Filled with water and animals in the heart of the jungle

The Bolivian Amazon is a great way to see the Amazon if you do not make it to Brazil. Beni Department offers a great view of the Amazon and is located just a short plane ride form La Paz.

As Rurrenabaque is the most popular place to go with many tourists flocking their each year, I decided to go to the road less traveled and fly into Trinidad, and just a short ride from the airport, you will find one of the best eco lodges in the world!!!

Chuchini Eco Lodge is a family owned business in the heart of the rain forest with different types of excursions you can take and some of the best guides available. Efrem Ibis who is a Bolivian has a degree in veterinary science and can spot a bird a mile away and can also identify just about any animals. His wife Miriam is from Switzerland and is one of the most kind people answering any questions before your arrival. She speaks a variety of languages including English, German, Spanish, and a bit of French. Their Eco Hotel is beautiful and serene and the food at this place was excellent combining local Bolivian food with western style food. The fresh juices were always great especially after a long excursion in the jungle or the boat rides out on the river.

You can do any length of days you want here as there is so many activities. Walking through the jungle to see lagoons is a popular activity as well as the boat rides to see many different species of birds as well as primates, and the Pink River Dolphin. You may even decide to do night excursions on the boats to spot the Alligators, Crocodiles and Caiman or enjoy a day on horseback through the wilderness. You may also want to do a mud bath next to the river with so many different minerals in the mud or go fishing for piranhas. This place just about has it all and staying at least four nights is recommended.

They also have a great museum on the site which is dedicated to the Pre- Colombian Beni civilization. This civilization was around between 4000 BC to 1200 AD and the culture made about 200,000 artificial hills aqueducts, channels, embankments, artificial lakes and lagoons, as well as terraces. They had a very complex society, but had probably been in decline for a few hundred years by the time the Spanish arrived. Their complex system can be seen in the photos below with many items that were used for rituals that you may not have found in other parts of the world at this same time:

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The Land around here is of course a rain forest with a lot of water and dense jungles. The waterways are navigable only by boats and the jungles though very dense are filled with pathways that were created years ago by the Beni Culture. You can walk amongst the great Baosi Trees that have been around for a very long time or watch some of the parasitic vines swallow up other trees.

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A bonus for our river cruise was the elusive sloth which are very hard to photograph and stay very hidden. As we were driving, one was spotted in the tree in pretty good sunlight. He was extremely high up, but I was able to snap some good photos of him/her.

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As I have been photographing primates for many years now, I have found that trying to photograph these guys were extremely difficult due to how high they go up in the trees and how little sun is sometimes let in. Nevertheless I ran across Capuchins, Howler Monkeys in which you can hear their screeching call for a long distance and a beautiful but naughty squirrel monkey.

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There are over 300 bird species in and around the Eco Lodge, lagoons and rivers. Photographing them was a bit difficult because of the light sometimes and the movement under the trees. Some of the birds that I found interesting were the Hoatsin bird which looks like a bird leftover from dinosaur times, Jacana, Ibis, Coucou Heron, Comorant, Black Color Hawk, Needle HeronBlack Eagle, Turkey Bell and different species of King Fisher which I photograph a lot in Africa.

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Within the bird family I saw different types of parrots and macaws. The Blue and Yellow and Red and Green were some of the most prevalent ones in the area. You can also see a few different parakeets around the area as they were the most interesting to photograph.

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Besides the birds, you can see many different amphibians and reptiles. Among the ones I witnessed was the Boa, Rainbow Snake, two species of crocodiles, alligators, and turtles happily sitting up on logs getting some sun.

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One of the biggest attractions in the area is the Pink River Dolphin. They usually get their pink color as they grow up and the males may be more pink than females. They are related to some of the other freshwater dolphins in the Amazon River Basin. As they do not usually jump out of the water like the salt water counterparts it is extremely hard to photograph them.

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With all of the wildlife seen in the area it is no wonder why they have a Greater Rhea hanging around along with Capybaras!!!!

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With such a wide array of flora, fauna, and fun, it is no wonder I was not ready to lave this lovely place after four nights and five days. The photography was wonderful, the hosts were great, and all around Chuchini Eco Lodge is a great environment and a place to just do what you want to do.

