Spanish Lookout

If I had to live in Belize I wouldn’t be allowed to live in the town of Spanish Lookout but I’d shop there all the time, I’d get my building supplies, car parts and lumber and I’d hire mechanics and repair technicians. Spanish Lookout is modern, clean and well organized. One long time San Ignacio resident described it to us as “Kansas with palm trees.”

The hint to its roots lies in the greeting at the city limits; who speaks German? Why the Mennonites do of course!

You have to be a member of the tribe to live in the city. They hire from outside but they run the town. Another expatriate said he liked to shop there too but he wasn’t interested in living in the town with the highest taxes in Belize. I think you get your money’s worth. 

They have a city hall and community center and of course a church and the buildings are clean and modern and with my middle class proclivities I like the atmosphere of order and serenity. 

It’s one hell of a contrast from the rest of the country, no tourism, no poverty, no alcohol, no grime or dirt. 

Of course I’m no candidate for membership in anything club-like, certainly not anything like a religious order but the Mennonites are quite the asset to Belize. 

About 50 families emigrated to British Honduras from Chihuahua in Mexico in 1958. The Mexican Mennonites were a splinter group from Canadian Mennonites who in turn arrived from Russia in the 19th century. Quite the journey to Central America. There are twelve thousand of them now in Belize living largely apart with their own rules in their own community in a country of 400,000 people. They produce almost all the agricultural products grown in Belize, consequently the country is hopelessly dependent on them. 

Check this out: a strip mall. Yes I know you can step out of your home and visit any number of places like this but in Belize where there are no familiar chains or box stores this is unique, not just rare. Want a fancy coffee? A butcher shop? In a clean tidy parking lot?

A vegetable market? It was okay but they do need to get windows to keep out the dust. 

On our second visit we went to the main supermarket, with a striped parking lot labeled with an entrance, an exit and one way traffic. In a country with a highly developed individualistic style of driving I was astonished to see everyone parking properly and with perfect manners. It was slightly weird. 

Rusty stayed aboard GANNET2 and we went in to mingle with the locals. In Mennonite culture women and men have separate roles so we saw bunches of women and children but no Russian peasants shopping. I was acutely conscious of my shorts - a quick route to eternal damnation I’m told- but there were lots of non Mennonites shopping. Staff west polo shirts and demure black skirts. 

Layne asked a Mennonite staff member where the dog food was. The woman looked puzzled. “At the Reimer’s Feed store” she said with the tone of one who wonders at the stupidity of the customer. Mennonites don’t keep pets. They raise dogs for cash in puppy mills. You can imagine how I feel about that. Check this out: price labels. Seen nowhere else in Belize. Seriously, in the Chinese food stores everywhere else in Belize you pick stuff up and hope for the best. 

Look at all those legs on display: heathens! I can’t fathom dressing for a Russian winter while living in the tropics but that’s what they do. 

I couldn’t believe the traffic signs and orderliness. 

The city of Marathon could use this banner explaining how to use the center lane. I get the feeling discipline is a virtue around here which is confusing when it’s such a small island in a sea of confusion. 

We did our shopping and left. GANNET2 is doing great after surgery. We had an alignment done and all is well on the front wheels. We had thought to retreat to the US and regroup but at this point we seem to have put the disaster behind us. After a rest in the mountains we’ll press on to Guatemala next week and see what happens. One step at a time. 

I noted the suggestion yesterday that we should consider a four wheel drive van. It’s a popular option these days but for us it’s not an option. Vans aren’t off road vehicles, they are heavy and tall and not suitable for off roading in my opinion. I’m not an off road driver and don’t want the added complexity and expense had reduced gas mileage if four wheel drive. Four wheel drive wouldn’t have saved us in the recent fiasco when we sank in a clay hole. Most overlanders will tell you they want to know they can drive anywhere but rarely use four wheel drive. We broke common sense rules in getting stuck and I hope we won’t do that again. Four wheel drive can get you doubly stuck when you’re an idiot. That would be dangerous  for me.