Ruta de Las Flores

We began our day still in Suchitoto, catching a boat on Lake Suchitlan, which is a man-made lake created in 1973 by flooding a vast area dedicated to farming so as to create electricity at the newly built dam. To date, the dam provides 75% of the power needs for the entire country.

As a result of this creation, entire villages have been sacrificed and now lie below the water surface, including homes, factories, schools, even cemeteries.

Since its creation, Lake Suchitlan has become home to thousands of aquatic birds, and these were the reason for our visit.

The boat tour did not disappoint. It began with several cormorants gathered on the top of 70 ft. tree trunks that used to be the backdrop to a small food store, now lying completely underneath.

There were dozens of cranes, egrets, red-billed birds, and many we did not catch the name of

The driver of the boat then pointed to thousands of birds that apparently found a large school of fish and took off in a speedy flight toward them. He estimated the flock to number about 5,000, and the line of birds in flight you see below continued for perhaps 15 whole minutes.

The lake is also encircled by pleasant surroundings, which made the outing quite pleasurable indeed.

We then checked out of our hotel and saluted owners and dogs. It had been a nice starting point to get acquainted with the country, but we were excited to move on to our next destination, the Ruta de Las Flores, near the Guatemalan border, an area famous for its coffee plantations as well as several charming villages we plan to visit. The drive took approximately three hours, using mostly well-paved, curvy, rural roads that wound around a very luscious landscape, until we reached the country's second largest city, Santa Ana, where we had lunch but did not stop to visit.

At last we reached the town of Concepcion de Ataco, the first of the villages mentioned above, and we knew we were in for another treat.

The little town has quite a vibe to it, with several appealing restaurants, trinket shops, and of course wonderfully warm people. We spent a few hours meandering its streets and enjoying the numerous murals, which are quite different from the standard street art, seeming almost cartoonish, yet considerably charming.

Our hotel, while in the area, will be the Jardin de Celeste, a lovely, eclectic, place with about 10 large cabins located throughout the property, which is located about 2 miles out of town. And what a property it is! We are surrounded by multitudes of spectacular flowering plants, which extend for acres. It's almost like a visit to an arboretum. It even has an orchid garden.

Jardin de Celeste has its own restaurant, which is highly rated on most publications we read, and where we chose to have dinner.

We are, however, quite tired from all the walking, although the weather is not quite as humid, nor hot, at this higher elevation, and we are looking forward to another good night sleep. I thank you kindly for following us on our trip, and look forward to another exciting day tomorrow. The nearby town of Juayua hosts its week-end food fair and we surely don't want to miss it. In the afternoon, of course, we must take time to watch the round of 16 of the quadrennial European soccer cup, which will have Italy fight it out with Austria, a game I cannot miss.

Until tomorrow night, all the best, my friends.