My second time in one of the most isolated islands in the world

Very seldom to I ever return to islands as I usually see everything that I want to see on them. However Easter Island is a very different place. From the Great Seafood to great sites and people, it is no wonder I decided to make a return to one of the most remote islands and airports in the entire world.

This whole trip was made possible by my good friend Marc Shields who I met 11 years ago on the island. His company Green Island Tours, has many different tours around the island in order to make your stay as pleasant as possible. He has discovered every little nook and cranny this island has to offer and him and his staff are very good with people. They can cater to just about anything and he does stargazing trips as well as sunrise trips to the most popular statues on the island….He has written a brilliant book with some great photography about the islands history, statues, and also contemporary. The book is called Rapa Nui- Beautiful Photography from the Navel of the World and is a must read!!!

First of all the food is to die for. I think I ate ceviche twice a day and also the tuna and cheese empanadas which weighed about 800 grams each and were packed with fillings. The tuna fillets while in western countries are very small, these were big and cooked perfectly!!! The Pisco Sours here were also some of the best I have tasted!!!

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Hanga Roa is the only town on this island. I have noticed how different it looks from 11 years ago and how more small bed and breakfast hotels are popping up and more places to eat on just about every street. It is a very walk-able town that sits right on the coastline of the island and has the only airport in which there is only one flight out per day from Santiago. The houses are colorful and the people are all very friendly all over the island. The cemetery is also something to be noted to look at as it is adorned with beautiful headstones depicting the person who had passed away and also perhaps what they did on the island. Sometimes you may have a chance to see local people dressed in traditional clothes, practicing dances for upcoming competitions. I can honestly say, that I did not get bored of this town at all!!!!

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Even though the statues are a big part of the island, I had a fascinating time every single day sitting with my cameras and watching the waves crash against the rocks. They made for some marvelous splashes and the crystal blue water was amazing to look at as it was so clear!!!

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As I took trips around the island, I learned about the early inhabitants who built the statues and places they sometimes had lived (like in caves). there are many lava tubes that go out to sea on the island and going into a couple of them was interesting and claustrophobic. The big volcanic crater on the island that is now filled with water and reeds is definitely one of the places that should be visited, along with areas where the statues had not been erected yet. Up on the top of the volcano, you can see three small islands which have been entrenched in island lore of the Bird Man Cult. Legend has it that after the warring period of different tribes on the island in which many statues were knocked down, the island chiefs came together and once a year they would send a warrior to fetch an egg of a migratory bird from the islands and the one that swam back with the egg first, his chief would rule the island for a year. On th island you can also find different bird species as well as turtles coming up to shore and horses and cows on just about every corner.

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The Moai statues of Easter Island are of course the main attraction of the island and what the island is known for. As Easter Island is the southern most point of the Polynesian Islands, experts say that Polynesian people came here between 800-1200 AD. The different tribes erected these statues all over the island to their gods as most of them are found along the coast, with only one set of them in the center of the island on the alters. I visited the quarry where the statues were carved out of the stone over many months and then probably put on logs and rolled to the place where they would be hoisted up standing. This is an amazing feat as it even takes modern day engineers a while to figure this out!!!! In the quarry you can see remnants of statues who started to be carved but for some reason they were not finished (could have been the warring period).

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My favorite thing to do on the island is of course the sunrise and sunset photos of the statues. For both of these is a bit tricky as you cannot have any bad weather or the photos will not look good. The first spot is Ahu Tongariki which boasts the most statues in one place on the alter and is pretty close to the quarry. Here you can get some beautiful shots from different angles before the sunrises and during the sunrise. The sunset spot which is near the beautiful cemetery is called Ahu Tahai. In this spot people gather to get some good sunset photos and the beautiful colors in the sky as the sun goes down. Unfortunately you may have to navigate around the boats that are docked in the background. Both of these spots are weather dependent. I am lucky the 5 nights I was there to get a night and morning with beautiful sunrises and sunsets as the other days were cloudy and rainy.

