Guatemala 4

August 17, 2010

Guatemala 4

The original village of Lote 8, constructed in the mid 1950s, was situated upon an undulating ridge, soft enough to envision a town of sorts, though now we find small abandoned roads overgrown with grasses and flowers, a fire-scarred tree, and holes left by company geologists. We traveled for an hour on foot down a well-marked path along the contours of the steep, densely forested mountainside to the new village site. It was cool beneath the trees; water flowed through every depression. Tropical birds abound: creepers and thrushes, and wrens buzzing through the undergrowth. We reached the center of the newly constructed village by late morning: a flat basin with cardamom bushes near the edge of the forest, encircling the village.