Chitaburuy

This month we received the first income from the sale of avocados grown on our finca near Parramos. 

Not a fortune, it has to be said, but enough to seed the idea of writing 'farmer' in that box on the SAT form each time I enter and exit the country. (Or, if should I be feeling really hoité-toité — terrateniente!)

In days of old the finca produced top quality coffee, but it has became hard to protect the place from illicit picking and so a few years ago a decision was taken to clear away all the gravilea, which left us with the aguacatales and their harder-to-harvest pears. 

Of the lands my wife inherited, this one is my favourite, for its hillside location and for the river that streams through its elbow, parched like this for half of the year.