Our last stop in Mexico is just barely in Mexico, almost at the border with Guatemala.
There must have been something interesting in that spot because that's where they all wanted to be.
The first of three marimba bands meets us on the pier and we organize for our bus tour.
Miguel and
Ernesto are our tour guides. Apparently this tour is so BIG it takes two guys to cover it all. Or we're so unruly it takes two of them to keep us in line.
A gated community where the swells live. Houses can cost over $100K here primarily owned by descendants of the Germans who owned the coffee plantations.
We drove to the town of Tuxtla Chico, which is apparently in the Mexican Witness Protection Program, since the town was called Chocolate City in the tour guide. Here's a local cab.
The town was celebrating the Feast of Candeleria, and the town square was filled with rides for the niños and niñas.
Local dancing
Workmanship in the marimba
We were told the history and making of chocolate here in Mexico. The presentation was complete with the fermented chocolate drink and then the sweetened hot chocolate drink. Since we had stopped at Ghirardelli in San Francisco, I passed.
Cacao nuts
Yet another beetle
The local church
The ceiling of the church is the underside of barrel tiles of the roof.
This area of Central America is loaded with volcanoes. We are visiting the Izapa Ruins, considered to be a bridge between the Olmec and Maya civilizations.
Snakes were a big part of the symbology.
This was the ball court. Neither Miguel nor Ernesto explained the ball game other than to say there were lots of hips and elbows in action. Put up a goal at each end and it could be basketball.
This was a little late because the internet connection in Guatemala was miserable.
More marimbas 
Here's the job I could handle in a marimba band. He rubs a chopstick type wand across a cheese grater filled with marbles in rhythm with music. 
No comments:
Post a Comment