San Ignacio

The hill above the Macal River was settled long before the town: Cahal Pech, now on the edge of San Ignacio, shows signs of habitation from around 1200 BC, making it one of the oldest recognisably Maya sites in western Belize, and it was abandoned in the 9th century AD. The Spanish called the place El Cayo, the "island" — a creek once ran between the Macal and Mopan rivers outside town, leaving the land surrounded by water — and the name San Ignacio first appeared on a map in 1787. Locally the town is still often called Cayo.

Under British rule the district was logging country. Mahogany was cut along the rivers and floated to the coast, and later chicle, the gum of the sapodilla tree, was tapped in the forest, and El Cayo grew as the centre of both trades. It was declared a town on 19 October 1904. The highway from Belize City was finished in 1930, and the Hawkesworth Bridge across the Macal followed in 1949.

The creek that made El Cayo an island later dried up and was filled with gravel. Across the Macal, Santa Elena grew into a town of its own and has since been absorbed, the two forming the "Twin Towns", one of the largest urban areas in Belize. A two-lane bridge between them was built in 2018. Lying on the road to Guatemala and surrounded by sights, the town has drawn a growing number of visitors and is now the cultural and economic hub of the Cayo District.

San Ignacio is mostly Mestizo and, like the rest of Cayo, largely Spanish-speaking, with close ties across the border to Guatemala's Petén. Kriol families, some Mopan Maya and Lebanese residents, and a fairly large Chinese community — most of whom came from Guangzhou in waves in the mid-20th century — complete the mix, and their businesses line the main streets. The Mennonite farming settlement of Spanish Lookout lies a few miles outside town, and its people come in to trade.

The rivers shape the town's identity. Every March San Ignacio is the starting point of La Ruta Maya, a four-day canoe marathon from the Hawkesworth Bridge down to Belize City first organised partly to raise awareness of the river's history, culture and environment; it is the country's biggest sporting event and draws large crowds. The Maya ruins and caves around the town make the area one of the most popular parts of the country for visitors.

Schools are part of the town's life: Sacred Heart College, a Catholic high school and junior college, is one of the largest high schools in Belize, and Galen University and an agricultural campus of the University of Belize are just east of town. Its high schools include Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist schools.

The 2010 census counted about 17,900 people in San Ignacio and Santa Elena together, making the twin towns the second-largest settlement in the Cayo District after the capital, Belmopan. The town covers only about two and a half square miles, and most of the centre lies within a few minutes' walk.

Tourism shapes much of the economy: the area is one of the most popular in the country for visitors, and the town has places to eat and stay in every price range. Saturday is market day, when people from the surrounding villages come in to buy and sell produce. Galen University and the University of Belize's agricultural campus bring students, and Loma Luz, an Adventist hospital in Santa Elena, and the San Ignacio Hospital serve the area.

Traffic between the two halves of town crosses the Macal by two one-lane bridges, each carrying traffic one way, and a newer two-lane bridge. The town council is elected every three years, and the area sends three members to the House of Representatives.

Cayo's food reflects its Mestizo and Guatemalan ties. Garnaches are crisp fried tortillas topped with beans, cabbage and cheese; panades are small fried turnovers of corn dough filled with fish or beans; salbutes are puffed fried tortillas topped with chicken; and tamales are corn dough wrapped in corn husk and steamed. Burritos and tacos are everyday fast food in town, sold by small cafés.

The market is the place to find fresh corn tortillas and tropical fruit from the river valleys, and Mennonite stalls bring cheese, bread, honey and pies in from the farms. As across Belize, rice and beans with stewed chicken is the usual midday meal.

San Ignacio's Chinese families run restaurants serving fried chicken, fried rice and chow mein, and the tourist trade has added cafés, pizzerias and restaurants offering everything from steak and seafood to a Sri Lankan menu. Belikin beer and fresh fruit juices are the usual drinks.