1/12/25-Sunday-Day 37 “Fields Ablaze”
We’ve been here at El Atrancón for 2 days so far and we are absolutely not ready to leave yet. It has been nice sitting still, we are a close enough walk to either of the two towns for a quick dinner or any miscellaneous groceries that we might need to extend our stay.
Much of the day is spent going through photos and writing alongside the occasional dog wandering through camp. We even had a puppy wander up to us today. While he was very playful and adorable the little guy was quite lousy with fleas so he received limited attention. But still, who can resist a puppy!
In the afternoon we look up and see the sky filled with smoke. We’ve noticed smoke plumes in the distance the last couple of days and honestly assumed they were from locals burning their trash but toady the smoke was much closer and we soon were able to hear the fires roaring nearby followed by ash raining down from the sky. We quickly realized that the sugarcane field across from our campsite was on fire.
As it turns out, before the sugarcane fields are harvested they are burnt out to get rid of any excess grass, leaving behind the bare stalks of sugarcane which are then cut and piled manually before being stacked onto trucks as high as one can nearly imagine. This also explains the excessive number of men riding around town on their motorcycles wielding machetes!
Adam Olterman
You can read more on our travels here!
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