Yalbac (Spanish Lookout)
View from The Lookout, several hundred feet above Spanish Lookout. At the bottom of this steep hill lie the Cara Blanca pools, a series of pools documented and photographed by Tony Rath and rich in history. In this picture, Spanish Lookout would be just out of sight on the right side.
A few months ago on a Sunday morning, I rode along with some relatives to an area known to western Belizeans by the general label of Yalbac, a sprawling mixture of jungle and farmland in the southwestern corner of the Orange Walk District, much of it owned by Spanish Lookout now. The area lies directly north of Spanish Lookout and is protected by the Mennonite community and the owners of Yalbac Ranch.
Area in red is the new area purchased by Spanish Lookout not too long ago
I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The scenery, the thousands of acres of ripening corn, the rolling hills, the lush green pockets of forest tucked in mysterious valleys, a calm lake. It was wonderful seeing the thousands of acres of developed land, knowing that these ears of corn and heads of cattle were providing food and income for both Mennonites and non-Mennonites. And yet, with that happy moment came a certain sadness knowing that these thousands of virgin acres of jungle, home to countless numbers of wild animals, providing oxygen and beauty for centuries, will now be no more. The bite of steel blades and snorting of diesel engines have replaced the cry of the jaguar and the call of the mother birds. As we passed a bulldozer parked atop a flatbed, waiting for Monday to resume its relentless tearing down of flora and fauna, I sighed. We passed tractors, combines, and trailers parked on the field or beside the road, and we spotted some deer and wild pigs, but we met only one other human being besides us. You see, although this area of fields and crops is bigger than the actual populated colony of Spanish Lookout, it is very new and thus largely uninhabited except for an occasional lone building sitting atop a hill.
To be fair, both the Mennonites and the owners of Yalbac Ranch protect this area. Hunting is not allowed and only vehicles with permits may enter and leave. There are gates installed at different entry points as well as watchmen.
Apparently some of the wildlife has taken advantage of this protection and now seems to co-exist with tractors and irrigation systems. Like I mentioned before, we spotted several white-tailed deer, in fact drove right up to them. We also watched a line of peccaries wandering over a recently plowed field.
Recently cleared land
The person beside me chuckled. "You wouldn't even need to draw a bead with your rifle. Just pick the fattest one and fire." We both grinned since we knew that if a gunshot was heard and an animal carcass found, the culprit, if discovered, would be banned from entering this area. Neither of us wanted to hunt. We relaxed and enjoyed the sight of wild pigs and deer walking beside a parked trailer.
A cabin on Lagoon Bank
It's quite deep at this point. We tried diving but did not enjoy the idea of being lunch for crocodiles (although we did not see any)
In the past there was a road that led straight north, through a conservation area, and eventually came out in the Old Colony community of Shipyard. But since the Mennonites of Spanish Lookout began farming this section of land, the road was blocked to prevent unwanted travelers.
I love the area and if possible would give all for a home up there on those rugged hills, with miles of cornfields as far as the eye can see, here and there steep mounds of earth covered with trees and bushes, perhaps the ancient remains of Mayan temples. I wonder how much of Maya history would be uncovered under those solitary mounds, standing silent guard over cattle and corn and beans. Will we ever know?
A. Mendoza
