Placencia: We are ready for Easter
Five months after Hurricane Iris devastated much of Southern Belize, the recovery effort is still underway. While most of the affected villages have rebuilt many of the structures lost to the storm, the question now, is has a sense of normalcy been restored. News 5 was on the Placencia peninsula on Saturday and here’s what we found.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
There is still plenty of evidence in the village of Placencia to remind visitors of the violent storm that passed through here last October; but while construction continues, the amount of work the people have invested so far is significant.
Traditionally, the Placencia peninsula has been a prime Easter destination for many Belizeans. But in the aftermath of Hurricane Iris, more than a few might be wondering, is the village ready to cope with the crowd?
Apparently, that answer depends on who you ask.
Dolly Yep, General Manager, The Inn at Robert’s Grove
“In general, business has been good.”
Like several other resorts, managers of the Inn at Robert’s Grove, say their rooms have been consistently full. According to the hoteliers, this holiday weekend will show the rest of the country that things are back on track.
Dolly Yep
“We get a lot of walk-ins on any of the special Belizean holidays and everything like that. We get a lot of the Belizeans from Belize City that will just come and spend the weekend here with us or just come and have dinner or lunch and just spend the day. We are full for the four days, actually packed with mostly tourists, but we are expecting a lot of the Belizeans just to walk in. So we are prepared, we’re getting ready.”
The tourists who come here enjoy the pristine beaches of the peninsula and trips to offshore cayes for snorkelling, diving and fishing excursions in the crystal clear waters.
This weekend, visitors to the village will have also have the unique opportunity to dive with magnificent whale sharks. A late full moon this March will provide excellent sightings of the mammals in nearby Gladden Spit as they complete their migratory journey through the Caribbean.
But despite such attractions, tour guides from “Ocean Motion” say there is still a limited number of tourists coming to the village.
Lavern Parham, Tour Guide, Ocean Motion
“We still are very short of tourists…they are coming in a little but still we would need some more people than usual. Most of them think that a lot of the hotels here in Placencia are not operating. And most of them believe that coming after the weather, it wouldn’t be nice for them because going out on the tours that we would offer, like the Monkey River tours, caye trips, it wouldn’t be like before we got the weather. Because most of them heard Monkey River was wiped out and a lot of them know that the cayes are going off from Placencia that we take them out for the snorkelling, diving.”
While residents must still deal with glitches in the phone system, occasional blackouts and cable disconnections, they must also contend with the apparent lack of interest some of their neighbours have when it comes to the clean-up campaign.
Carol Milnes, Co-owner, Sugar Reef Bar
“There are still complaints that you get from some of the areas in the village where the cleanup hasn’t quite been completed yet. But the amount of work that’s been done is amazing, so I think it’s just a case of Placencia needs to market itself of which all the businesses are more than willing to support. Because at the end of the day, that’s how we are going to live.”
Janelle Chanona
“There might still be a few bumps in the road to full recovery for the village of Placencia, but by all accounts, the people here are determined to transform their community into the thriving tourist destination it once was. Reporting from the Placencia peninsula for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.”
Several hotels and bars in Placencia will be hosting various events over the Easter weekend, varying from a horse shoe competition and kayak race at the Sugar Reef Bar, to a volleyball marathon and several contests organised by the folks at the Tipsy Tuna. A percentage of the proceeds from bar sales at the Tipsy Tuna will be given to the Placencia Sidewalk Committee to rebuild the parts of the peninsula landmark destroyed by Hurricane Iris.
