Middle America

Middle America

Town center in Antigua, Guatemala

​My first meal in Guatemala – sitting on the steps adjacent to the shot above, which I took after eating this plate of food (cost $2)

Guatemala: two brothers on horseback checking the family coffee crops; I hiked this same trail 7 months later and saw them working hard in the field.

Belize: slash and burning the forest and other vegetation to make room for agriculture

Pickup-trucks usually have someone riding in the back (95% of the time) first photo in Nicaragua, second in Guatemala. It beats the alternative to a packed public bus in Guatemala City (third photo) or a family on a moped (I've seen as many as five on a moped in Central America and throughout South Asia).

Common sight throughout Central America is bicycle, horse, or horse with cart, this was taken in Nicaragua.

Original Stand-up paddle boarding like this fisherman on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

Washing clothes by hand in a stream in rural Guatemala

Breakfast view while camping and hiking the third highest peak in Central America (Acatenango)  in Guatemala

Eruption at night. Camping here was a big rush.  For perspective on size see the photo of two people on the right.

​Imagine if these were introduced to your backyard – invasive species

Young and Old: Snapshots of young boys on a street corner and an old woman a couple blocks away.

​Mayan Ruins in Yaxha’ (Haven’t heard of it? Neither has anyone else that’s why it is so empty and we had the place to ourselves – snapped this photo of my buddy experiencing the ruins, rather than just seeing them as you would among other tourists in popular places).

Nicaragua is popular for surfing as you can see from this wave in San Juan del Sur

​This was a child in a wooden crib with wooden floor outside a market in Nicaragua. His mother was working behind the counter as he sat outside here.

Families hanging out on the side of the road on a Sunday (Guatemala)

Mosquito netting was common in the nicer rooms throughout Central America.

​Drove across Guatemala to the east coast of Belize (Belize City) the country was underwhelming and not what I expected, the islands are nice off Belize but the mainland is very poor and can be dangerous; I did find this nice fruit stand in Belize City the morning I flew out.

The beautiful water off the coast of Belize (where the tourists go) this was taken at Caye Caulker.

A bright yellow color of paint emphasizes the Spanish Colonial architecture of the church in the main square of Granada, Nicaragua.

Trinidad & Tobago - like most places in the world the rainforest in Central America is losing ground to human encroachment (untouched forest on the left and not far away you can see housing and a public landfill going into the forest).

Panama City: arguably the most beautiful skyline in Central America

The Revolution Tower in Panama City – notice the American landmark in the foreground.

​Miraflores lock on the Panama Canal – The Panama Canal has locks and is not an open waterway from Atlantic to Pacific

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A local told me, "A walk through here is bath in Panama's culture." This market consisted of a lot of stolen stuff for sale.
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​​Apartment housing in Panama City; I saw a man burning a couch here but unfortunately I didn't capture it in a photo.

Another apartment complex in Panama City.

​People name their cars (this is common in Latin America) this wouldn't fly in the USA because it impairs driving visibility.

Mexico 

Mexico City - Soldiers raise a large flag in the Federal District, they do this ceremony every Sunday morning.

This is in central Mexico City - a large park in a huge urban area, such a nice reprieve for many people living in the city.

Mexico City - not that the large parks go without their share of homeless people.

Mexico City - the night before this street was packed (standing room only), I took this photo shortly after 6:00am and the street was nearly cleaned up.  

Zihuatanejo (West Coast) "I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope." The final lines of The Shawshank Redemption. “Zihuatanejo. It's a little place in Mexico on the Pacific Ocean. Do you know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory."

Tulum (East Coast) Riviera Maya, known as some of the best beaches in the world; however, Sargassum seaweed has increasingly started coating the beaches.  Data gathered over the past decade has revealed the likely cause of these seaweed invasions have been flourishing in nutrient rich environments caused from a combination of Saharan dust clouds, warming temperatures and the growing human nitrogen footprint.  Additionally, the influxes of the past decade seem to have originated along Brazil’s Atlantic coast, not in the Sargasso Sea. Large amounts of fertilizer flow into the Amazon River and then to the ocean from industrial agriculture.  Nutrients also pour into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River from climate change-driven downpours that increase runoff.

Balandra Bay, Baja Sur (West Coast) - it is about waist deep in middle of this pristine bay, usually filled with tourists and the sand is white; however, there was a yacht that caught fire at the opening of the bay and spilled oil and fuel so much that this bay had been closed for months when I arrived.  Notice the dark settling in the sand and the black oil on the peninsula's on the left shoreline.  This is along the Sea of Cortez, often called the “Aquarium of the World,” the Sea of Cortez is one the most abundant and diverse underwater ecosystems on the planet.  

Ixtapa - just off the west coast there is an entirely different world than we see above the surface.  This school of fish surrounded me, literally thousands of fish and not one touched me as they swam around me. I heard Humpback Whales under water, they were probably within 1km, I also hovered above sea turtles the size of picnic tables. I highly recommend getting on the water and under the water.

