Traveling into Guatemala: Part I
August 08, 2007
I arrived in Guatemala City on Tuesday
evening last week, after a flight from Bogota without any delay. My first
few minutes in Guatemala City were quite unique because the airport is
under construction and some shuttle buses drivers from nearby hotels are
getting confused with the new parking spots. After a long wait, I had to
stop a small shuttle in the middle of the driveway that seemed to be mine.
Once on the shuttle, I noticed two policemen in the back seat. I started
to think that, from their perspective, it was quite suspicious that a guy
from Colombia has a connection to Guatemala City, and I became quite
nervous. It was a frightening moment, and I became more uneasy because I
ran so fast into that vehicle without being sure that the shuttle was the
correct one.
But a few minutes later, I realized that my imagination was bigger than reality, and after a short ride we arrived safely to the hotel. I believe those policemen were just getting a ride in a friend’s shuttle after an exhaustive day at work. This is what happens when you come from a place where extra attention is needed in a daily life.
Later on, I was comfortable enough to go out. I met with Michael and Ujwala from Micnelf USA Company, who arrived the same night to go over our agenda for the next couples of days.
On Wednesday morning, we have had the chance to meet for the first time with Mr. Francisco Anzueto, who is the director of Technical Assistance at the office of ANACAFE. He was a wonderful host to us in the morning and provided much insight information. He also let us know, in detail, about how he struggled to take the fertilizer products from the customs office custody.
He also had enough time to take us on a tour of the Anacafe facilities. We visit the green coffee lab and cupping lab. They are in charge of checking the quality of almost all of the coffee farms’ production in parchment in Guatemala, as well as no less than 50% of the green coffee (Café Oro, gold coffee) exported.
Finally we visited within the same facilities the soil and leaves analysis lab, called ANALAB. They are in charge of testing more than 10,000 samples with up to 10 variables each, and then providing recommendations to improve the conditions on each coffee farm in regards to their soil and coffee trees.
That afternoon, we hit the road to Miguelina’s farm, not knowing that a nine-hour drive was waiting for us.
To be continued…
Anacafe cupping room. From right to left. Mr. Francisco Anzueto, Ujwala, Mickael, Eduardo Ambrosio, Andrés Castro.
But a few minutes later, I realized that my imagination was bigger than reality, and after a short ride we arrived safely to the hotel. I believe those policemen were just getting a ride in a friend’s shuttle after an exhaustive day at work. This is what happens when you come from a place where extra attention is needed in a daily life.
Later on, I was comfortable enough to go out. I met with Michael and Ujwala from Micnelf USA Company, who arrived the same night to go over our agenda for the next couples of days.
On Wednesday morning, we have had the chance to meet for the first time with Mr. Francisco Anzueto, who is the director of Technical Assistance at the office of ANACAFE. He was a wonderful host to us in the morning and provided much insight information. He also let us know, in detail, about how he struggled to take the fertilizer products from the customs office custody.
He also had enough time to take us on a tour of the Anacafe facilities. We visit the green coffee lab and cupping lab. They are in charge of checking the quality of almost all of the coffee farms’ production in parchment in Guatemala, as well as no less than 50% of the green coffee (Café Oro, gold coffee) exported.
Finally we visited within the same facilities the soil and leaves analysis lab, called ANALAB. They are in charge of testing more than 10,000 samples with up to 10 variables each, and then providing recommendations to improve the conditions on each coffee farm in regards to their soil and coffee trees.
That afternoon, we hit the road to Miguelina’s farm, not knowing that a nine-hour drive was waiting for us.
To be continued…
Anacafe cupping room. From right to left. Mr. Francisco Anzueto, Ujwala, Mickael, Eduardo Ambrosio, Andrés Castro.
.
