Departamento de Escuintla

“Seek and you will find. Don’t be willing to accept and ordinary life.”

Our motto: Experience ... Explore ... Enrich ... Enjoy

The Pangaea supercontinent existed until about 200 million years ago where there was ONE Continent, a continuous land mass until it broke up to what we know today.

Note: Worth researching if you're into that type of history and geography.

Now, moving from North America to Central America:

What is Central America? Not a continent. Most consider it part of North America (geographically) although it is the section of land connecting North and South America.

It includes Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaraqua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Some (including the United Nations) would say it includes Mexico (I thought that was N.A.), Belize and Honduras. The Mayans lived here for centuries and are known for their writings, art, development of the calendar and extensive math. Conquered by the Spanish in 1500’s, who were looking for territory and treasures. Today there are still 6 million Mayans that speak 52 languages living here. We stopped in two ports in Central America. First, Puerto Quetzal.

Karen and I were twice previously in Guatemala and had learned and enjoyed from very interesting tours here about these poor but happy, colorful, humble and religious people, so we decided to go out on our own for a walk. Mostly non-eventful since much of what we saw was the beautifully colorful textiles and tourist stuff for sale. Since we are not making purchases, that was an easy walk. For a small Country, barely the size of Ohio, Guatemala borders: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador as well as a small piece of coastline on the Pacific and the Caribbean. Old Antigua is a quaint town that was the capital. There are many places where coffee and sugar cane are farmed but the main item you see is the Beautiful Mayan textiles and rum (which a few of our friends stocked up on). For years, I’ve kept my Guatemalan Worry Dolls on my nightstand at home (wherever home is) and carry them with us when we travel.

The Port (photo 3)
Karen and Her Friend, Jade (photo 4)
Impressive straw/bamboo pyramid (photo 5)
Time for the May-pole (photo 6)En savoir plus