The Sunrise Collection

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Sunrise Time Lapse Video

The Sunset Collection

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Well I went back after 11 years and I absolutely had a great time, as the statues did not change at all, however the whole island is changing little by little and the sun and clouds will always move. Lets see if it takes me another 11 years to come back here or sooner….

Quite possibly one of the most photogenic cities and people in the Western Hemisphere

What can I say about the city of Otavalo in northern Ecuador. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and the town/city is a sprawling area with people just about everywhere.

The indigenous population of Otavalo are ethnically and culturally belonging to the Kichwa-Otavalo indiginous group. Otavalo is popularly well known for its market of handicrafts and textiles which is said to be the biggest in the world.

Just walking these streets and photographing people coming out from Sunday church was great as most people sat in different squares around the city usually with a church across from them.

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The rest of the town/city was just as bustling with people going about their daily lives, especially the market area in the center of town.

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Of course I cannot forget about our great accommodation of Hotel Curinan with our great hosts sitting on top of the hill to the city..

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And of course no trip to Ecuador is complete without a trip to the Equator which is probably a little too touristy compared to the ones in Africa but still a must see…

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Where you see the real scenery and the rural people of the areas

Traveling on the road in Colombia definitely had its challenges, but also its rewards. The humid weather up north made it very hard in some aspects to cool down, as we got more in the mid to southern parts, the weather became a lot more pleasant, something I had not experienced in sometime traveling from Alaska thru Central America.

As we got into the mountain areas, the days were longer as some of these mountain passes were practically straight up. Protests on bridges, along with some truck problems made one of our days long and we had to camp on the side of the road near a small truck stop on the side of the mountain.

However being out of the cities made us see how rural life was with people yelling and screaming happily, seeing a truck full of gringos go by and the scenery was simply amazing- driving along the sea in the north, to humid areas, and finally up into the mountains, this is some of the best scenery to be seen in Colombia in my opinion…

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The White City of Colombia

Popayan is a relatively small city in the middle of Colombia. The central historical district is flanked by white buildings just about everywhere. It has been said that it is one of the gastronomy capitals of Colombia, but to me, Colombia is one big gastronomical country in every region.

Walking around here was very easy to get lost because most of the buildings in the central area were indeed white with people selling stuff on every inch of space on the sidewalks. It was a quite relaxing town with a lot of old structures and while we were there, they were doing a festival to honor all of the horses that served carrying carts which was something interesting to see.

Other than that, watching people go about their daily lives in the plaza in which children played and people sold stuff was good enough for me ….

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A tiny picturesque town in the highlands of Colombia

Salento is an old colonial town in the highlands of Colombia. Finally it was where after Medellin that it started to get pretty cool at night after dealing with humidity from just south of Mexico City all the way to a few hours south of Santa Marta.

The trout in this area is some of the best I have ever had and a game called Tejo which is throwing heavy pucks onto a mud pit with gunpowder in envelopes seems to be the national sport of Colombia behind Soccer. I can say it was an interesting game with the rules and a game in which you wont find anywhere else in the world.

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This town boasts some very small but picturesque streets as well as a beautiful plaza with a church and restaurants and bars. Walking down the colorful streets with people enjoying their life and looking at the lush landscape from the surrounding areas gives you a sense of serenity. No wonder why people come from all around on the weekends or holidays to stay here and just relax…

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Quite possibly the best city in Colombia

The hotel where we stayed had some amazing views of the city

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Medellin is a city longed talked about in Colombian Culture as of course it was the city that Pablo Escobar ran him cartel out of which became popular by the series Narcos.

However this cities history and people go a lot deeper than this tragedy which many people are embarrassed by. The city has a rich culture of people and neighborhoods that predate Pablo Escobar and while some are extremely shy to talk about it, it is a part of their history. I went on a small Pablo Escobar tour to see different areas that surrounded his life. From the church where some of the hit men used to go to bathe their bullets in holy water, to his grave, to his prison that he made for himself, to the new park dedicated to his victims, and finally the house where he was shot and killed, this was a very interesting excursion to find out about him.

