by Derek A Parent
The Black Carib's genesis began when two slave ships carrying West Africans ran aground in foul weather off the island of St. Vincent around 1600. These displaced Africans eventually intermarried with the native Arawak and Carib Indians creating the Garifuna race.
After an unsuccessful uprising contra the British who were bent on colonizing St. Vincent, the vanquished Garifuna were deported to the inhospitable island of Roatan, Honduras. They eventually made their way to the Caribbean coast of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras where they continue to preserve their arts, music and religion through self-imposed cultural segregation.
All Garifuna villages survive through age old traditions of fishing and subsistence agriculture, but some men, in order to support their families, leave home to work aboard cruise ships. When not at sea, the fishermen of the village can be found in the shade of palm fronds, debating political issues while mending their hundred foot long nets. Weighing anchor, the captain navigated away from the crashing breakers on shore to the safety of deeper water s. The sandy bottom slipped out of sight as we headed east again, running parallel with the shoreline towards Cabo Camarón (Cape Shrimp) and according to a deck hand "more turbulent seas". As the sun ascended, so did the swell of the Caribbean; it seemed as though the wind had picked up strength and changed direction.
A flock of brown pelicans swung gracefully by just off to our left, barely ten feet above the crests of the waves. Maria pointed towards the bow, "mira", look, she said, asking about the unusual looking fish skipping at lightening speed from wave to wave . As far as I knew they were a species of flying fish. Scanning the shore with binoculars revealed a row of sandpipers chasing the wave action up and down the steeply sloped beach. Other than a few scattered villages we hadn't seen any signs of human presence along the coast. The modern world hadn't arrived here - no phones, newspapers, TV, electricity or roads. We laid anchor at the Garifuna villages of Sangrelaya and Siribolla before rounding Cabo Camaron. The Cabo or Cape lighthouse stands out as a lone sentinel serving to guide mariners around the treacherous waters here.
Palacios
It was nearing noon when I spotted the turbid coffee colored water of the Rio Tinto/Negro mixing with the cristaline Caribbean sea. As we entered the mouth of the Rio Negro/Tinto, out on the bow a deck hand was probing the water's depth with a long wooden pole. The pilot steered cautiously -new sand bars can form here where there were none just a few days earlier. An air strip, hospedaje, cafeteria and Bahai medical clinic can be found in Palacio s. Don Felix Marmol is the Islana Airline ticket agent and the hub of all activity here. He also operates a crude hospedaje boarding house above his office for those who get stuck in transit. The river bank in front of Don Felixs' is the departure point f or all form of watercraft going east to Laguna Ibans. You'll need to take the 8:30am tuk-tuk to the village of Cocobila to reach the Rio Platano Biosphere so make sure you get the morning flight to Palacios.
Into La Mosquitia
Our transition from sea into river took place without incident, thanks to the skill of our pilot. I noticed color coming back into Marias cheeks after her brief bout with motion sickness. We were now passing between a sand spit on our left - covered with beautiful white egrets, and an impenetrable deep green wall of mangrove on our right. The change in topography here was quite noticeable in that the inland waterway became our new road, snaking it s way through the mangrove far off into the distance, the source of its water coming from the Rio Platano mountain range barely visible above the tree tops 20 kilometers to the south east.
To quench our thirst, there was no shortage of warm soft drinks and beer aboard the Michanisia, we had to pay for them of course. As for food, we had to pack our own as no meals are available aboard. There were numerous small pulperias or stores in Limon where we purchased pan de coco a delicious heavy bread bun made with ground coconut meat. I bought a couple of trimmed water coconuts to drink aboard ship as a healthy alternative to soft drinks.
The waterway grew substantially wider, and before long, we broke out into the laguna Ibans. What a sight, as we plowed into the tree-bending head wind, crashing again into 4 foot rollers - some with white caps. Steve remarked in disbelief "that he'd never seen a lagoon of this immensity, in fact, it looked like we had gone back out to sea !" According to my map, Laguna Ibans looked to be about 12 kilometers long by 10 wide, included 3 large islands and was connected by canal to two smaller lagoons. It was almost completely landlocked by mangroves, lush verdant rain forest and a 20 kilometer sand bar - except for the natural canal, from which we had entered - connecting it to the Caribbean. The lagoon was originally named Evans, locals pronounced it "Ibans", the latter pronunciation won out. Manatee, turtle, crocodile, snook, tarpon and shark are among the many inhabitants of the lagoon's waters.
Copyright 1996. LatinWorld Magazine Content is Produced By Netpoint Communications, producers of the LatinWorld Directory. All original articles and photographs published in LatinWorld Magazine are protected by international copyright law. Reproduction, in whole or in part without prior written permission, is strictly prohibited Miami, Florida, USA. 
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