Friday, February 02, 2007
This is the family I came across while I was hiking outside of town. They were harvesting oats straw from their condado, tying it in bundles to carry to their town (6km away) for use as animal bedding.
I gave them an orange and some peanuts.
Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, from the hills outside the village. They say that this was all covered with pine forest years ago. No more. Firewood is the only cooking fuel available, apart from gas for the few pickup trucks that is purchased in Quetzeltenango or Cuatro Caminos. There is no fuel for heating, but cooking keeps the kitchens fairly comfortable.
I've seen plans to double the size of the town in 20 years. How? Water is a big problem - available for 2 hrs a day - and so is firewood. And land for farming, within walking distance.
Clouds were playing around the top of the volcano all day long as I was hiking.
This is the dry season, so the condados are golden, or brown if they have been spaded for the next crop of corn. Corn is planted sometime during February.
The rainy season should start in March.
