Our Trip to San Ignacio

Our Trip To San Ignacio.

Starting our drive, as we headed out of Corozal, was much different than our original trip out of Belize City.  For one thing, we were much more familiar with the road.  For another, it was before noon and we had a much better idea of what to expect and how long it might take.  We chose to drive through Orange Walk City, on this leg of the journey.  We were amazed at how many more people were in this city than in Corozal.  There were more shops, more people lining the street, more or less aimlessly, and much more color.  We didn’t stop, but we didn’t find it as intimidating as we had found it when we drove into it a mile or so, from the other direction and in twilight.

Our next major city, if you want to call it major, was Belmopan, the capitol of Belize.  It was not as big as either Orange Walk or Belize City.  At least we didn’t see anything that would suggest it was large.  Even when we were downtown, we felt like we were on the outskirts of a “normal” town.  Nevertheless, it was the Capitol of Belize.  There being nothing much to see, we continued on to San Ignacio.  We were on the road perhaps another 45 minutes when we found ourselves driving into a combination residential, commercial area.  Of course the commercial, although more upscale than in Corozal, was still pretty unimpressive.  I say that with some relief.  Evelyn and I have been in some of the biggest and most populace cities in Europe and in America.  Most are not at all very comfortable nor welcoming.  This, in contrast, was kind of laid back and comfortable.  To add to the comfort was the Jungle, which had become more green and lush, as we progressed toward San Ignacio.  We actually saw motels or signs of off the main road motels, as we drove closer to the heart of the Belizean City. 

We stopped at several that seemed to be more inviting, as we drove on, thinking if we didn’t find anything better further in town, we could always backtrack.  Finally, as we arrived at the Belize River, we found a low, primarily wooden bridge, leading to the other side of the river.  It was appropriately named the “Low Hanging Bridge.”

As we got to the other side, we started seeing the real trappings of the city of San Ignacio.  We went around a tight curve in the road and were staring straight into a produce market.  We stopped to check it out and found more different types of vegetables and fruits than I knew existed.  We didn’t purchase anything, but we knew where to go if we decided to take some fresh produce with us on our further explorations.

We continued on past several tourist oriented Mayan Ruin attractions and, driving along the Belize River, eventually came to the border of Guatemala.  We had made no plans to leave the country and hadn’t purchase whatever kind of insurance they would have required, so we turned around and headed back through San Ignacio.  We had settled on going back to a motel we had found as we were first entering the area.  The bridge returning us to the other side of the river was in the heart of the commercial/retail district and was elevated quite a ways off the river.  At first, we thought we have driven the wrong way, but sure enough we arrived back on the country road that had brought us this far.  The motel we chose was a few blocks off the main road and we had found it only because of a sign they had put on the highway.  Those few blocks were tedious.  The road was so badly pot holed, we could only inch our way to the cross street where the motel was. 

The pool area in the San Ignacio Motel

We checked into what turned out to be a rather pleasant motel, had a nice dinner which consisted of at least one portion of Nachos, which we found to be better in Belize than anywhere else we have ever had them, and more of the typical beans and rice that were so prevalent in Belize.  After getting settled into our room, we went to the pool area to enjoy the very pleasant air and temperature in some chaise lounge chairs that surrounded the pool.  We were shortly joined by some other Americans, who were extremely friendly, cordial, and turned out to be from Texas (primarily).  They were several couples who apparently made this trek every year to deliver school supplies to all the local schools.  It seems the Belizean government does not provide very well for the school children.  They have to use the same sheet of paper every day, for the school assignments, and have to erase the previous day’s lesson or assignment from the paper before continuing on.  These Americans shipped down paper, pencils, and any other school supplies they thought the teachers could use.  They spent several days driving around and making the deliveries.  It was their Christian outreach.  We were pleasantly surprised and impressed with their selflessness. 

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast and headed into town to check it out, better than the day before.  Once again, we crossed the Low Hanging Bridge and circled around into the heart of town.  We parked and walked the streets to check out all the things one could find there.  We found everyone very nice and accepting of us.  Evelyn and I are not your typical tourists.  We like to look around, but we generally don’t like to purchase a bunch of memorabilia.  We travel light (taking only carry ons and have done so for the last twenty years) and don’t like to spend unnecessary money for things we don’t need.  That is why we take a lot of pictures.  That is how we go down memory lane.

Our ferry on the way to Spanish Lookout

After spending a fair amount of time acquainting ourselves with the way of life, in San Ignacio, we decided to visit the Mennonite community that was east of San Ignacio.  There was a sign pointing to the town of Spanish Lookout, which was the name of the community, and we decided that, although it was obviously closer than the people we had asked had told us to turn off, it would be an adventure, so we turned there.  We drove on and on and the road became more and more difficult.  Finally, true to Belizean tradition, we came to a place where we were going to cross the Belize River; once again by hand cranked ferry.  This one, if anything, was smaller than the others we had experienced.

The road on the other side of the river was a very rough gravel road.  Eventually, though, it did take us to Spanish Lookout.  We knew immediately, once we were there.  The buildings were all very well built as were the streets, which were all paved and high quality.  These Mennonites were a little more liberal than the ones we had witnessed in Shipyard, and had no problem driving cars, owning businesses, and using electricity.  As we neared the main street, we noticed a restaurant that has a sign announcing it to be a “Golden Corral.”  We were floored.  Wondering if it was part of the well known chain of restaurants in America, we decided to give it a try.  The people were natives, who worked for Mennonite owners, and were very pleasant.  It was a buffet, but that was where the similarities ended.  They only had about eight items on the buffet bar.  The fare was very humble, but I have to say, it was very good.  We walked away feeling very satisfied.