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Commune 13 is one of the highlights of Medellin. Once one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, this area has transformed itself to the premier area in Medellin. With apartment blocks built through the surrounding hills, the people of this area have transformed themselves into doing tours to look at the street art and walking down the narrow streets. They even have escalators put in so tourists can transverse the steep areas to see what this area has to offer. The street art here was amazing, and even though a lot of people were in the way as there were hordes of people on Sunday, I was still able to get a glimpse of a lot of it as well as going with our guide through some back alleys in order to see the non tourist areas. This is definitely a place I can keep coming back to over and over again….

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One of the better times I have had while in Medellin was walking down Barrio Triste with an ex student of mine Franco Guillen. I taught him in Venezuela during my three years there and it was good to see him as he is now photographing and living in Medellin. Barrio Triste is a place where no tourists go as it is the industrial area with piles of car parts and engine blocks being worked on. Walking around here you get a sense of the rough lives that people have working in very crowded conditions but nonetheless people were friendly but curious on why we would be there.

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Directly after to Barrio Triste, we were organized by Franco for a photo walk with a bunch of photographers in Medellin. Although it rained for part of the time when we started, we quickly got some great photos of the reflections. We then walked down the main street with oodles of people going about their daily lives, shopping and eating street food. A walk into the old National Palace which is now partly a mall and a brilliant art gallery had us scrambling through the different levels to see everything in there. We continued to one of the main squares near the museums to see people watching some dancing and enjoying their Saturday. This was another great highlight of this magnificent city that I will more than likely head back to…

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Back again to this little city in East Colombia

Santa Marta was one of the only places I had been in Colombia before as I came across the border from Venezuela during my time there in 2010. Going on this trip, I wanted to see it again but being there for only a couple days limited my options. Was it the famous national park or to the central market where all the people hung out? I chose the market…..

Since I had already done a lot of stuff when I was there previously, I decided that I wanted to see how people lived and the bustling market which took up a few city streets. I was not disappointed…..

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A return here proves fruitful for photography, people, and food

For Colombia 2010 while living in Venezuela, Please click here

Colombia is a country that has always been in the news since I was a young kid. However things have changed in this beautiful country now as they rely mainly on tourism. Traveling from Cartagena all the way down south gives me a chance to see this beautiful country as well as try all the delicious food they have, as it is very close to Venezuelan cuisine which I ate for three years. While I was only able to make it here one time from 2009-2012 while I lived in Maracaibo, Venezuela, I always wanted to come back and see most of the other parts of the country which I am getting to do by road.

Part 1- Cartagena- The culture and people of this city is amazing, as is the food!!!!

Part 2- Santa Marta- The return- Markets all about!!!!

Part 3- Medellin- Quite Possibly the Best City in Colombia!!!

Part 4- Salento- A picturesque town in the highlands!!!

Part 5- Popyan- The White City!!!

Part 6- On the Road- From the North to South and all the villages and landscapes in between.

The culture and people of this city is amazing, as is the food!!!!

Part 1- Cartagena

Cartagena is a very hot and humid but an amazing city. With so many types of people coming into this port city through time, they have blended amazing ingredients with all different types of spices. I had a chance to take a couple cooking class through Cartagena Connections which is a company that specializes in different excursions such as cooking classes, craft beer tasting, market tours, rum and chocolate tasting as well as street art and food tours. They have been an amazing company and an easy way to get through to them is on whatsapp at the following number +573135529647 (ask for Juan).

In the cooking classes we cooked different ceviches as well as red snapper and Black Coconut Rice.

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Street Art are some of my favorite things to photograph, from the street art in Greece, to Hong Kong, to China, and to the little down island of Djerba, Tunisia. Usually street art expresses struggles people have encountered, or perhaps a political statement or even self expression. The street art in the Getsemani area where I stayed had a lot of self expressive street art as this area is where a lot of the lower income people have lived and used to be a very seedy area, but in recent time to attract tourism, it is one of the most popular places in Cartagena if not Colombia for tourism.

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Walking about the Getsamani and the Historic Central area behind the walls, you can find people going about their everyday lives. Most people sell drinks or food on the streets and you can find them going about doing this stuff almost all hours of the day. The people here were very friendly and also very photogenic because of the colorful backdrops in these areas.

