Category Archives: Latin America

I wrote a first installment on food at the end of my first full day in Guatemala. This second installment is a retrospective. Fifty years ago, the foods that were available in Guatemala were highly location specific. Around Lago Atitalan, … Continue reading →

There are ‘rules’ for safe travel in Central America and I am about to be challenged by several of them. I am in Quiché, and flying out of Guatemala City in a couple of days. The conservative approach might be … Continue reading →

Apart from the obvious interest of the market day, what I enjoyed most in my visit to Chajul was the simple, quiet pleasure of wandering around this lightly visited village, without a map or really much idea of what I … Continue reading →

It is market day in San Gaspar Chajul, Guatemala. In many rural areas, the local market days rotate among a few of the more prominent villages in the region. In the Ixil Triangle region of Guatemala, Nebaj is the largest … Continue reading →

Mud bricks, tile roofs, dividing fences made of piled wood for the cooking fire. Pigs tethered between close-set houses. Fences of vertical sticks tied together with twine. Men in dark clothing with dark faces beneath pale straw cowboy hats. If … Continue reading →

When I was planning this trip from home, the area I found most intriguing was a region little visited by tourists – the Ixil Triangle (Nebal-Chajul-Cotzal), and the region surrounding – where indigenous culture is still very much alive; an … Continue reading →

Antigua, Guatemala I am just back from grazing. Except on Sundays, three meals a day are included with my immersion Spanish homestay. So today, on my first full day here, and a Sunday, I did get a bit hungry before … Continue reading →