|
| |
|
SAN IGNACIO |
| |
 On the west bank of the Macal River, about 35km from Belmopan, SAN
IGNACIO is a friendly, relaxed town that draws together the best of
inland Belize. Surrounded by fast-flowing rivers and forested hills,
it's an ideal base from which to explore the region, offering good food,
inexpensive hotels and frequent bus connections. The evenings here are
usually cool and the days fresh - a welcome break from the sweltering
heat of the coast.
San Ignacio town is usually referred to as Cayo by locals (this is also
the name you'll usually see on buses), the same word that the Spanish
use to describe the offshore islands - an apt description of the area,
which is set in a peninsula between two converging rivers. The early
wave of the Spanish Conquest in 1544 made little impact here, and the
area was a centre of rebellion in the following decades. Tipu , a Maya
city on the Macal River about 9km south of the present-day town, was the
capital of the province of Dzuluinicob, where for years the people
resisted attempts to convert them to Christianity. Spanish friars
arrived in 1618, but for years afterwards the population continued to
practise idolatry - in 1641, Maya priests conducted a mock Mass to
express their defiance towards a group of visiting Spanish clerics, and
then threw them out. Tipu retained a measure of independence until 1707,
when the population was forcibly removed to Lago de Petén Itzá in
Guatemala.
Around this time British loggers (Baymen) arrived, seeking mahogany -
like many places in modern Belize, San Ignacio probably started life as
a logging camp. Spanish influence, never great, was by now in permanent
decline, and the British were not interested in converting the remaining
Maya - a map of 1787 simply states that the Maya of this general area
were "in friendship with the Baymen". In addition to logging, San
Ignacio became a centre for the shipment of chicle , the sap of the
sapodilla tree and the basis of chewing gum. The self-reliant chicleros
, as the collectors of chicle were called, knew the forest intimately,
including the location of most, if not all, Maya ruins. When the demand
for Maya artefacts sent black-market prices rocketing, some of them
turned to looting.
Until the Western Highway was built in the 1930s local transport was by
mule or water. It could take ten days of paddling to reach San Ignacio
from Belize City, though small steamers later began to make the trip.
Nowadays river traffic, which had almost died out, is enjoying something
of a revival thanks to the increasing numbers of tourists. Indeed, a
good time to visit San Ignacio is at the start of La Ruta Maya canoe
race , held annually in early March, when teams of paddlers race all the
way to Belize City. Anyone can enter, but local guides always win.
|
| |
|
