All posts are about lifes.
The Parque Central The heart of Antigua is the Parque Central, the delightful main square, popular night and day with locals and visitors who come to soak up the atmosphere. The park is bounded on all four sides by graceful colonial buildings that represented the epicenter of the Spanish empire in Central America for more…
Tip The Patio de la Paz in the western courtyard of the Palacio Nacional features two large brass hands, which commemorate the 1996 signing of the Guatemalan Peace Accords. The schedule changes, but generally the military guard changes the rose held in the brass hands daily at 11am, and the previous one is tossed to…
GUATEMALA From ancient Maya pyramids and beautifully-preserved colonial architecture to mighty mountains and sparkling lakes, Guatemala is rich in culture and offers everything for a memorable adventure. Main Attractions Guatemala City Antigua Lago de Atitlán Panajachel Chichicastenango Santa Cruz del Quiché Quetzaltenango Cobán The Petén and Tikal Guatemala is both the ancient and modern heart…
Fact Leftist Zapatista rebels have challenged the authorities’ control in Chiapas since 1994, leading to sporadic confrontations and violent incidents, but in recent years the situation has generally been one of a peaceful standoff, and rarely affects travelers to the region. That said, Mexican military checkpoints are quite common on roads in Chiapas, where your…
A CLASSIC TRAVELOGUE John L. Stephens, North American explorer and travel writer, and his colleague, the English artist and architect Frederick Catherwood, came to Central America in 1839, inspired by an edition they had found of Captain del Río’s expedition to Palenque in 1786. This, in Stephens’s blunt prose, had ‘roused our curiosity.’ Over the…
YUCATÁN CENOTES The elusiveness of water has always marked life in the Yucatán. There are no surface rivers anywhere north of Champotón, on the west coast, and the Belize border on the east. Rainwater sinks straight through the rock, and the Yucatán is honeycombed with caves and sinkholes (cenotes), including the longest underwater cave systems…
Puerto Aventuras to Xel-Há Puerto Aventuras, 20km (12 miles) from Playa del Carmen, is a purpose-built, Mediterranean-style resort village of hotels and villas created around a lavish marina and another beautiful beach. Just beyond is the series of seven bays known as Xpu-Ha, which are among the Riviera coast’s greatest beauties. Souvenir shopping in tourist…
Cozumel South of Isla Mujeres is the much larger island of Cozumel 8 [map] , 47km- (30 miles) long with a lighthouse at each end, and 16km- (10 miles) wide. Cozumel was another island that was a place of pilgrimage for Maya Yucatán in the Postclassic era, with several shrines dedicated to Ixchel. The principal…
TOURIST TRAP The turnover of the region to tourism may have brought much-needed wealth – but at what cost? Bathed with water so turquoise it seems to define the Caribbean dream, blessed with mile after mile of ravishing sandy beaches and boasting a climate that’s utterly tropical, it is easy to understand the meteoric rise…
FIRE AND RAIN In the Yucatán, the two main village festivals are related to rain and fire. The rain ceremony is known as Cha-Chaac and takes place at the start of the maize-growing season in February. The ceremony is led by a shaman or H-men who prepares the traditional drink of balche, a mildly intoxicating…