January 31st, 2009
Santa Lucia Suchitoto is the most cordial and welcoming city I have visited in El Salvador. The name "Sochitoto" comes from Nahuatl meaning "place of parrots and flowers." 43 kilometers from San Salvador, it is one of the most interesting places in El Salvador. Between the cobblestone streets lie old homes with character, history, magnificent balconies, and a beautiful church, Santa Lucia, That contains unique porcelain saints of San Pedro and Virgen Maria
Lake Suchitlan
With Suchitoto´s unique location, high in the mountains, it allows for spectacular views of Lake Suchitlan. Lake Suchitlan is formed by the Lempa River. In the 1970s the government dammed the river for hydroelectric power. Sochitoto is also called the “Key of the Lempa.”
Categories: El Salvador |
Tags: El Salvador, Suchitoto, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
January 28th, 2009
Tunco, El Salvador
Tunco is the beach towns of all beach towns before the infestation of capitalists, condos, hippies, dorks, and surfers. The sand swept cobble stone streets lead to a beautiful beach with cool Pacific water, great waves, and wonderful sunsets. The seafood is great, and the oysters are caught off the shore behind the enclave of rocks. El Salvador has a beautiful coastline full of banana trees and palms. Like all of El Salvador it is peaceful and a wonderful place to relax.
El Salvador Pacific Coast
Categories: El Salvador |
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January 25th, 2009
Perquin is an interesting, peaceful, and beautiful town. It is in the north east part of El Salvador. During the civil war, the people in the area were extremely affected due to their opposition to the government. One night during a celebration of the patron saint, everyone was gathered in the centro for music and festivities including, eating, drinking, and music. I noticed there was no one my age in crowd. I asked a few people where are the people around 30. The said they were dead from the fighting in the 1980s.
In the nearby town of Mazote, there was a memorial established for the massacre of December 11, 1981 where the government killed the entire town. During the massacre, the government killed approximately 1200 people. 748 of those people were children from the ages of 3 days old to 18 years old.
Memorial in Mazote
Ninos en jardin
Rio Sapo
On a lighter note, a few miles north of Mazote is the Rio Sapo. It is a wonderful beautiful place. The water is supposedly some of the cleanest water in El Salvador.
Categories: El Salvador |
Tags: El Salvador, Mazote, Perquin, Rio Sapo, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
January 24th, 2009
City of Corinto in the valley
Corinto is famous for an important archaeological site known as, “Gruta de Espiritu Santo” or The Holy Grotto. The caves contain a collection of over
200 colorful rock paintings that date back 10,000 years. The paintings portray humans and animals made from blood and natural dyes. The caves are 1.2 miles north of the town of Corinto. Walk down Calle Pable Escobar and follow the signs “Sitio Arqueologico Repestre Gruta del Esperitu Santo”. Ask for directions as there are a few turns that will lead you away from the caves. When the locals are asked when the cave paintings were painted, they all say “antes de los epanoles”……….really.
Two Human Figures
Categories: El Salvador |
Tags: cave paintings, Corinto, El Salvador, Gruta de Espiritu Santo, The Holy Grotto, Trova, Trova Imports | No Comments
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
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
