Latin America 0508

TOURING A FEW SITES & MEETING PEOPLE in LATIN AMERICA
Between Visiting TechnoServe Offices and Clients

5 countries in 2 weeks was both a fascinating and exhausting experience for Rick, me and Cindi the young volunteer who helped Rick with his projects.
The TechnoServe teams in Central and South America were wonderful, clearly demonstrating their internal capabilities and more importantly,
letting us observe the impact they are having on their clients in Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The May 19 - 30, 2008 trip proved fascinating AND invaluable!



After awakening at 3:30am in Lima for 6:00am flight to Cajamarca, Peru, we are met by 2 of the TechnoServe staff and driven to a delightful small hotel where Rick (Above & Far L) poses by old saddles and horse gear, in the corridor leading to the central courtyard (Above Center).			By 8:30 am we are driving toward our 1st client along typical roads and homes (Above).


(Above) View from the front of our 1st client's factory.	(Above) Girls walking home from school in Cajamarca.	(Above) Dramatically beautiful young children are typical in the towns we visit around Cajamarca.


(Above) Views in or near the Central Plaza of San Marco, Peru, including a key mode of public transportation, a "tuktuk" (Above Center) which is a modern version of a rickshaw driven by a 2-cycle, highly polluting motor and can be seen all over Asia, Africa and Latin America.


Now in Nicaragua, we drop our luggage at another delightful hotel with a courtyard (Above Far L) then meet with senior management in Managua. Late morning we then are driven an hour to Leon to learn about the large dairy project there. But we tour the old city (Above L & C) before having lunch at a typical Nicaraguan restaurant where we are entertained by a hired Mariachi band (Above R) and spontaneous dancers (Above Far R).


Saturday afternoon we fly to El Salvador where we have a late lunch at our hotel (Above) overlooking the pool and nearby, cloud-covered and mostly quiet San Salvador volcano, 1 of 24 volcanoes in the small country of El Salvador.		(Above) A hopefully de-fused bomb and bullet holes along the road into Suchitoto, El Salvador are remnants from the 1980 guerilla war which lasted until 1992 when peace accords were signed.		(Above) We arrive at Joya de Ceren archeological park.


(Above) Ceren's Museum displays ruins models under an indigo tree.	Our tour guide/driver and translator lead us (Above L) into Joya de Ceren's archeological sites ,pointing out some highlights of both unearthed and partially uncovered Maya ruins of a village which was estimated to be founded in 900 B.C. then buried in 420 A.D. by volcanic ash in the great Illopango eruption. Scientists believe the village to have been re-settled approx. 500 A.D., used especially for religious rituals or community celebrations, then buried again by volcanic eruption 640 A.D. Pilpil Indians established a few homes from 1,200 to 1500 A.D. not knowing what was many layers below them.


In Ceren's gardens, our translator (Above) shows us how a cocoa pod grows on a bush.		Ceren's gardens also have a variety of local plants including colorful agave, succulents, and orchids.


Next we tour San Andres archeological park (sign Above Far L to Far R) which contains ruins of a typical Mayan community which scientists estimate to have also been a sizeable agricultural community from 900 B.C. to 420 A.D.'s Illopango volcanic eruption. It was resettled from about 500 to 900 A.D., then mostly abandoned until 1600 when Spanish colonialists ran a cattle hacienda / ranch here and grew indigo as a crop for blue dye. By 1658, another volcano buried this in ashes again.


1st re-discovered in 1891, (Above Far L to Center) San Andres was archeologically investigated beginning in 1941, declared a national preserve in 1977 and in 1980's agrarian reform act, was expropriated to become a cooperative.			Talking parrots (Above L) greeted us at Casa Suchitotoan restaurant above Lake Suchitoto (Above R) where we stopped for lunch.


Refreshed from lunch, we visit the colonial Cathedral in the town of Suchitoto with its very impressive facade (Above L) and pulpit (Above R) with its colorful painted and carved icons.		(Above L & Center) The plaza at the center of Suchitoto is typical of any former Spanish colony with the addition of a Sunday market (Above R).