Best Belize Blog

BELIZE CITY — Belize’s founding father and first prime minister, George Price, died early Monday, just short of three decades since he led the small Central American nation to independence. He was 92.

Price died at the Belize Healthcare Partners Hospital in Belize City, said a grand nephew, Henry Charles Usher. He was hospitalized Wednesday after a fall at his Belize City home and put in a medically induced coma following surgery to remove a blood clot.

Belize just celebrated it’s 30th anniversary of Independence on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, the death of the Right Honorable George Cadle Price, 92, two days after this milestone achievement – Belize’s Independence. -

Price was Belize’s first leader when it became independent from Britain on Sept. 21, 1981. As head of the centrist People’s United Party, he served two terms as prime minister, in 1981-84 and 1989-1993, and is considered the father of the Caribbean country of about 300,000 people that borders Mexico and Guatemala.

Belize is on the Central American mainland but maintains closer cultural ties with other English-speaking former British colonies in the Caribbean than with its Spanish-speaking neighbors.

In a message broadcast to the nation, the current prime minister called Price “a giant of a man, the greatest architect of Belizean nationalism and Belizean sovereignty.”

PUP Leader Johnny Briceño told the media, during a press briefing held at the PUP headquarters on Queen Street, that he would surely miss the man he said was his mentor.

“We are very grateful for what Mr. Price has done for us as a nation, for all the Belizean people, the fight from the colonial masters to self-government to Independence, where he forged a new country in the Caribbean and Central America, a country that is known as Belize, and where we Belizeans have an identity as Belizeans.

Caribbean Life magazine readers vote Belize as the Caribbean’s best diving and snorkeling and says “The Caribbean’s Technicolor depths are one of its biggest draws, and no place does coral like Belize. The tiny Central American nation has prime proximity to the magnificent Mesoamerican Reef, which stretches nearly 700 miles from Mexico to northern Honduras. Grab a mask and fins and dive in”.

Belize was also a favorite pick by Luxury Living International magazine as Best of Paradise when it comes to the Reef and the overall adventure expierence. Luxury Living International also named Roberts Grove as the best resort in Belize to stay and enjoy the treasures of Belize.

I guess “Mother Natures Best Kept Secret” is getting out there!

BELIZE CITY, Belize — The Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA), Belize’s primary port of entry, will now be dishing out regular doses of unique musical renditions to vacationers, as sister agencies within Belize’s Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture — the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) and the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH), on July 20, 2011, launched the long-awaited Belizean Beats program.

Being a country that proudly boasts over ten diverse ethnic groups, the Belizean Beats program is specifically designed to introduce travelers to Belizean culture from the very onset of their time in the country. It promises to set the tempo for their entire trip as they are immediately and melodiously baptized into the very essence of the Belizean experience.

“As soon as the tourist arrives in Belize we give them a sense of what we have to offer as a vibrant tourism destination filled with culture and history.” said Seleni Matus, BTB’s director of tourism.

“Today we cut the proverbial ribbon on an exciting new initiative that does so much more than just entertain; it serves as an immediate gateway to the heart of Belizean culture.” Dalhouse explained.

Defining music as the universal language, the BTB says it’s confident that this program will transliterate the nation’s heartfelt welcome into an idiom that everyone could comprehend and appreciate despite the linguistic barriers.

Performing at the PGIA on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the first group to be featured in the Belizean Beats program is the up-and-coming local band affectionately known as the Laru Beya Boys. Chosen after grueling auditions against dozens of other top musical groups, this first group has clearly earned the trendsetter position for one of the most dynamic airport programs to have ever come into existence in Belize.

So the next time you take a trip to Mother Nature’s Best Kept Secret and passing through the international airport, don’t worry about your feet tapping — it’s just part of the Belizean experience.