We arrived in Puerto Chiapas, Mexico on Tuesday, January 14th. The sun was just coming up and in the distance we saw a few very tall volcano’s. Dominating the port at 15,748 feet is Tacana, the highest peak in the state of Chiapas. The state of Chiapas is on Mexico’s southernmost point of the Pacific coast and just 14 miles from the Guatemala border.

Many of the tours leaving the port today were going to see ancient civilizations. Excavations throughout this region reveal an ancient civilization called the Mokaya, living here as early as 1500 BC, but it was the Mayans who rose to prominence and built their stunning cities between 300 and 900 BC, only to be replaced by the Aztecs in the 15th century AD. Located near the Guatemala Highlands, the Izapa ruins are believed to be the origin of the sacred Mayan calendar (often referred to as the ‘birthplace of time’). During guided tours, they saw cobbled pyramids, ceremonial platforms, carved monuments and many relics, including an ornate skull covered in gold and encrusted with turquoise.

400 years later, a little coffee bean would prove to be a precious commodity. German immigrants began cultivating coffee in the region’s lowlands in the 1880’s. Puerto Chiapas has become a major port town handling the export of agricultural products, including bananas, mango’s, coffee and cacao beans.

There were 8 of us from the ship that decided to do a community tour. We traveled about 20 minutes south through sprawling banana plantations. Our guide took us to a small town (approx 1200 people) where we visited a banana packing plant. We learned how the entire community works to pack the bananas that they cultivate before being shipped all over the world. The town owns and operates the plantation which is a cooperative. Due to the round-year warm weather, banana growing is not seasonal, it’s year-round. Many people working at the plant walk over the border from Guatemala.

Our guide, Angel, took us to the banana plantation. He showed us the banana plant and explained how quickly they grow. We saw one approx 20 feet tall and it was only 5 months old. Crazy! The bananas grow in a big bunch that weighs approximately 80 lbs. They color code each plant with colored tape so they know what day to harvest each color. As they cut a bunch from the plant, it goes onto a cable connected to an overhead trolley (one after another) and is pulled by strong, young men through the rows of plants until they reach the packing plant.

The plant was an open air building filled with many people all focused on their particular task at hand. Bananas arrive on this cable, are cut off the large bunch into several small bunches (like you see at the grocery store). They immediately sort them by size and inspect them for any blemishes. They throw them into a very large water bath, sort them, clean them, add stickers, box them and load the boxes to go to the port. Everything was done by hand (by many, hardworking hands). Think about how much you pay per pound for bananas at the grocery store and then consider how little the wages are for everything they do to plant, harvest, clean, pack and ship. This particular plant was Chiquita bananas. Look at the label next time you buy them.

Angel then took us into the small town and we visited a small Catholic Church. It was very hot outside and found it amusing to see all the Christmas decorations since we relate Christmas to cold weather and snow. The church was open air and decorated with gorgeous red flowers. The woman we met takes care of the church and had made us some snacks that were common to the region (Tamales). She rolled corn meal, molasses, chicken, hard boiled egg wrapped up in banana leaf and steamed. We had banana chips and a fresh banana from the plantation. I can tell you, our bananas have no flavor compared to fresh ones. Maybe because ours are harvested green and then exported.

The highlight of our tour was visiting the elementary school in this little town (approx 250 students). Angel taught us some basic words in Mexican and then we went into a kindergarten class. They were smarter than we were. Lol. The school is very clean and tidy. All the children wear nice blue uniforms. They greeted us in English and then had Angel translate to ask us questions. Most of them wanted to know where we were from. Next we went into a 5th grade class and they were excited to meet us. We noticed some of the kids were wearing jackets and were told that this temperature was a bit chilly for some. It was 80 degrees so I can’t imagine what summer must feel like.

After our classroom visit, we went into an open air auditorium. The kids from every grade came out to greet us and give us drawings, paper airplanes or just simple words they had printed in English. They were so excited and so were we! They teach the kids Spanish, English, Math, History, Computer Science and dance. They also have daily contests in personal hygiene and classroom cleanliness. A group of children then performed some cultural dances that was just beautiful in their colorful costumes. They were very excited to perform for visitors and we thoroughly enjoyed watching them.

As we left the school, the kids were all waving and shouting good-bye. We were able to give the teachers school supplies for the classrooms as part of our tour fee. We thought that was a great idea!

It was truly a heart-warming day! The school visit was special, an experience we will always remember. Angel told us how important it was for the school and how happy they were to have visitors. The school is in a very rural area of Mexico. He said it has opened the eyes of the children to have visitors and meet people from other areas of the world and has given them interest in careers that are outside their norm. I will say, all the kids looked happy and there is a lot to say for that.