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There is a place in the central park that has sloths, iguanas and Tamarin Monkeys. They ended up there protected from poachers some years ago and live up and around the trees!!! It is like a safari all in a central park….

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One of my favorite things to do in any given city for photography is markets. Here is where you learn about the culture of the country and how most of the populace shops and lives. The Bazurto Market in Cartagena which is just outside of the tourist area by about 15 minutes shows everything I love to see in Markets. The fishermen bring their fresh catch in and it is sold all over, from small sharks to manta rays to red snapper and lobster, you can find all kinds of Caribbean sea food. The other parts of the market are the different meats, as well as fruits and vegetables being sold. Two walks through this market showed me just about everything including the people who are cooking food as small shack restaurants line these small alleys.

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As Cartagena is a very photogenic city besides the market and the street art, the buildings are beautiful. In the Getsamani area, you can find small alleys of people opening up their homes for restaurants or bars as walking down them after dark, you can barely squeeze by all the chairs set out. A lot of the alleys or streets here are decorated with the street art as seen before as well as umbrellas or flags to give it a very different feel.In the walled area of the historic center is a little more upscale, but some great colors on the different buildings….

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Finally all the two cooking classes, Craft Beer Tasting and Rum and Chocolate tasting were done in a beautiful building called Cafe Lunatico. The two owners, have done an amazing job with their classes as well as their different activities they do. I have never done a rum and chocolate tasting, but this was one of the most fun activities I have ever done in which we tried 8 different rums with explanations about them and how they are made and paired them with different chocolate…..

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One of the most visited destinations in Central America has a lot to offer

I have always heard about Costa Rica as it seems to be where all my friends and family have been if they have traveled out of the United States. With the thick lush jungles and pristine beaches and abundance of wildlife, it is no wonder that it is on top of everyone’s list.

As we crossed the border from Nicaragua we noticed the prices were a lot more expensive than the rest of Central America. We ended up staying in Los Chile’s for the night and went on a river boat in order to see the wildlife. Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge is one of the best places to see birds, sloths, and monkeys in Costa Rica. The photos I took were beautiful with all of the wildlife right there!!! Unfortunately I only got the butt of a sloth!!!

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Unfortunately for me my fun ended there, in La Fortuna and Mont Verde I got Dengue and I stayed in for most of the time, so I was unable to go and do any excursions at all. By the time I got to Manuel Antonio National Park I was ready to hit the trail for some excursions, but unfortunately the day we were there it was closed.

I did however see some very good landscapes as well as a parade of students doing a marathon in prep for Independence Day….

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I guess I will have to go back and take a family vacation there…..

A cheap country with a lot of good food and some amazing photogenic cities and friendly people

Nicaragua was an amazing country to go to, as we crossed into the border and looked at prices of things, I knew that it would be a very cost effective country. Where else can you get a Rib Eye Steak with all the fixings in a restaurant for 10 dollars.

Our first stop was the beautiful town of Leon. This picturesque town had beautiful streets with a photo on almost every corner. As independence day was around the corner, the flags flying high near the plazas and churches brought out a sense of nationalism for this beautiful country.

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We then had a few day stop at a beautiful lake called Lake Apoyo which had volcanoes surrounding it and it was a nice stop for a few days to catch up on things.

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Along the way to various locations, the landscape and people were out and about including a parade for the political party FSLN which is a left wing party who runs the country, it was amazing to see all the people out and the mountainous landscapes

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Finally our last stop in this great country was the picturesque town of Grenada which is one of the oldest cities in Nicaragua as well as in Central America as it was established in the 1500’s. A hot walk down the beautiful streets here showed me how friendly the people were and how interested they were to see foreigners. Walking through the market area off the non tourist destinations, I got to see how people shopped and lived…..A great city to photograph!!!!

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I believe Grenada was a fitting end to a great photography trip in Nicaragua and with the great steaks and beer, it definitely ranks up there on my Latin American Countries!!!

A country with great Mayan ruins, beautiful beaches, and Islands all around with great lightning storms

Honduras was another country that has always been on my radar because of the beautiful beaches, great food and of course the Copan Ruins.

