Celebrating el Dia de Los Muertos in Todos Santos

In Guatemala, there is a big celebration on the  1st of November. One of the place to go for this occasion is Todos Santos, a small village in the Cuchumatanes mountains in the north west of Guatemala. They have kept their traditions alive and one of them is the horse race on the 1st of November. I had wanted to go the years before but never had the opportunity. So I decided to organize a trip with Simone and Emma, two friends from England.

We left on the 1st November very early from Xela to see the races. Its origin is vague. It could be the celebration of the triumph of a group of Mam who escaped from the Spaniards by horses.  Or it could be linked to the purification of the ground, as participants kill a chicken before the race. It is not a competition, people just ride for fun, which is hard to understand for foreigners. Who wants to ride a horse completely drunk with the risk of falling and killing yourself? But it’s fun to watch! The riders dressed with plumes feathers, a special belt and jacket, ride from one side to the other side of an one hundred meter track. Arriving at the end, they come back. And so it goes,  all day long. Some are so drunk that you wonder how they can stay on the horse. The riders had stayed up the night before drinking and organizing a big party for their families and friends. Sometimes some fall off their horses and if someone dies it means it’s going to be a good year for the town. Riders have to participate to the race for four following years. No more, no less or it’s bad luck. For their last year, they have to eat a full chicken the night before. During the race, they carry another chicken on their horses and at the end of the day cut its head. People can spend up to 20,000 Quetzales during these three days which is a huge amount of money for them.

We spent the day watching the races under the rain and in the cold. We couldn’t drink a shot of alcohol to get warmer because in Todos Santos the consumption of alcohol has been banned. It’s allowed only for 5 days during the November celebration. But you can’t buy any alcohol in the shops, you need bring your own. For a few days, the town is full of bolos (drunks) trying to stay on their feet or sleeping on the street in the mud.

On the 2nd of November, we went to the cemetery before heading back to Xela. The population of Todos Santos goes to the cemetery to celebrate their dead. They decorate the tombs with garlands, flowers and candles. They improvise small ceremonies in the sound of the firecrackers and marimba. 
To see more pictures, click here

Loma Linda, an other ecotourism project

On Tuesday, I went to visit Loma Linda a Community close to Nueva Alianza and who is developping an ecotourism project. Luisa, a Canadian friend, has been living there for the last 2 months and asked me to come with her to pick up a computer in Chimaltenango and bring it to the community. The computers are brought to Guatemala by a NGO named Computers for Guatemala . We were supposed to do it in a day Xela- Chimaltenango -Lake Atitlan -Reu and Loma Linda but because of manifestations we got stucked close to Retalhuleu for 2 hours 1/2 and decided to go back to Xela at night and try again the next day.

There had been lots of manifestations around Guatemala lately, people blocking the main access roads like at 4 Caminos, Los Encuentros, Retalhuleu, Huehuetenango and the roads going to Peten. The reasons are:
- Campesinos wanting the government to close a mine close to San Marcos (North of Guatemala) which is contamining the environement
- Campesinos asking financial assitance for agriculture, fertilizers and increase of the salaries
- people working in the health department asking the governement to give back the cut of 375 million of Quetzales in the budget
- and people were manifesting too against the exorbitant price of the electricity

So on Tuesday morning we arrived at Loma Linda. It's a community of 180 families living 1 hour from Retalhuleu, close to Nueva Alianza. They have a very different story. The land was bought by a Spanish priest in 1976 who invited the families to come and work. The community has very strict rules like no alcool, no cheating and no grossiping. If someone break one of the rule, he has to leave the Community.
They have started an ecotourism project and are building a small hotel all in wood with 10 beds to be able to accomodate the visitors. But their main problem right now is not having access to internet. But now that they have a computer, they are in the process to get acess.
The other problem is the access to the community. I have always thought the road to Nueva Alianza was bad but compared to the one to Loma Linda, it's really good!!!

I did a 2 hour hike to their waterfall with explanation of the diferents plants. A nice hike along the river and with view on the valley. I didn't have time to do the whole hike but I'll be back.
Between October and December, you can see the Quetzal, the national bird. Because they have a special plant the Quetzal eats, he comes very close to town. So I definitly need to go back there at this period because who is not dreaming to see a Quetzal?





View on the Community















A nice hike along the river






















The waterfall



































With my Canadian friend Luisa

Guatemalan Experience: Weekend at a coffee Finca

Just four years ago, the community of Nueva Alianza wasn’t sure how they would survive. After working hard for generations for the sole benefit of the coffee plantation owner, they were left with nothing after he declared bankruptcy (due to the global drop in the price of coffee) and fled, still owing them 18 months of back pay.

Located in a temperate area 1000 meters above sea level in the Guatemalan municipality of El Palmar, Quetzaltenango, about 45 minutes north of the coastal town of Retalhuleu, this small community looks quite different today. They no longer live their lives in fear working under slave-like conditions but are working collectively, for the benefit of all 40 Guatemalan families in the cooperative. Thanks to sustainable projects like organic coffee and macadamia nut production, bio-diesel production, hydro-electric power, and a purified bottled water facility, Nueva Alianza has greatly improved their quality of life. Another project that has made a significant difference is a thriving ecotourism program through support from Café Conciencia, (an international, non-profit organization that works in solidarity with worker-owned coffee cooperatives in Guatemala to help them achieve social and economic justice).

I weekend trip to visit the finca and hear all about their history and projects.

The weekend starts at 7:00 am at the Parque Central in Quetzaltenango where a private mini bus picks up us for a 2 hour drive. Arriving at the Finca, we have coffee and fruits before going for a 2 hours hike in the jungle. The guide explains the use of the different medicinal plants present in the finca. Some have been used by generations to cure the cold, the pain or the insomnia. The path brings us to the nursery of the coffee plants. They mix two families of coffee plants to make a stronger plant and let them grow for a year before planting them in the field. It takes 2 years before they start producing fruits.

Back to the hotel, we have lunch following by a quiet time to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and the warm weather. At 3:00 pm, we go for the coffee tour. This year they have changed their machines to be more ecological, using less water and the recirculation the water. The whole process, from the time they bring the fruits from the field to when the coffee is ready to be sold, takes about 80 hours. The harvest is between July till December.

After diner, they are selling coffee and macadamia. Then someone from the community comes to talk about their history. In the 80’s, the finca was owned by a man and everything was going fine until he died. One of his sons took over the finca but he was a bad administrator and with the drop of the price of the coffee he started owning them many months of salary. The situation got so bad that people left the finca to look for a job in Quetzaltenango. After the owner declared bankruptcy, they took a loan in 2002 to pay the finca. Fondo Del Tierra, the organization that loaned them the money, gave them 12 years to pay back the 1.2 Million of Quetzals. So they organised themselves in a cooperative and have been working hard since then.

On Sunday morning, we do the tour of the different projects: bio-diesel, purified water, furniture in bamboo, macadamia, compost and organic garden. Each project is independent and run by a committee. They have too a chicken farm and a pig farm run by the women committee. The Bio-diesel project started with the help of an American student who teach them the process and gave them their first machine. Then thanks to a donation they were able to buy better machines. Now they make bio-diesel for the community, to use for the trucks of the purified water and the motors.
We finish the morning by a small hike to a waterfall before having lunch and getting ready to go back to Quetzaltenango.

For more information about the tours to Nueva Alianza, check the community website http://www.comunidadnuevaalianza.org/index.htm . If you’re in Quetzaltenango, visit the office at 12 Avenida 3-35, Zona 1.