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Finca Chacula, rural and authentic
Blog: Nono in Guatemala - 24 August 2011
When myparents told me they were going to come for a visit in August, I startedthinking about where we should go. When I found the website of the PosadaChacula, I knew I had found the perfect place for us.
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Daily Travel Snapshot: Tikal, Guatemala
Blog: WildJunket - 16 August 2011
The tallest pyramids in TIkal, Guatemala, seen poking out of the tropical foliage.
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Access Denied – El Salvador Border
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 28 July 2011
It was bound to happen. After 30 shockingly smooth border crossings into and out of six different countries we knew our luck at the border couldn’t last forever. Apparently, it couldn’t last until El Salvador. The problem actually started many, many months ago but we didn’t know that as we approached the immigration station at the El Poy border crossing into El Salvador from Honduras.
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Antigua – Guatemala’s Gorgeous Capital
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 13 July 2011
Our arrival in Antigua was a welcome relief after the overnight bus journey to Guatemala City and then another bus to our final destination. After a much needed sleep we donned our shoes and hit the streets to explore. Antigua is definitely a city in which you can visit all the churches, of which there [...]
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5 Safety Tips for Taking Taxis in Latin America
Blog: GoBackpacking - 23 June 2011
5 universal safety tips for taking taxis in Latin America.---------Join Travel Blog Success today and learn to build a better travel blog. Membership includes 27 tutorials, 12 expert audio interviews, private support forum, and much more.
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Tikal – And the Belize/Guatemala border buses
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 17 June 2011
After San Ignacio it was time to get some culture and we headed for Tikal, Guatemala. We thought it seemed eminently plausible to get from San Ignacio to Tikal, spend the day there, then catch the overnight to Flores. Our first problem was that getting over the Belize/Guatemala border isn’t all that easy, and the [...]
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Wine at 13,000 Feet
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 11 June 2011
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Pastel de tres leches in Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 11 June 2011
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A Bloody Beacon
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 11 June 2011
I walked by huge slabs of beef, glistening in the candlelight, organs, viscera, women chopping up chickens as live chickens stood by to witness. Whole animals hung, their soft
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Throwing Watermelons by Candlelight
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 11 June 2011
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The Mayan Culture of Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan, Take the Plunge!
Blog: Nono in Guatemala - 9 June 2011
Located in the western highlands of Guatemala is the deepest lake in Central America: Lake Atitlan. The word Atitlan is a Mayan for "the place where the rainbow gets its colors". The local people believe that a strong wind that blows over this volcanic crater-lake in the afternoon carries away people’s sins. The region is a magnet for New Age practitioners and those exploring the remnants of the lost Mayan culture.
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Photo of the Day: Resplendent Quetzal – Chelemhá Cloud Forest Reserve, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 23 May 2011
We’ve been very lucky to see an amazing variety of animals in the wild so far on our Journey. High on our wish list was seeing a resplendent quetzal. As the name indicates this is one of the most spectacular birds in the world. The quetzal’s tail feathers (which only the males grow) were worn in the headresses of the Mayan and Aztec Kings. The quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala and is featured on all of the country’s paper money which happens to be called (you guessed it) the quetzal.
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Rio Dulce – Guatemala
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 19 May 2011
The ferry ride down the Rio Dulce is incredible. If you take the morning boat they actually turn it into a slower tour boat experience. You wind your way down a deep ravine where the steep hillsides are covered in jungle. Lining the edges of the river are white herons looking like giant flowers in [...]
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Travelers and their “Firsts”
Blog: First-time Traveler - 19 May 2011
It has taken me a few more days to put this together due to some late submissions and my increased work load in my day job. I couldn’t accommodate more submissions though because I have set a deadline. I hope … Continue reading →
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Another Epic Journey – Roatan to Livingston
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 16 May 2011
You know a trip which was already going to be difficult isn’t destined for trouble when your alarm clock doesn’t go off and then the first form of transport is cancelled. We were finally grateful for the rooster which woke us at 0500 as the battery to our alarm had died overnight. Then after another [...]
