Samayac

About Samayac:

Samayac covers the north of Suchitepéquez, 158 km from Guatemala City. Mazatenango, San Francisco Zapotitlán and Zunilito lie to the west, San Pablo Jocopilas, San Antonio Suchitepéquez and San Bernardino to the east and south, and the northern edge touches Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán in Sololá. The main road in leaves the CA-2 and climbs five kilometres of concrete paving blocks through Cantón Chiguaxté to the town centre. The other way up is the camino viejo, which starts on the Mazatenango side of the highway; heavy rain has cut it more than once, so check it before you count on it for a daily commute. A third road arrives from San Pablo Jocopilas. From the town centre to the central park in Mazatenango is about twenty minutes by car.

Coffee covers most of the land. Seven fincas grow it, Variedades, La Unión, Oquendo, La Esmeralda, Parraxé, El Corozo and Los Encantos, some alongside cacao, rubber, cane or cattle pasture, and they hire most heavily during the harvest from September to February. Of the town’s crafts, leather earns the most: saddle-making started here in 1920, and the workshops still turn out saddles, belts, wallets and bags, some of them sold abroad. Samayac is one of Guatemala’s biggest producers of jabón de coche, and its kitchens also make chocolate tablets, pinol and panela sweets with pepitoria for markets from Quetzaltenango to Escuintla. Block and paving-block yards in Concepción and Chiguaxté and two water-bottling plants add local jobs. For a hospital, a bank or a big shop, people go down to Mazatenango.

The ground runs from flat to gently rolling, on well-drained volcanic soils that suit coffee. Seven rivers and four springs feed the municipality; the Nimá, Pumá, Quilá and Ixtacapa are among the rivers, all draining toward the Nahualate and Sis–Icán basins. Afternoons reach about 30 °C and nights settle near 20 °C. More than 3,200 mm of rain falls in a year, and the dry, sunny months run from December to mid-March. Shade coffee keeps much of the land under trees, though some fincas have turned parts of their ground into pasture and others into housing projects.

The 2018 census counted 24,790 residents, roughly four in ten of them in the urban area, and about eight in ten are Maya, most of them K’iche’. Daily life is organised by cantón: Calvario, where the town hall stands, Concepción, Santo Domingo, San Antonio, Chiguaxté, Quilá, San Francisco Pumá, San Antonio Nimá and San Antonio Ixtacapa among them. Across Guatemala, Samayac is known as “la tierra de la magia y de los brujos”. Spiritual guides hold ceremonies every day at the Santa Cruz Negra, a thick wooden cross in the municipal cemetery, and at old ceiba trees such as the Ceiba Encantada on Finca Variedades. The patronal fair for the Immaculate Conception runs from 6 to 8 December, with the crowning of the Nim Ali Tzamay, a bullfight, fireworks and bowls of chojín en recado served with white tamalitos and pinol.

Houses in Samayac:

Most homes are single-family houses put up by the families who live in them, on lots in the centre or along the streets of the cantones. The newer residenciales bring two-storey houses with three or four bedrooms, two bathrooms, fitted kitchen cabinets and a garage for one car. In Cantón Quilá the offer is simpler: houses with sheet-metal roofs on larger pieces of ground, and some family properties sit on more than 400 m². When you compare homes for sale in Samayac, find out whether the house connects to the municipal drainage or relies on a septic pit, and whether it has its own cistern.

Rentals in Samayac:

What you rent here is a house. Four-bedroom homes with two bathrooms come up both in the centre and in residenciales such as Villas de Valencia and De la Rosa. Some have a cistern or a solar water heater, and a few landlords accept pets. It is a practical choice for a family that works in Mazatenango but would rather live twenty minutes out. Before you sign, run the taps at different times of day and ask whether the cistern is shared with another house.

Land and Lots in Samayac:

Lotificaciones supply most of the new building land. Residenciales La Rosa and Lotificación Valentina sit along the camino viejo, with urbanised lots of 8 by 16 and 9 by 16 metres, and La Rosa runs its own drinking-water supply and has green areas. Lotificación Quilá sells lots of 9 by 18 metres, and La Colmena offers flat, urbanised lots with up to two years to pay and no interest. Before you hand over a deposit on land for sale in Samayac, Suchitepéquez, ask for an individual deed registered at the property registry. Confirm the jurisdiction too, since at least one project near the CA-2 is advertised under both Samayac and San Bernardino.

FAQ:

• How far is Samayac from Mazatenango?

  Less than ten kilometres, about twenty minutes by car to Mazatenango’s central park. The main road leaves the CA-2 and climbs through Cantón Chiguaxté. Guatemala City is 158 km away.

• Is every project advertised in Samayac actually in Samayac?

  Not always. Residencial Jerusalema is promoted both as a Samayac project and as one three minutes from San Bernardino’s park. Ask the town hall for the lot’s cadastral record and match it to the deed, because a project’s name does not tell you which municipality will charge your IUSI property tax.

• What is the weather like in Samayac?

  Warm and wet. Afternoons reach about 30 °C, nights drop to around 20 °C and more than 3,200 mm of rain falls a year. December to mid-March is the driest stretch.

• What kind of property can I find in Samayac?

  Owner-built houses in the centre and the cantones, two-storey homes in residenciales, three- and four-bedroom houses to rent, and urbanised lots in lotificaciones. Large rural tracts are almost all part of coffee fincas.

• When is the Samayac fair?

  From 6 to 8 December, with the 8th as the main day, in honour of the Immaculate Conception. The third Friday of Lent brings processions for the Justo Juez.