Cenotes are abundant on the Yucatan Peninsula. A Cenote refers to an underground chamber or cave which contains permanent water. In other words, it is a natural sinkhole where the ceiling of the cave (mostly made up of limestone) has collapsed. Cenotes come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. The most common types of cenotes are Cave, Semi-Open and Open Cenotes. Cave cenotes being the youngest and the open cenote being the oldest as it’s cave ceiling has fallen into itself.

Natural Hot Springs of El Sargento on Baja Sur. This was one of the coolest hot springs I've ever seen. The hot volcanic water comes up from the sand and mixes with the ocean - so people build holes and circles in the sand for a natural hot tub. If you dig your toes and feet into the wet sand on the beach the water is scalding hot.

Chiapas (S. Central Mexico). One of the most amazing experiences I've had in nature. The wind coming off this mountain was so warm - unbelievably warm, literally like standing by a heater. The water was so powerful and it was a day before the full moon so the light illuminated the waterfall. I took this photo around 11pm.

We decided to hike our way to the top the next morning. We made it to the top, swam across a pool, with strong current; I put a red circle where we stood and overlooked the canyon.

Workers coming back from Sugar Cane fields in Chiapas State.

Sumidero Canyon in Chiapas - These walls are more than 1,000 meters, between 1/2 to 3/4 mile high throughout the canyon - notice the boat.  There is normally a waterfall cascading down, and over time this has deposited a large amount of calcium carbonate onto the vegetation-covered rock. These deposits are then covered with moss, creating a geological structure that now looks like a majestic fir tree, or Christmas tree. There was just a little bit of water, mostly mist, coming off the tree when I was under it.

 Central Guadalajara - this place reminded me a bit of Rome with the music, culture, birds, and overall vibe.  Colonia Americana was voted the best neighborhood in the world (2022) and was about 3-miles walk from here.  Guadalajara is located in Jalisco State and is a major hub of manufacturing and distribution - for instance, the adjacent town is Tequila and you can see fields of Agave and do many tours of distilleries; liken it to wine country in Tuscany, Italy or Napa/Sonoma in the USA.  

Seafood is abundant in coastal Mexico; resembles the dish above in Antigua, Guatemala.  Fresh seafood done simply.

Zihuatanejo, locals and restauranteurs gather in the mornings to get the freshest catch.  

There's a distinct perimeter around Mexico City (neighborhood blocks to emptiness of the high plaines).  Notice the mountains, Mexico City is more than 7,000 feet elevation; much higher than Denver, and the sewer treatment plant in the foreground in the photo on the right. 

Demonstrators set up tents in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City to protest against the gender violence. These have been here for a year. If you want to understand the grand scale of violence against women in Mexico watch The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo on Netflix. I met the Assistant Director a year prior when I was in a different area of Mexico.

Before and after of Mayan ruins excavated in southern Mexico.  There are still a lot of structures that have not yet been cleared and restored throughout Guatemala and Mexico; it takes a considerable amount of time and money to archaeological work.

 

I always try to work in a layover in Mexico City when possible; one of the most beautiful cities in North/Middle America. 

Cuba

Havana, Cuba: so many vintage autos - I thought we would see maybe one in twenty cars that were vintage; but it was the other way around - vintage outnumber newer models.

​Community grocery store in Havana

​Nearly $400 US for this pack of freshly rolled cigars - no local Cuban could afford this.

​The money is interesting in Cuba - all foreigners purchase Convertible Pesos which end up equalling nearly 1:1 per US Dollar. One Convertible Peso CUC = 25 National Cuban Pesos, so basically we are charged 25 times that of the locals. We could not get National Pesos - I actually couldn't get my hands on one an entire week in Havana. 
We talked with several locals and the average wage is around $20 US per month - some more/some less - around 60 cents to $1 per day.   I thought we would encounter more beggars but the people were all very nice and embraced us as being from the USA.

My wife and son on Barcelona Street directly in sight of the Capitol Building - maybe 400 meters from the Cuban Capitol grounds... 

​Beauty is everywhere in Havana, one just has to look - Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis

Images of Che Guevara are all over in Havana - what is his significance in Middle America / the world?

​Socialism - today, tomorrow, always [propaganda like this is seen all over Cuba]

This goes to show how much we waste as Americans (I saw plastic bags hanging outside nearly every window as they wash and re-use them).  Also to note, China consumes roughly two billion plastic bags per day.

​This is the first county I have been to that didn't have Coca Cola - this is Cuba's National Cola.  There are also no McDonald's, Starbucks, etc...

I spotted this bus the last day I was in Havana in 2011; people in Cuba were very friendly to me being from the USA.  If the embargo is lifted and if travel is opened freely between the USA and Cuba it will change the look and feel here.