Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Week in Guatemala -- April, 2012 (Some of the natural scenery)

A field of sugar cane.  Notice the mountain/rock formation in the background.  The locals refer to  this as The Sleeping Lady.  Imagine that she's lying face up and her nose is sticking out in the formation on the right.  Can you see her now?
We stopped to ask for directions, so I made a quick picture of this family set up to sell coconuts on the side of the road.  
A new sight for me was passing mile after mile of rubber  trees.  Notice the small cups attached near the bottom.  White liquid latex is dripping into them.  Earlier in the day a worker had cut a strip of bark in the tree, and the latex immediately started oozing out.

Guatemala shown in the middle near the bottom is actually Guatemala City, the capitol where the main airport is.  Our work was done primarily in the province of San Marcos on the western border near Mexico.  We were in the towns of Coatepeque and Tecun Uman.

This relatively small country produces so many crops.  I would guess that sugar cane and rubber are the main exports, but they also grow tons of bananas, coffee beans, pineapples and coconuts.  Probably the most delicious thing I tasted all week was a pineapple/banana smoothie.  Oh my!  Heavenly!

There are two seasons -- dry and rainy -- but for me, both of them are hot.  We were there at the very end of the dry season.  When Steve was in Guatemala last October, it rained constantly, and their main concerns were mudslides and washed out bridges and roads.  This time we wiped perspiration and swatted mosquitoes.

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