Hopkins is a very fascinating little town in Belize. There’s some tourism but the authentic garifuna lifestyle is very present and intermixed with small guesthouses and beach cabanas.
Oh yeah – Hopkins has one of the very few beaches in Belize !

Within Hopkins, its quite easy to get around. You need a bike (most guest houses have them for free) or you just walk. The entire town is about 3 miles long and 30 yards wide.
To get there, take a bus (james bus line) northbound starting in Punta Gorda or southbound starting in Belize City or Belmopan and ask that they drop you off at the “Hopkins Junction”. This is where the Hummingbird Highway and the dirt road leading to Hopkins meet. From there on just hitch a ride into Hopkins (the standard fare for the ride to give to the driver is 10 US dollars). We don’t recommend walking – it’s a 5 mile hike along a dirt road through swamps.

Our volunteering takes us around the country, but we are mainly working in Belize City. Kerstin is a consultant and project manager for the Belize Red Cross, I do the same for an NGO in the tourism sector. If you wan to volunteer for a short period of time, we’d recommend looking for small grass roots charities.

Let us know if there are any questions you have about Belize!
Holger

-Tara