Zacapa

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We left Rio Dulce knowing that we had several miles of riding on a busy road. Despite the traffic we were able to enjoy the roadside sights and particularly pleased to find ourselves in pineapple growing territory. It reminded us of being in NW Zambia.

At times, the traffic was very busy with lots of trucks. However for the vast majority of the ride there was a shoulder we could ride on to keep it off their way and we felt safe while we were riding. 

It was another hot day and we were glad to get boosted along by a tailwind, even if this meant we didn't benefit from the cooling effect as much as we would it the wind were on our nose.

We arrived into Los Amates and began looking for a hotel. We went to check one out that was a bit back from the road. Luis helped out by ringing the owner who informed us that there were no rooms. Luis then took us back to his granizadas stand. This is a cupful of shaved ice topped with all sorts of sweet syrups and fruits. We also met his very cute four year old daughter, Luisita. The cold refreshing treat was just what we needed. Luis would not accept payment from us as he was pleased to introduce us to granizadas.

Our next option was a hotel on the main street which we thought would be noisy. How wrong we were. The rooms were set back, cool and quiet and there was a pool. It was very warm but still nice to float around in after a hot day.

For day two on the busy road, the cycling gods smiled on us. Firstly it was cloudy and thus much cooler, secondly the tailwind was still blowing and thirdly, it was Sunday so the road was much quieter than normal.

By this point we had evidently moved from pineapple growing to mango growing.

We began to see cars and buses with amazing decorations on them. We haven't yet worked out if they are permanent adornments or if they are for a special event.

We stopped for the day in Zacapa and wandered into the town centre. There was a lovely park beside the town hall with this great band playing. Double bass, drums and six (yes, six) men playing two xylophones. They sounded great. 

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