San Juan Chamelco

About San Juan Chamelco:

Chamelco is Cobán’s nearest neighbour to the southeast: 8 kilometres of paved road separate the two central parks, and Guatemala City is 219 kilometres away, about four hours by car. The town stands at 1,350 metres. Its municipal neighbours are Cobán, San Pedro Carchá, Tamahú, Tucurú and Senahú, and on the ground Chamelco, Cobán and Carchá have grown into one urban knot; together with Santa Cruz Verapaz they also share a mancomunidad, Mancoverapaz. Outside the town most of the municipal road network is still dirt, close to 300 kilometres of it, and every rainy season wears those roads down. Check how a rural plot is reached in September, not only in March.

The town was founded on 24 June 1543, the feast of its patron, John the Baptist, under the name San Juan Chamil. Its founding figure is Aj Pop B’atz’, baptised Juan Matalbatz, the Q’eqchi’ ruler who welcomed the Dominican friars, went to Spain to present himself to the king and returned as governor; Chamelco remembers him every 3 August. Chamil, now an aldea up in the hills, is held to be the first settlement and the place where he spent his last years. The church of San Juan Bautista went up between 1683 and 1708, with twisted Salomonic columns on its two-tier façade, and was declared a national monument in 1970. Local tradition says Aj Pop B’atz’ brought one of its bells back from Spain, and a great ceiba shades the park in front.

At the 2018 census the municipality had 57,456 people, 13,264 of them in the town itself, and almost all of them are Q’eqchi’. Many women still wear the local corte, short, wrapped rather than pleated, and dyed a deep blue. Paid work inside the municipality is scarce, so plenty of people earn their living in Cobán, Carchá or the capital, or further out in the Polochic valley and the Franja Transversal del Norte. On the land, basic grains and mixed forest take up the most ground, with forest still covering about a quarter of the municipality, while coffee, cardamom and timber bring in cash. Chamil has its own shops for grain and building materials, so the far aldeas do not rely on the town for everything.

The hills climb fast behind the town. Cerro Xucaneb tops 1,950 metres, and high in the municipality lies the Chicacnab cloud forest, where German ecologists set up a quetzal conservation and ecotourism project in 1990. Closer in, the Grutas del Rey Marcos follow an underground river at aldea Santa Cecilia, about 6 kilometres from town, and are still used for Maya ceremonies, and the Chió, Xucaneb and Vista Hermosa balnearios are all a short drive from the park. The wet season is long and the rain comes mostly as a light, steady fall, so soil and walls stay damp for months. The water is hard, heavy with lime, and it scales up shower heads and water heaters faster than you might expect.

Houses in San Juan Chamelco:

In and around the centre the stock is family houses on their own plots, from compact two-bedroom homes of about 85 square metres in Colonia Chitubtú to five-bedroom houses on 800-square-metre lots. Inside the gated Valhalla residencial, newer homes run from two-bedroom units of 95 square metres with a fitted kitchen to four-bedroom houses with more than 340 square metres of floor space. Before you sign for a house in San Juan Chamelco, ask where the water comes from, whether the municipal network, a private well or the residencial’s own system. Then walk around the outside and look for the damp line at the foot of the walls.

Rentals in San Juan Chamelco:

Long-term rentals here are mostly houses. A typical offer has three bedrooms, one with its own bathroom, a living room, a kitchen-diner and a garage, and it is pitched at families who commute to Cobán. Country houses on the edge of town also let by the night or the weekend, some big enough for a dozen guests, to visitors heading for the caves and the balnearios. Put in writing who pays for water, rubbish collection and repairs.

New Developments in San Juan Chamelco:

Verdea Chamelco is a walled condominium with electronic access control, CCTV and round-the-clock guards, plus a clubhouse, training pool, gym, spa and sports areas. It offers three house models: Olivo and Salvia on two levels, at 130 and 170 square metres, and Laurel on three levels at 201. The project runs on its own well and its own wastewater treatment plant. Valhalla sells lots of 14 by 25 metres with a guard post, paved streets and drainage, next to its finished houses. Many new developments in San Juan Chamelco sell on a down payment and monthly instalments, so get the payment schedule, the handover date and the municipal building licence on paper.

Land and Lots in San Juan Chamelco:

Building lots are what the edge of town sells most. Lomas de San Juan, five minutes from the central park, offers lots of 12 by 45 metres, 540 square metres each, and a subdivision five blocks from the park charges more for plots that reach the river than for those that do not. Bigger urban parcels come up as well, from a central plot of 1,440 square metres to a manzana and a half, and roadside land sells from 1,000 square metres. Out in aldeas such as Sotzil and Chicujal, flat country plots are measured in cuerdas. The municipal plan earmarks the strip along the road to Cobán and part of aldea San Marcos for urban expansion, so that is where the town is set to grow.

Fincas and Country Houses in San Juan Chamelco:

Whole fincas come onto the market in the hills, such as a 19.5-hectare property with forest, views and walking trails, offered for farming, recreation or a group of cabins. Smaller places, a few cuerdas with a modest house already standing, turn up in the aldeas. Anyone planning a tourism project should read the municipal plan first. Communal land, sacred sites, water-recharge zones and protected forest each come with their own limits on what can be built.

FAQ:

• How far is San Juan Chamelco from Cobán?

  Eight kilometres on a paved road, a short drive between the two central parks. A lot of residents make the trip every day for work, school and shopping, so time the route at the hours you would actually be on it.

• What should I check before buying a plot in one of Chamelco’s aldeas?

  Start at the municipalidad with the land-use plan, which sets aside communal land, sacred sites, water-recharge areas and landslide-prone slopes; a plot inside one of those cannot simply be built on. Rural land sold by the cuerda may come with only a possession document rather than a registered deed, so ask which one the seller holds and confirm at the property registry who the owner of record is. Then drive the access road after a week of rain.

• What is the water supply like?

  The town runs on municipal water systems, and some residenciales, Verdea among them, pump from their own well. Either way the water is hard, so plan for a filter and descale the water heater regularly.

• What kind of property can I find in San Juan Chamelco?

  Family houses in the centre and in Colonia Chitubtú, homes in gated projects such as Verdea Chamelco and Valhalla, house rentals for commuters, building lots near the central park and along the road to Cobán, flat country plots in the aldeas, and fincas in the hills.

• When is Chamelco at its busiest?

  Around 24 June, the fair of San Juan Bautista, and again on 3 August, when the town honours Aj Pop B’atz’. Weekends bring visitors to the Grutas del Rey Marcos and the balnearios, which is worth knowing if the plot you like sits on the road to them.