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A Little Travel Memory…Firelight, Stoves, and Big Smile
Blog: A Little Adrift - A RTW Travelogue - 11 May 2011
The smell of burning wood hit me first as I ducked through the entrance of the small house - ducking saved my head from earning yet another gash and also put me right at eye level with the beaming smile from the Guatemalan woman nervously wringing her hands in the center of the room. As I stood up tall on the other side of the doorway I abruptly found myself in the center of her house. She was eager to show off her functioning stove and welcomed our requests to snap a few photos --she was proud.
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Children of Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 10 May 2011
One of the things that makes the Semana Santa celebrations in Antigua, Guatemala so special is that everyone participates including the children, who were especially fun to watch. Over this year’s week-long Easter celebration (one of the most elaborate in the world) we saw costumed children walking along with their parents in solemn processions meant to tell the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. We saw wide-eyed children watching processions from the sidewalks and roof tops. We saw children helping their families create temporary street carpets called alfombras.
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Semana Santa Processions Part 2: Good Friday through Easter Sunday – Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 8 May 2011
There are literally dozens of elaborate processions between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday as part of the incredible week-long Semana Santa celebrations in Antigua, Guatemala (check out our handy primer to all things Semana Santa–from andas to alfombras to cuchuruchos). The reverent processions between Palm Sunday and Good Friday tell the story of Jesus’ crucifixion (which is re-enacted ceremonially on Good Friday). Processions between Good Friday and Easter Sunday take on an even more solemn, somber tone as participants and observers mourn the crucified Jesus.
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Semana Santa Processions Part 1: Palm Sunday to Good Friday – Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 1 May 2011
Semana Santa starts on Palm Sunday and runs through Easter Sunday and the folks in Antigua, Guatemala cram a lot into that week with dozens of processions at all hours of the day and night and thousands of participants of all ages. The processions often overlap so you have to make hard choices about which ones to focus on. The whole week is about telling the story of Jesus’ crucifixion which is symbolically re-enacted on Good Friday. During the processions between Palm Sunday and Good Friday (shown in this post) Jesus is everywhere and many people wear purple.
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Holy Street Art! The Alfombras of Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 28 April 2011
If you already read our handy Semana Santa Primer post, then skip ahead to the pretty pictures. For the rest of you…Alfombra is the Spanish word for “carpet” and that’s exactly what these temporary, organic pieces of street art are meant to be–fancy carpets that pave the way for elaborate Semana Santa processions which we witnessed last week in Antigua, Guatemala, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that hosts the most mind blowing Easter celebration in The Americas.
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How to Speak Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 27 April 2011
Antigua, Guatemala (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) puts on the largest Easter celebration in The Americas. It’s estimated that around 200,000 people (including us) flocked into town this year to watch the colorful street celebrations between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. It’s all a lot more fun if you know your andas from your alfombras so we put together this handy Semana Santa Primer. Consider it a cheat sheet to guide you through the Semana Santa photos and videos we’ll be posting in a jiffy! You’ll see adorable kids carrying very heavy things!
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Photo of the Day: Reflecting on Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala
Blog: Trans-Americas Journey - 26 April 2011
Cool glasses perfectly reflected the final Semana Santa procession from the San Pedro church in Antigua, Guatemala as the biggest Easter celebration in The Americas drew to a close with Jesus rising from the dead and confetti falling from the sky. [geo_mashup_map] Related posts:Children of Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala Holy Street Art! The Alfombras of Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala Photo of the Day: Resplendent Quetzal – Chelemhá Cloud Forest Reserve, Guatemala
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Palm Sunday in Antigua: the making of the Palms
Blog: Nono in Guatemala - 25 April 2011
Palm Sunday celebrates the day when Jesus entered into Jerusalem and in Guatemala it's a colorful celebration to begin the Semana Santa. The palm leaves (palma real or manaca) are collected in Escuintla, Suchitepequez, and Quetzaltenango and delivered to the vendors, generally women from San Juan Sacatepequez.
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Palm Sunday in Antigua: art with flowers
Blog: Nono in Guatemala - 24 April 2011
On Palm Sunday, the streets of Antigua are decorated with beautiful carpets before the processions wash them away. Decoration is the key to make your carpet unique and flowers are ingeniously used. Carpets are full of colors and smells of flowers.