The Copan Ruins has always been high on my list of Mayan sites because of how well it was preserved, swallowed up by the jungles of time. The Plaza of the Hieroglyphic Staircase has a monumental staircase, one of the greatest structures of the Mayan culture. On the 10-meter-wide steps, there are more than 1,250 individual glyphs, which constitute the longest known Mayan inscription.

Walking around here was extremely hot, but it was not crowded at all which led to me taking my time and looking at everything. As the sun barely beamed through the canopy, it made some wondrous and mysterious photos that would be seen perhaps in an Indiana Jones movie.

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Of course another intriguing part to Copan was the Macaw’s sitting up in the trees squawking at people going by and also the rather large spiders that perched themselves in their huge webs between some of the runis that are dusted with green moss…

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The next stop after a rather interesting bush camp of a lot of rain was the town of La Ceiba. Some people decided to go to the islands, some people decided to go up to the jungle to do trekking, and I took the other option of staying about 30 minutes out of the city on a beautiful beach and accommodation for a few days and eat good food and go to Cayos Cochinos for the day in order to see some beautiful scenery…and almost ran into a few big Boa Constrictors that were in the bush…..They didn’t really have much interest in me though…

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The place I stayed which is one of the better accommodations in the world was La Delphina Bed and Breakfast. The property was amazing with its own private beach and a variety of rooms. The food and bar was great as I overdosed on shrimp cocktails, and the owner Richard was from the USA, so me and him had some great conversations and he made you feel like you were at home. The staff he has employed were great and he went out of his way to do anything for his guests. This is a place I will defiantly go back to and stay for weeks just to relax. For more information on booking and reservations you can look at Booking.com or Hotels.com or simply go to the following web address- La Delphina Bed and Breakfast

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There was also fascinating lightning storms over the ocean to be seen as I stayed out to photograph them one night as they were amazing.

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I always like to see a culture from road photos I take driving along as out in the countryside is where you see how people live and work vs. in a city environment.

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Last but not least, on our way to Nicaragua, we stopped for a few nights at a lake. While I was busy preparing for cook group, I did have a chance to go to what I deem as the most isolated microbrewery called DND Brewery

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I guess Honduras was one of my favorite places. It gave me a chance to see some great ruins as well as sit and relax on a beach and work on photos. The people were amazing as were the landscapes….and they also had a Wal-Mart!!!!

A small country in the heart of Central America that is recovering after a tumultuous history

El Salvador is a country that a lot of people do not visit in Central America due to the bad press it has gotten in the past in the news. The president has cracked down on gangs in the country in order to clean it up and it is said that he has locked up around 70,000 alleged gang members and built one of the largest prisons in the Americas in order to house them. This is what makes this country so intriguing as I feel this could be the next great destination in Central America.

Our first stop was an impromptu stop at Playa El Tunco which is in the process of building a Surf City which is a small village. The restaurants, bars, and street art here make it an intriguing destination not just for surfers, but just about everyone.

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After spending some days on the beach, we went into the capital of San Salvador. With different restaurants like Denny’s , Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell lining the streets, it looks like the country is well on its way to rebuilding itself (at least in the new part of town). I however wanted to go to the historic center in which they are rebuilding but it will take some time. A walk from the new part to the old part took the better part of a couple hours but it was beautiful down there.

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Of course driving around El Salvador I got to see some wonderful people on the streets, attending to their everyday way of life. They seemed very happy on the streets or selling their goods at the market, always waving and smiling…

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Finally on the way out of El Salvador to the border with Honduras, we got to stop at a beautiful little colonial town by the name of Suchitoto. This town is lined with beautiful cobblestone streets, old buildings, and a beautiful plaza…

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Overall, I really liked El Salvador and it was definitely a country I can come back to. It was told to me before I arrived at the borders that it is the most friendly country in Central America, and I will definitely agree with that statement.

