Field NotesSuchitoto1 min readLizbeth Sanchez
A week in Suchitoto, in July
The colonial town everyone visits in February, seen in the middle of the rainy season, when the lake fills and the tourists do not come.
Suchitoto in July has four hotels open, one café that keeps reliable hours, and a lake that comes up the bank far enough to move the boats. It is the best week I have spent in this country.
The town empties
Weekend visitors from the capital stop coming when the road is wet. What is left is a working town of eight thousand people with a very beautiful centre, and the cobbles are slick and the church is cool inside and nobody is photographing anything.
The lake changes
Lake Suchitlán is a reservoir, so the level moves with the rain and the dam. In July it is high and brown and the herons move further out. The migratory birds arrive from November, which is the right time for that particular thing.
What is open
Villa Balanza serves lunch. Harlequin keeps its own hours. Los Almendros stays open and is half price. The indigo workshops run on request rather than schedule, which means you get the whole afternoon and the dyer’s full attention rather than a demonstration.
The argument
February Suchitoto is prettier and busier and you will take better photographs. July Suchitoto is the town. Both are worth it; only one of them is cheap. The full guide covers both.
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