More about Spanish Lookout in my next entry.

Ferry pulling onto our side of slough

 Our second day in Belize was very relaxing and educational.  The tour to Orchid Bay, with the people we had spent the tour to the Mayan temples with, was to take place, but the tour group would be going to Orchid Bay by boat.  We were far more interested in what kind of drive it would be to the community, so we elected to take the car.  Boy, was that a surprise and adventure.  The road was dirt and, because they had recently had some rain in the Corozal area, there were mud holes that we dared not get stuck in.  Many were over 100 yards in length and, rather than just driving through water, we were driving through very slippery and deep mud.  The tires on our rental car were not the best, so I made sure we didn't slow down to a point I would not be able to continue moving forward. 

Having negotiated the mud slicks, we were then further surprised by coming to a line of cars waiting to cross a waterway by ferry.  These were not the kind of ferries an American conjures up, when thinking of vehicular transportation.  These were little more than barges with wooden decks that were propelled from one side of the water way to the other by means of a steel cable and one or two men cranking a gear and chain driven pulley that was attached to each side of the slough.  The barge had definite weight limits and could accommodate only about two to three cars at a time.

This is apparently one means of employing people.

It was interesting to see how the government provided jobs for some of their citizens, rather than to mechanize and automate everything.  I felt it would have been far more practical to build a simple bridge, but that would not have provided long term employment to anyone.

We encountered two of these ferries, on our way to Orchid Bay.  The drive was significantly longer than we had anticipated.  If one chose to purchase land and build in this community, they would have to plan on either shopping by boat or perhaps once a week by car.

Orchid Bay is a Gringo community that was a major subdivision of property with lots for sale.  They promised, eventually, to have a restaurant (and already had a meager one on site), along with a lot of other amenities that were not yet constructed.  We took the 10 Cent tour and saw homes that had already been constructed and others under construction.  Although we enjoyed the company of the members of the tour, we decided it was time to return to the town of Corozal and see what else was interesting.  We actually spent about four days in the area.  There were several subdivisions that were offering lots for sale.  None of them had a source of water, other than the cisterns that the locals used to gather rain water.  Electricity seemed to be available, but it was still a little on the primitive side.  Sewer was only available as septic systems. 

Evelyn at dusk outside motel restaurant.

We checked out some other older neighborhoods, which were mostly populated by expatriates, and found numerous houses that were for sale, but for which (in my opinion) were too expensive for what was being offered.  Even the lots (including those in Orchid Bay) were being offered at too high a price to warrant taking the plunge. 

The high point of our northern Belize visit was the introduction to the poor lifestyle the Belizeans apparently choose to live and the foods that were available at the restaurants.  I visited an open produce market, while in Corozal, and found it to be less than "clean" or desirable.  Nonetheless, I decided to try a tamale from one of the quick food huts, of which there were several.  I was a little apprehensive about the apparent filth in the hut.  I was served a tamale on a plastic, often reused, plate with a discolored fork.  I decided I might as well try it, since I had paid for it.  It turned out to be the best tamale I had ever eaten.  That goes to show one can not always judge things by appearance.

We got a chance to speak to several Expats, while looking around Corozal.  We can say, without exception, they were extremely friendly, welcoming, and encouraging.  They were happy and felt they had made an excellent choice in relocating to this area.  There was a huge lack of those things Americans have accustomed themselves to, including real supermarkets, department stores, gas stations (gas was over $5 per gallon or BZ 9.90 to 10.50 per gallon), and nice restaurants (although the restaurant at our motel was pretty nice).  On the other hand, for those who were living full time in Belize, one could drive fifteen minutes north and shop in the customs free zone or in Mexico, where they had Walmart, Home Depot, etc.  All-in-all, it was a life style one could easily adjust to.  It was less tropical, here, but it offered year around comfort.  The natives thought the 70 degree weather we were experiencing was cold.

This building housed the 3 businesses of the man with Evelyn.

Our last full day in the Corozal area, we chose to take a flight from the local municipal airport to the island of Ambergris Caye.  Although this was not a large island, it was a huge tourist attraction.  It was only about a fifteen minute flight from Corozal.  We rented a golfcart to get around the island. 

It was interesting, because the streets were very narrow and crowded,  There were many hotel/motels, lots of beach, numerous stores offering anything from ice cream to fishing tours, and some nice restaurants.  We decided to eat in a small establishment and found the food to be less expensive than that which was offered in most of the other restaurants, very tasty, and we were able to meet the owner.  He explained to us he had built the building in which the restaurant was housed.  He lived there with his wife and kids.  He also had a golf cart rental business, a charter fishing business, in the same building.  He was, in contrast to the average Belizean, very entrepreneurial.  He explained that, by doing the several businesses, he was able to earn about $5,000 per month.  That is huge for Belizean standard.  We managed to take pictures of Orchid Bay, from the air.

A view of Orchid Bay from the air.

We spent our final night in Corozal and decided we would drive to San Ignacio.  One of the unexpected drawbacks we discovered in being on the sandy coast was the abundance of Sand Fleas.  These were particularly virulent and Evelyn suffered greatly from them.  We were hoping to find the San Ignacio area to be less of a problem, in that regard.  More from the next leg of our trip, to follow.