Bird sounds at Lago Atitlan

The first tortilla of the visit! RICO!

Nancy and I have walked down to the lake for me to see how things look for this year. There is plenty of damage from the storm Agatha earlier this year and then again in September during some more horribly heavy rains. I wish nature would let up a little bit on this beautiful place! However, it is surprising cleaned up and as lovely as ever.

This morning was all about getting things set up here, phone card, groceries and just looking around to see what has and has not changed. We're having some yerba Mora for dinner tonight, it was exceptionally fresh at the market this morning, also a broccoli that I bought off the back of a pickup truck, 2Q for the head which is about $.25! The bridge is all repaired (again since it was rebuilt after hurricane Stan) but the little tienda at the edge of Jucanya as you can see is dangling over the edge of where the river washed out.

I had my first delicious latte at Crossroads just in the nick of time because the shop was inundated with a large group. I beat a hasty retreat.

I've been trying to load on a video for the last 3 hours so I give up. I'll try again in the morning and make a new post. here is the video

Our Big Adventure

I am somewhat recovered from our big adventure, a hike into the hills behind where I am staying. 4 of us set out at 8:00 am for a hike to go and see Miguel's milpa. A milpa is what the locals call their fields for growing corn for the coming year's tortillas. It was a gorgeous morning with a light wind coming from the south west, the temperature was just right for a hike, wearing jeans, tshirt and a cotton shirt. We packed up tortillas and fruit and water for snacking. This is the view from my front porch, volcanoes Toliman and Atitlan with little Cerro de Oro in the foreground.

Okay, I have to admit I am a wimp about these paths, the altitude makes me slightly dizzy so I have to be careful to maintain my equilibrium. We are climbing for about an hour on this bitty path at about 60 degrees or more of an incline. If I don't look down or around I am fine! This is Miguel, who walks up these paths at least once a week to keep the water ditch clear. Along for the adventure are Otilia and their daughter Nancy, who is also an old hand at this path. We came to a lovely waterfall and pool that used to be very pure water, now alas it is not, like so many streams around the lake.

We continued up to San Andres and walked through the little market there, it was lovely, clean and with just the right amount of mercado commotion. We looked at everything and bought some fresh lychee fruit. We continued along the road to the milpa and stopped to snack. Miguel spent some time digging up the tunnels from some moles that have been trying to move in this year. In this field he produces enough dry corn to supply his family for the whole year, about 1200 to 1500 pounds. He grows a very old variety which was a good thing this year because the old varieties can withstand the drought that happened early in the season this year. It takes almost 9 months for this crop to mature. The whole field is cultivated by hand, hand weeded 2 times in the season, mounding soil around the bases of the stalks to support it against the wind. Then it is all harvested by hand and carried by hand down to where he can get pick-up rides to transport it home. Bear in mind it takes him 2 hours to get to this field, hiking and catching pick-up rides. Let's talk about how precious these tortillas really are! This is a view of his milpa looking across the hill from the road we are walking on.

This is the view from the mirador at Santa Catarina, now looking across the lake at volcan San Pedro. Now we spend another 2-3 hours decending, with a snack stop and a stop at Miguel's father's land to pick a bunch of jocotes. Yum. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill in Sta. Catarina Otilia and I were spent, we got a pickup ride back to Jucanya, otherwise it would have been another 1/2 hour walking. Of course all in a days walk for Miguel and Nancy!

We had a quick stop at M's parent's home for some water and to check out the latest weavings from his mother and sister, Magdelena. Nancy gets a chance to visit with the new puppy!





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Back to work

What a wonderful time I had on my recent trip to Guatemala. I was able to see lots of lovely plants, cook amazing food with my friend Otilia and her family, work in the herb gardens at the Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas, swim in Lake Atitlan with the dogs, walk walk walk everywhere especially Panajachel, and study more spanish language.

I will be posting other details of the trip including some amazing cooking lessons. For now, it's back to work and getting things organized for another growing season. Pansies to be planted and some other ornamental spring crops growing nicely. So who has the crystal ball to see what we will be looking forward to this spring?

I'm trying to down size th plant list, we will be looking at utility, form and function and how that relates to the gardens here in New England. Simple elegance and reliability is the criteria.

I had some amazing walks in the hills around the lake and collected many interesting seeds to experiment with. This is my friend Miguel collecting some pods for me.