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.

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.  

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).

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.

Panama

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

​Walk up McDonald's dessert stand in Panama City, Panama – these are common in Central and South America but not in the USA (any guess as to why?)

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

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

​Apartment housing; I saw a man burning a couch here but unfortunately I didn't capture it in a photo.

​Another apartment complex in Panama City

A local told me, "A walk through here is bath in Panama's culture." This market consisted of a whole lot of stolen stuff for sale.

Panama City: arguably the most beautiful skyline in Central America