Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Sleep is a very interesting thing. Humans need sleep. It does give the system time to process the day and recharge the organs. How much is enough? That is a debate for those people practicing medicine, not for some lowly non-medical person. However, the pundits that rule these things always want to “average” it out. What is necessary of one person at a particular age, or of a particular sex, may not be appropriate for someone else. Accordingly, the average may not really apply to anyone one particular individual.
A good eight hours and it is time to get up. Maybe even only six or seven. Unfortunately, after several decades of training sleep being about 21:00. Occasionally, it is possible to stay up until 22:00 or even 22:30, but those seem to be stretching the point. The result of starting the sleep cycle at 21:00 is that at 06:00 it is time to wake up and get going. No matter the effort exerted it is very difficult to extend the time in bed beyond 0:6:00.
Today is no different than any other. Maybe up a little earlier then usual but not by too much. The ship was in the process of docking while the shower was running. After dressing, looking out the window all I could see were shipping containers and what looked like a very industrial port. Turns out the Port of San Jose, about a mile up the coast had the cruise ship terminal. Due to the changes in the Mariner’s schedule on this voyage, the Mariner had to take what was available and the cruise ship port and terminal weren’t. Not that it really matters in the larger scope of things.
The schedule, and who needs a schedule if you are retired and enjoy traveling, called for a tour of Guatemala City, but alas the tour operator cancelled just yesterday. Of all the alternatives available, and there were quite a few, a tour of Antigua Guatemala was substituted. Guatemala is actually in the name of this city, perhaps to distinguish it from that small island with the same name on the eastern edge of the Caribbean. This tour was chosen because the listing indicated it was an easy trip; as indicated by one person walking next to the tour name.
Apparently everyone not up to 100% physically, including all those with mobility issues, chose this tour. It now obvious that two people walking or even three, the maximum, is probably ok for us. Mary did ok but still need to stop and rest for a minute a couple times. She is really doing much better than the last week or so. The weather was very nice. Yes, it was 30 – 31 (87) this morning, but the wasn’t much humidity and there was a slight breeze.
Antigua Guatemala, which locally is simply known as Antigua or La Antigua. Today it is a city of about 35,000 souls located in the central highlands of Guatemala. Antigua was founded on the site of a Kakchikel-Maya city called Iximche. On Monday, July 25, 1524 under a mild winter sun, the Europeans named the city Ciudad de Santiago due los Caballeros de Guatemala, or The City of Saint James of the Knights of Guatemala. July 25this Saint James Day in the Catholic Church. Naturally, due the Spanish Catholic rule the city’s patron saint was Saint James.
Antigua was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773 during which much of its Baroque-influenced architecture and layout was done.These characteristics influenced the decision to designate Antigua as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Antigua Guatemala currently serves as the capital of the homonymous municipality and the Sacatepequez Department.
Indeed there were several notable buildings and churches to see. Unfortunately, due to recent elections a new Mayor was being installed today. So one of the main churches in the main square was blocked off for the ceremony. Due to this being only a five hour tour, three of which will be spent driving to and fro, there was only about two hours to see the city. The traffic was messed up, again due to the ceremony, so it was really bad. Although it did appear that it was probably always really bad. There were lots of one-way streets and the two-way streets, with parking on both sides, generally made two-way traffic impossible especially if one of the is a bus, even a small twelve passenger bus.
We did stop at the Jade Maya Museum and store. The museum and store were the project of Mary Lou and Jay Ridinger. They came to Guatemala in 1974 to solve an archaeological problem. Archeologists had discovered several Aztec, Mayan and Incan burial sites where Jade was used. It seemed that Jade, being a very hard stone, was through the ancients to extend or preserve life. So, archaeologists were left with the question; What became of the ancient sources of jade that was used by the Mayas and six other ancient civilizations between 1500 BCE and 1500 CE?
Mary Lou and Jay rediscovered the sources along the tectonic plate boundary that runs east-west though central Guatemala. The Gemological Institute of American tested and found that had discovered Jadeite jade, which is more valuable and rarer than any other type of jade on the planet. The Spanish didn’t care about Jade, their main objective was gold. However people seemed to worship jade, so the Catholic Church’s’s various representatives decided to close down the jade mines and make the wearing and use of jade a sin.
