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.