Las Palmas, Corazal, Tole

 yesterday I decided to take a day-trip back to the Sona area - to check out Las Palmas and Corazal, maybe Trinidad as well.

On my way fromSanta Catalina to Bugaba Highlands I had passed through this area and was really touched by it. I thought, I need to check it out again...

What I liked about it was that there are a lot of Teak plantations - that means Teak grows well there - and that it was a little higher elevation - so the temperatures are a little lower than on the beach.

The exit off the PanAmerican Highway is abut 120 km east of David, and 70 km west of Santiago. IOW, to get to a major city one has to drive for about an hour on that highway.

The temperature is about 3 to 4 degrees C (6-8 F) lower than in David.

First I took the exit towards Trinidad. Which is a little farmers village about 3 km off the highway. The road continues for probably another 40 - 50 km into the mountains. The area is very beautiful! Very rural, too! There is nothing but land, sky, some cows here and there, very few homes outside of the villages, and the village itself just a handful of buildings.

If one were to try to live in this area, a big fridge and freezer would be necessary, since you're not going to get groceries more often than once every two weeks or so. Fruits and vegetables are available. But anything else would need to be gotten from Santiago, Sona, or - as I found out later - Tole. And, it would be a very lonesome place! The stars would be amazing to see during the summer (which is December to April). I think it would be virtually impossible that foreigners would want to stay in a hostel or AirBnB there. Aside of the peacefulness and view there's nothing of interest there for tourists. Maybe horseback riding... 

After about 8 km driving on that road I turned around, went back on the PanAmerican and continued on the Rt 28, which connects that highway with Sona.

Right after leaving the highway there is a beautiful rugged area, owned and operated by Finca Ponderosa, and a little later Finca Los Patrones. Both seem to be into cows, most likely meat, rather than milk. Some of the area seems a bit too rugged for cows - so the finca might be open to selling a few hectares, if one would approach them. One could plant trees there, and vegetables and fruits. Since it's close to the PanAmerican highway maybe a restaurant offering "international and local dishes for local prices", and provide other services (playground, dogpark?), might actually work. Nothing to make a killing, but a little pocket change to subsidize the funds available (and something to do for me and/or anybody else staying there). Hostel, here too, makes not much sense, I guess.

10 km off the highway is Las Palmas. I would guess there are about 500 inhabitants, maybe a bit more, plus all the folks form the fincas in the surrounding area. There are the essential stores - super-market, bank, feed- and farm equipment store, and such. Quite a few of the streets are asphalted, some are gravel roads. It, too, looks like a peaceful, quiet place.

Corazal is 10 km further down the road towards Sona. It is a smaller village than Las Palmas, but also looks quite nice.

Darn! Would I be able to live happily in such a small community? Would I be able to live happily on a finca by myself outside of such a small town?

I am still going through a million of things I might want to do: a Hostel or an AirBnB? a tree farm? a small property to simply live, play with my wood working machines, write... ? Start a multi cabanas location for people who want to live in a "spiritual family" with me? A coffee house or restaurant? A vivero (nursery) for endangered local trees?

There are a million options, a thousand directions I could go! When breaking down your camp in one place and move to a different country to start a totally new chapter in your life, anything is possible - but not everything!

My mind is going a 100 miles per hour, exploring all kind of thoughts and ideas...

On the way back, I decided to exit the highway one more time - this time to check out Tole. I thought is is a little village of mostly indigenous people. What a big surprise was waiting for me! 

Tole must be about as large as Mauterndorf (the 2nd or 3rd largest town in my home district), maybe about 2,000 inhabitants. It seems to be the gateway to the mountainous are to the north towards the cordillera central. It's a hustling bustling town! 

There are a few properties for sale - I think I'm going to ask Iris to call the one or other number to inquire about the asking price, and whether they would consider renting out the house as well and for what amount...

On the way back home I'm thinking, that maybe I should initially just rent homes for maybe 3 to 6 months at a time. That way, I could experience many different locations, types of areas, and styles of buildings...