these rights.

The Rogers College of Law at The University of Arizona’s Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program offers the best overall info on the case that I’ve found, with a wealth of information on southern Belize and the issue of who was there first. This documents page is particularly informative … appeals are pending.

Feb.2009 update from The Reporter in Belize.