Yepocapa

About Yepocapa:

San Pedro Yepocapa, to give it its full name, covers 217 square kilometres at the bottom of the department. Acatenango and San Andrés Itzapa lie to the north, Pochuta and Patulul in Suchitepéquez to the west, Alotenango and San Miguel Dueñas in Sacatepéquez to the east, and Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa and Siquinalá, both in Escuintla, to the south. Two roads reach the town. The paved one climbs north through Parramos to Chimaltenango, a little over 40 kilometres, and on to Guatemala City, 91 kilometres away; the other drops 21 kilometres to Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. Buses start at four in the morning for the capital, by way of Parramos or Antigua, and others run down to the coast. Expect landslides in the rainy season, especially on the Parramos road, which hugs the flank of the volcano.

Coffee is the base of the economy, with poultry farming as the other main earner. It was not always like that. In 1880 the town’s 1,040 people wove petates and hammocks, raised cattle and grew maize, beans, chilli, tomato and cacao, until repeated eruptions turned much of that fertile ground to sand and pushed farmers into coffee. The municipality now counts 45 fincas alongside 17 aldeas and 12 caseríos, and the San Pedrana coffee cooperative works out of the town. The cabecera holds 37 percent of the population and the services the rest depend on: piped water, drainage, power and rubbish collection, a type B health centre, a permanent market, banks, cooperatives and schools through diversificado.

Most of the land lies between 1,240 and 1,770 metres, in the boca costa belt where the highlands meet the coastal slope, and its rivers run to the Pacific through the Coyolate. Fuego decides a great deal of the rest. The town is about 12 kilometres southwest of the crater, and the aldeas below it, Panimaché I and II, Morelia, Santa Sofía, El Porvenir and Los Yucales, are closer still and take ash most often. In October 1974 four days of eruption buried parts of Yepocapa in sand, and some 1,100 people from finca Morelia and its annexes were moved to Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa and Patulul. CONRED has evacuated Panimaché and Morelia more than once in recent years, and in 2014 a lahar down the Taniluyá ravine cut the road linking those villages with Santa Lucía.

The people are mostly of Kaqchikel Maya descent, although the language and traje are fading among the young, many of whom leave to work or study in Chimaltenango, the capital or the south coast. The patron, San Pedro Apóstol, is celebrated on 29 June. The town is split into five cantones, or zonas, and nine colonias that include Los Pinos, El Maestro, San Carlos, La Cabaña and Queleyá, with aldeas such as Buena Vista, Ojo de Agua, La Cruz and Hermógenes Montellano spread around it. Buyers are mainly local families and coffee growers, joined by people from outside who want farmland or a lot on the road in. On weekends families head to the municipal Turicentro El Nacimiento, a spring-fed park with grill ranchos and the Hilario Rosales trail.

Houses in Yepocapa:

Houses here are family homes in the five cantones and in colonias like El Maestro, Los Pinos and San Carlos on the edges of the cabecera. These are the streets with piped water, drainage and asphalt, and the municipality has been laying new sewer lines in El Maestro and Los Pinos as well as in aldeas such as El Porvenir and Los Yucales. When you look at houses for sale in Yepocapa, start with the roof. Eruptions reach the town two or more times a year, and ash is hard on roofing sheets, gutters, drains and water tanks. Ask the owner what was repaired after the last heavy ashfall.

Land and Lots in Yepocapa:

A small lot is the usual first purchase. Plots of 6 by 15 or 7 by 20 metres come up on the roads around town, some with drainage already connected, and at least one subdivision sells them on instalments alongside parcels of five cuerdas and more. Farther out, land is measured by the cuerda or the manzana and often comes already planted. Before you buy land in Yepocapa, set the parcel against the volcanic hazard maps: the farther south and the nearer the Seca, Taniluyá or Ceniza ravines, the more ash and lahar it will see. Then find the water. In Panimaché, Morelia and Santa Sofía households lean on rainwater cisterns.

Farms and Fincas in Yepocapa:

Most farms here grow coffee, and many have something else on the side. Coffee estates such as Las Mercedes, La Unión, El Cortijo, Santa Teresa and Palo Verde are part of the local map, and smaller holdings mix coffee with Hass avocado, forest and beehives. One hectare on the road into town came with 300 avocado trees, honey production, a caretaker’s house, an unfinished main house, a well and solar power. With any coffee farm in Yepocapa, ask for recent harvest figures, how the trees have handled roya and how much ash the farm took in the last eruptive phase. In 2018 Anacafé put Yepocapa and Acatenango at the top of Chimaltenango’s damaged coffee areas, with Panimaché, Santa Sofía and Morelia among the worst hit.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Yepocapa?

  From Guatemala City it is 91 kilometres by way of Parramos, and the stretch from Chimaltenango is paved the whole way. From the south coast the road climbs 21 kilometres from Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. Buses run from four in the morning to the capital, Antigua and Santa Lucía.

• How close is the town to Volcán de Fuego?

  About 12 kilometres southwest of the crater. Panimaché sits at around 8 kilometres and Morelia at 9, which is why those aldeas get the most ash and the most evacuations. The town itself takes ashfall several times a year, so factor roof and gutter upkeep into any purchase.

• What should I check before buying a parcel below the town?

  Start with the terrain: how close it sits to the ravines that carry lahars, and whether its access road was cut the last time one came down. Then pull the entry at the property registry. Many parcels here were cut out of older fincas, so confirm that the subdivision was registered, that the area you walk matches the deed and that any right of way crossing a neighbour’s land is in writing.

• What kind of property is for sale in Yepocapa?

  Mostly land. Coffee fincas, mixed farms with avocado and forest, parcels sold by the cuerda or manzana and small town lots, some on instalments. Family houses come up in the cantones and colonias of the cabecera.

• What services does the town have?

  The cabecera has piped water, drainage, power and rubbish collection, a type B health centre with a maternal care unit, a permanent market, banks and cooperatives, and schools up to diversificado. Ten nearby communities rely on it for those services.