From Tikal, to the highlands, to a beautiful waterfall and picturesque lake, to Antigua

Since I am on a mission to see most Star Wars filming sites in the world (see Tunisia) I thought that one good place to start would be Tikal which can be seen as the rebel base at the end of a New Hope. Tikal was another Mayan site I wanted to visit and dates back to before 1000 CE. What makes this site so famous is that it has very well preserved ruins which most are hidden under the thick jungle canopy, as well as great paths in which you can spend your day getting lost…

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The animals around Tikal were absolutely brilliant to photograph. From the bizarre looking Coati’s to birds, to Spider and Howler Monkeys, and Agouti’s which look like small Capybara’s. There were some cheeky spider monkeys that decided to go up into avocado trees and take a bite out of one then throw it at people passing by as the ground was littered with them.

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While I simply loved Tikal, I believe the highlight of being in Guatemala was spending a day on the bumpy but picturesque road of the highlands. Beautiful scenery as well as small rural villages dotted this landscape and the fog in the morning made it more eerie…

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Going through the highlands had its twists and turns because of the road but ultimately we arrived at a town and on the other side of the town was some beautiful waterfalls with pools you can swim in, with water that was turquoise and clear….of course the road there was great as they were doing elections as you can see locals crammed into public transport to get them to the polling stations.

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After a nice bath in the waterfalls, we made our way through some more highlands through some beautiful towns which with the small streets could not handle the size of the truck….

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After going through the beautiful highlands, we made it to Lake Atitlan which is cradled by some beautiful volcanic mountains which makes this place very picturesque…it is also one of the if not the deepest lakes in Central America.

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After leaving Lake Atitlan we went through some more scenery that was amazing to look at as well as some small towns with people wearing traditional clothes…..

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Finally we get to the cobblestone street and very picturesque town of Antigua, in which we stayed in the historic center. This is one of the top five picturesque towns in Central America and certainly did not disappoint…

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Of course no trip would be complete without a cooking class Guatemalan style as I went to La Tortilla Cooking School, and cooked six different dishes and had a lot of wine. The dishes I cooked where I learned how to cook desserts, salads, mains, and sides. I believe all of them came out pretty good with learning how to cook the traditional way with traditional ingredients…

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As we left Guatemala, I can say that I saw just about everything I wanted to see with the highlands really impressing me as it is a place I can defiantly go back too….Next Stop, the friendly country of El Salvador!!!!!

This small country has a lot to offer from hard to get ruins to the beautiful islands

The country of Belize is a small country but it packs so much into its borders. The money in this country still bears the Queen of England and is very colorful. With only five days in this tiny nation, I did a lot off stuff. Entering the border from Mexico was very interesting as it seemed to somehow get more humid (maybe not), but the first thing I noticed was how colorful and pretty the landscapes were, including the cemeteries.

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Some of the ruins that I have always wanted to go to were the Lamanai Ruins which are not easy to get to. You must take about a 45 minute boat ride on the New River in Orange Walk in order to reach this wonderful place. While it was extremely hot, seeing the birds along the way was a welcome sight…

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Of course the highlight was the Lamani ruins which I have always wanted to see, which is one of the many classical Mayan sights in this region of the world. We were first welcomed to some very lazy Monkeys up in the trees as we arrived.

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Then comes the beautiful ruins which are still being excavated to this very day…..

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The main point of going to this wonderful country was of course the islands they have off the coast. The Island I chose to go to was Caye Caulker which boasts some of the better lobster in the area. I had just missed the Lobster festival which I heard was great. The Island is small and it was a relaxing time of just going around town with one main road and no cars or trucks and relaxing…

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Finally as we were leaving the country for the border with Guatemala, we stopped by the local zoo. I am staunchly against going to any zoos and I do not even think about them these days, but this is a zoo with rescued animals from all around Belize that is a non profit organization. Belize, I will visit you again and eat more lobster

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From North to South

Early Years Mexico Click Here

Living on the border of Mexico for most of my life, I have always wanted to explore the country more in depth besides Cancun, Cd. Juarez, and Puerto Penasco!!!! On this trip I got my chance to do just that, and see Mexico by the roads through the country.

As we entered Mexico through a very small border in New Mexico, the desert scenery was just like I had grown up with. It was extremely hot, but a dry heat and not the humid heat we would run across in Southern Mexico.

Our first stop over the border was Copper Canyon, namely the sleepy but great town of Creel which is one of the last stops on the great train journey. Some people took the train and others just stayed around Creel and chilled out with all the good food they had to offer.

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