In September 1974 Mary Lou and Jay, rather an exporting the raw jade to China, opened the workshop, sore and museum in Antigua. Here they trained descendants of the Mayas to fashion jade into jewelry much as their ancestors did. They also reproduced many of the pieces from antiquity to sell. While ti was clearly a capitalistic enterprise it did have the effect of rediscovering a skill which had laid dormant for five hundred years.
After a half hour stop at the shop and museum we headed to the main square. Due to the ceremony about to take place we had to park two blocks away. We only had about twenty-five minutes to explore the square and see the architecture designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was just sufficient time to grab a cold drink and a pack of four Oreos for lunch.
It was back on the bus for a short tour of Antigua before heading back to the ship. One of the reasons for The Cruise is to be introduced to places not seen before and find places to go back to for a more in-depth tour. Antigua is probably one of those places, and maybe even Guatemala in general. Guatemala is a small country, about the size of Ohio. It is south of Mexico and north of San Salvador. It runs from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It is a representative democracy. It’s capital and largest city is Nuevo Guatemala de la Asunción, generally known as Guatemala City. Guatemala City is the most populous city in Central America. The area hosted the core of the Maya civilization.
The bus ride to and fro Antigua was about ninety minutes. We rode through the flat plain between the interior mountains and the Pacific Ocean.The United States and Guatemala enjoy a strong and growing trade relationship, especially due to the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The United States is Guatemala’s largest trading partner, accounting for nearly 40% of Guatemala’s trade.
Guatemala’s naturally volcanic soil is rich in nutrients, although they do import fertilizers from the U.S., Norway, and Russia, although Russian imports have declined since the sanctions were implemented in 2022.
The agricultural sector is very robust, Guatemala is in Central America, with more than 22 microclimates and very fertile soils that are home to many crops and favor exporters. For example, Guatemala’s peak season for avocado is opposite to Peru, enhancing the reliability of supply for exports.
Guatemala’s exports several crops: sugarcane, coffee, bananas, melon, berries, and vegetables. There are several almost new crops that are increasing the plantation like avocado and mango that currently does not utilize specific kinds of fertilizers. There is an initiative to secure the necessary approvals from USDA to export Guatemalan avocados soon. To comply with export regulations by USDA, farmers need to grow and to deliver good quality and safe fruits that require a wide range of agrochemicals to control the specific pests and diseases for avocados in Guatemala which has a tropical and sub-tropical climate.
The Guatemalan Avocado Association and all avocado farmers, and packers are requiring access to registered products that are also accepted in the international markets to compete with other producing countries. This access to registered molecules, fertilizers, pesticides etc. is even more critical because avocado trees produce fruit of multiple sizes and various quality in the same season. It is an industry fact that no single market buys all the possible size and grade permutations. It is also a fact that not one single molecule is accepted in all the importing countries. Therefore, farmers must have access to multiple pesticides, fungicides, extracts, herbicides, and biological controls agents to meet individual market requirements.
Currently, there are very few agrochemicals registered for avocados in Guatemala. This lack of tools slows down the growth of the industry in a country with over 300,000 hectares (Ha) suitable for growing Hass avocados. Although the industry is small right now (Approximately 7,000 Ha planted), weather conditions, soil quality, water availability, different altitudes, and proximity to large markets make Guatemala an ideal country to develop avocado orchards.
There is a demand not fulfilled for this specific market and companies interested in exporting to Guatemala need to find a reliable local distributor and together, comply and register the molecules that are already been used in other producing countries such Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Dominican Republic.
You could see large sugar cane fields and banana plantations. There were other fields but recognizing exactly what was planted there is only available to the trained eye. As the mountains approached you could see several of the know active volcanoes in the area. It was even possible to see some of the coffee plantations in the hills. Again, worth another visit.
Up in return to the ship it was off to the Coffee Connection for a cold drink, some fresh fruit and sandwiches which would serve as both lunch and dinner. Mary was back in time to catch most of the Steelers versus the Bills game, and of course, all of the Eagles versus Buccaneers game which came on at 19:30. While she was watching her games, I was off to the cigar lounge. A man named Andy from Alaska came into the lounge and just wanted to talk. So, I sat and listened to his tales and enjoyed my cigars. Had a glass of Hennessy and some chocolate. At 21:00 it was off to the suite and bed.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico
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