La Ruta de las Flores

We enjoyed our stay at Los Almendros de San Lorenzo immensely. We met the owners, who gave us a private tour and showed us how much care had gone into the restoration of the 200 year old building. It was an amazing feet that took 17 months with 30 workers every day! That beats the Bush kitchen extravanganza! We took their picture in front of their painting, along with their Boston terrier Lorenzo. 

We would have like to have spent a few more days in Suchitoto. We took a picture of the Church of Santa Lucia before we left. It had somehow escaped the ravages of the civil war that raged around it.

Our first stop of the day was at Joya de Cerén, the Pompei of the Americas. It was discovered in 1976, and has been carefully excavated. It was a town completely covered in volcanic ash in about 600 A.D. They have a very nice park, and coverings to protect the ruins.  It is unique because it is not a bunch of pyramids, but homes that common people lived in during the heyday of the Maya civilization. 

Next we drove to Cerro Verde national park. On the way up we stopped to enjoy the view of Lake Coatepeque. It is surrounded by private homes, often with boat docks--maybe a nice retirement home for the Bushes! 

When we got to the national park we were barely able to take a picture of Izalco volcano between different sets of clouds rolling by. We all wanted to climb it, but Crystal said she did it once and would never do that again!

Our tour guide, Jorge Martinez, is back with us again (after surviving his tax audit yeasterday), and we enjoyed his showing us the ballerina flower. He picked a bud and a blossom and put them together to look like a dancer in a tutu!

Our last stop for the day was outside Juayua,  at the Chorros de la Calera. This is where having a guide came in very handy. We would never have found the falls without one. He took us to a family near the falls. They showed us the way and lent us a towel (to share). It was about a half hour walk to the water, over some pretty steep terrain. When we got there we had it all to ourselves. José scared us to death by showing how high he could climb up the rocks and jump in. It turned out to be about 20 feet! His madre must be  loca to let him do that! I ewas scared when Crystal ventured out into the deep water, thinking she might get sucked ove the edge. When we saw that didn' t happen, we all followed her. It was cool water, but not ice cold. We're in the mountains, but it's not glacier melt!

José's older sister, Yessinia,also  accompanied us, and was very helpful. What a couple of nice kids!. They both got us safely back to their home, where we found grandma making tortillas over an open fire. It reminded me of the place I lived in Guatemala in 1979.


We made it to our hotel in Apaneca in time for three hands of Mormon Bridge before dinner. I came in last on all three hands. I'm thinking we might need to change the rules!