Los Amates

About Los Amates:

Los Amates runs from the southern shore of Lago de Izabal down to the Honduran border, with Morales to the east and El Estor and Gualán, in Zacapa, to the west. The town sits at kilometre 200 of the CA-9, the Carretera al Atlántico, on the strip of ground between the highway and the Río Motagua. Guatemala City is about 200 km away and Puerto Barrios a little over 90. Quiriguá’s archaeological park is at km 204, six kilometres on, and for the lake a side road leaves the CA-9 and runs through Trincheras to Mariscos and Playa Dorada. The highway is how everything moves here: fruit out, workers in, and freight to and from the Caribbean ports.

Settlement began in 1883, when four farming families built manaca-roofed ranchos on the bank of the Motagua. They called the place Cielito Lindo; the name Los Amates came later, from two amate trees beside the path. The Ferrocarril del Norte opened its Zacapa–Puerto Barrios section through here in 1896, United Fruit followed the railway, and the municipality was created on 30 June 1916. Bananas still set the pace: BANDEGUA, the Del Monte subsidiary, works fincas along the Motagua such as Yuma and Chicasaw and generates more than 3,000 jobs a year. North of the highway the land goes to cattle and pineapple, while families up in the Merendón and the Sierra de las Minas grow coffee, maize and beans.

The town keeps a full run of shops — hardware stores, pharmacies, building-materials yards, a block factory — although trade slowed once the road between El Estor and Río Dulce took El Estor’s passengers off the boats at Mariscos. To the north, the municipality has more than 30 km of shoreline on Lago de Izabal, the largest lake in the country. In the valley the ground is flat and low, and it floods: the Motagua and the Jubuco have spilled into aldeas such as Jubuquito and Chiriquí, and Los Amates is one of the Izabal municipalities most exposed to flooding. The Motagua fault runs along the same valley, and the 1976 earthquake struck near Los Amates. Here, how a house is built matters as much as where it stands.

Close to 61,000 people live in Los Amates, spread between the town, its Barrio El Pozón and a long list of aldeas and caseríos: Quiriguá, Mariscos, Trincheras, Río Blanco, Seminola, Punta Brava, La Palmilla. La Palmilla is known for its clay pottery, and in Punta Brava the Instituto Puente runs a community school built of bamboo. The year peaks at the fiesta of the Santa Cruz, from 30 April to 4 May, with cattle shows and jaripeos around the main day on 3 May. Buyers are mostly local: families who work on the plantations, in transport or in the shops along the CA-9 and want a lot of their own near the road, and ranchers looking for more pasture.

Houses in Los Amates:

Houses for sale are mostly family homes in the town, offered with water, electricity and drainage already connected. Larger country houses also change hands, on fincas or at the edge of town, some with seven bedrooms and well over 300 m² built. Before buying, ask how close the house sits to the Motagua or the Jubuco and whether the street flooded during Mitch in 1998 or in recent rainy seasons. Given the fault line, look hard at the structure too: reinforced block, proper columns and a solid ring beam count for more here than the finishes.

Land and Lots in Los Amates:

Lots make up most of the Los Amates real estate market. Lotificaciones near the town, such as La Calzada, sell urban lots with a small down payment and monthly instalments, and plots of 10 by 20 metres are offered with services in place. At the other end of the scale, large flat parcels front the CA-9 near Quiriguá and are pitched for commercial use, some of them several hectares in size. For any lot, confirm that the lotificación holds its municipal licence, that your lot has its own entry in the registry rather than a share of the mother parcel, and that water and power actually reach it. Check the flood line before the price: in the Motagua valley, a couple of metres of height make all the difference.

Farms and Fincas in Los Amates:

Fincas are what Los Amates has always traded in. North of the highway, toward the lake, the land is cattle country, and farms of several dozen manzanas come with flat pasture, corrals and, in some cases, poultry sheds. The municipality has eleven banana fincas and more than thirty given to farming and cattle, alongside parcelamientos agrarios that were divided among smallholders. Higher up, in the Merendón and the Sierra de las Minas, farms lean toward coffee, maize and beans, and the access road is the first thing to inspect. Fincas for sale in Izabal on the lakeshore are a separate case, because the first 200 metres from the water belong to the state.

FAQ:

• How far is Los Amates from Guatemala City and Puerto Barrios?

  The town is at km 200 of the CA-9, about 200 km from the capital and a little over 90 km from Puerto Barrios. The whole trip is on the Carretera al Atlántico, so it is an easy run by bus or car, though heavy freight sets the pace. Quiriguá is six kilometres further toward the Caribbean.

• What should I check before buying land near the Motagua?

  Start with the water. The Motagua and the Jubuco both flood, and some valley aldeas have been hit more than once, so ask the neighbours where the last flood reached and look for water marks on nearby walls. Then check the paperwork at the property registry: much of the farmland here came out of old plantations and agrarian parcelamientos, and a parcel’s history can include state adjudications, unregistered subdivisions or inherited shares nobody has split. Ask the municipalidad what the land may be used for before you hand over a deposit.

• Can I buy property on the shore of Lago de Izabal?

  Only part of it. Guatemala’s Constitution reserves to the state a 200-metre strip around the shores of its lakes, and land inside that strip is held under a lease from OCRET, the office that administers state reserve areas, not as freehold. A lakeshore property may combine a registered deed further back with an OCRET lease at the water’s edge, so ask which part is which and confirm both are current. Foreign buyers should also know that rural land within 15 km of the Honduran border can only be owned by Guatemalans by origin, and that strip covers the south of the municipality.

• Does the Motagua fault matter if I build in Los Amates?

  Yes. The fault runs along the valley, and the earthquake of 4 February 1976, magnitude 7.5, began near Los Amates. Build in reinforced block or concrete to the AGIES seismic standards, and have an engineer look over any existing house before you buy it. Soft, wet soil close to the river is one more reason to spend on proper foundations.

• What is there to see near Los Amates?

  Quiriguá, first. The archaeological park at km 204 has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, and its Stela E, carved in 771, stands 10.67 metres tall, the tallest carved stone known in the Maya world. On the lake, Mariscos is known for its multicoloured stones and Playa Dorada lies a short way along the shore, while the Sierra de las Minas biosphere reserve rises to the north-west.