Outside of Belize City, Belize ~ January 31, 2005
I hope this is one of the worst series of photos you will find on Taphophile Tragics, a new photo meme from "Down Under," (no pun intended, and I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this). I'm sorry about the poor quality of these photos; they are all I have of this interesting above-ground cemetery.
On January 31, 2005, Lee and I left Belize City on our way inland to tour the country, and this unusual cemetery caught me by surprise. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, I think you can read the lettering in the wrought-iron arch. It says, "Sisters of Mercy." Even though Belize is a Central American country, its official language is English, as it was once the colony of British Honduras. All of the photos below were taken on our way back to the city on February 6th.
Many people commute long distances by bicycle along the Great Western Highway, as cars are out of the budget for a large number of Belizean citizens.
In the background you can see some of the houses belonging to the poor of Belize. It emphasizes something I have wondered about in a number of the cemeteries I've visited. You always see the contrast between the beautifully-carved stones of the wealthy and the modest, if any, stones of the poorer people. In some old new England cemeteries in particular I have often wondered how anyone was able to afford the stones, especially as I began to learn about the circumstances of the people who I knew were buried beneath them.
