Travels, fair trade, and commentary from Latin America
January 24th, 2009
El Salvador is a beautiful country. It is one of the prettiest countries I have seen in Latin America. The picturesque landscape of mountains, valleys and volcanoes can be breath taking. The people are very friendly, and they go out of their way to help.
Categories: El Salvador | Tags: Central America, El Salvador, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
January 19th, 2009
Esteli, Nicaragua is a great town full of activities and a great vibe. It is a dry town with beautiful skies and even more beautiful sunsets. Around Esteli, a traveler can live with families on the coffee cooperatives of Miraflor, hike to a waterfall, tour the tabacalera, and eat an assortment of amazing foods such as: freshly cooked bread and great street side foods.
The Tabacalera Santiago is on the south part of town where a tourist can tour the factory and discover the art of selecting leaves, drying leaves, and rolling cigars. The process is very in dept. The cigars from Esteli are organically grown, and take up to two years to cure the leaves before being rolled into cigars. Similar to my compost pile at home, the leaves have to be turned every few weeks or until the stack of leaves reach a temperature of 120 degrees fahrenheit.
Cascada Salto Estanquela
A pleasant 1.5 to 2 hour hike from the center of town brings a traveler to the Cascada Salto Estanzuela. The waterfall is surprisingly remote and very beautiful. It is one of the most pleasant waterfalls I have ever seen. A person is able to swim in the pool below and into the waterfall.
La Casita
Blake
Categories: Nicaragua | Tags: Central America, Esteli, La Casita, Nicaragua, Nicaraguan Cigars, Salto Estanzuela Waterfall, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
January 8th, 2009
Lago Apoyo is a beautiful crater lake outside of Masaya, Nicaragua. Although it is normally expensive, David and Barbara, from Austria, and I were able to put up our hammocks on the banks of the lake at the house of Cesar. He was happy to have us, and we were able to share our time at the lake with his beautiful family.
The lake is supposedly the cleanest water in Central America. Motorized boats are not allowed, and the people, like in all of Nicaragua are very friendly.
Blake
Categories: Nicaragua | Tags: Central America, Indigenous, lago apoyo, mayan hammocks, Nicaragua, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
December 30th, 2008
Four years ago I bought a house and started an import company of hand-made products from Latin America. The first trip was in my 1976 VW bus from Austin, Texas to Merida, Yucatan. On the way, I hit a buzzard, the roof blew off the top of my bus, and my accelerator broke in the middle of Tampico (Luckily my buddy Q told me to take an extra cable). I ended up at the border with a bus full of hammocks and no broker. Picture a line in the X-ray machine consisting of 18-wheeler, 18-wheeler, VW, 18-wheeler, 18-wheeler, etc.
During the adventure and frustration of starting a company, I also refurbished a house where I lived in the root cellar for six months while I got rid of the termites and finished one room to put a mattress on the floor. The idea was for me to rent out the house while I traveled to Latin America setting up contacts for Trova. Four years later the dream lives on, and I am renting out the house and, once again, moving all of my belongings into the root cellar.
Trova Imports was started to promote the economies of indigenous communities of Latin America. All of Trova’s products are fairly traded helping to sustain the economies, art, and traditions of the indigenous communities of Latin America.
Welcome to the TrovaBlog. This blog will focus primarily on the economies of indigenous communities in Central America and Mexico starting January 1, 2009. The blog will be maintained by Blake Smith President of Trova Imports Inc. www.trovaimports.com He will be record indigenous economies and communities in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico until March 2009.
Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Central America, communities, economies, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indigenous, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
