Mexico to Brazil

januar - august 2024
We are currently travelling from Mexico City through Central America and South America to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil by August Læs mere

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  • Paraguay
  • Brasilien
  • Uruguay
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Chile
  • Peru
  • Vis alt (17)
Kategorier
Rejse med rygsæk, Bus, Par, Kultur, Dykning, Vandring, Natur, Fotografi, Selvopdagelse, Ødemark
  • 55,2krejste kilometer
Transportmidler
  • Flyvning31,4kkilometer
  • Bus10,4kkilometer
  • Bil6.453kilometer
  • 4x43.104kilometer
  • Motorbåd708kilometer
  • Gåture492kilometer
  • Tog322kilometer
  • Færge121kilometer
  • Vandring114kilometer
  • Helikopter80kilometer
  • Tuk Tuk60kilometer
  • Cykel38kilometer
  • Padling/Roning9kilometer
  • Cable car6kilometer
  • Sejlads5kilometer
  • Hest5kilometer
  • Motorcykel4kilometer
  • Campingvogn-kilometer
  • Campingvogn-kilometer
  • Svømning-kilometer
  • Husbåd-kilometer
  • Krydstogtskib-kilometer
  • Skiløb-kilometer
  • At blaffe-kilometer
  • Barfodet-kilometer
  • 144fodaftryk
  • 239dage
  • 2,0kfotos
  • 1,0kkan lide
  • Petén, Flores

    17. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    So we are staying in Flores and more specifically on the island of Petén as our first stop in Guatemala. This is a quiet cobbled town with the main transport being small Tuktuks and water taxi boats.

    Our main reason for being here is that it provides access to Tikal but we are also doing all the new country things (getting cash, working out exchange rate, working out cost of things, getting local SIM for phone) etc. it seems here it is cheaper to eat out (£2-4 for a meal) than to cook yourself.

    We are actually going back to Tikal tomorrow for some birdwatching so another 4am start.
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  • San Pedro, Lake Atitlan

    19.–24. feb. 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    So it took 17 hours of TukTuk, Luxury Bus, Minivan, Another Minivan, Boat, Walk and final TukTuk to get here but we are in Lake Atitlan. And it was soooo worth it!

    Over the next few weeks we are staying in a few places longer and having some longer journeys and this was one. But all our connections worked smoothly and we were able to get some sleep on the big bus and save a night in a hotel.

    We are now in the Guatemalan Highland’s packed full of active volcanoes and in this case a stunning lake. The hotel said a lake view and they weren’t lying!

    We are doing a 3.30am start tomorrow to climb a viewpoint and watch the sunrise.
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  • Climbing the Mayan Nose for Sunrise

    21. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    An early start again (3.40am) to climb the Mayan Nose for sunrise. This is a feature on the ridge line visible from our room across the lake.

    The sunrise, views of the lake and 6 active volcanoes from the top was stunning. One is very active and erupted several times whilst we watched the sunrise.

    If you want to see the whole 45 minute sunrise in 37 seconds watch the Timelapse.
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  • Coffee

    21. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Continuing our culinary exploration, today was coffee. The local cooperative we visited consists of about 150 farms, all in the highland region around Lake Atitlan.

    The individual farmers harvest their crop (during October - March) and sell it to the cooperative who process their beans.

    The beans are graded - first class ones exported to America, second class for the local market and third class for…
    … Nestle instant coffee.

    It was interesting to see the whole process, from field to cup, and sample the product (of course)! See the photos for the various steps.
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  • More cooking.

    22. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We had a fantastic morning taking a cooking class.

    We started with a visit to the market to buy our produce. Our host, Anita, told us about the variety of produce available. For example, there are many varieties of banana, mango, avocado etc whereas at home we only have one. And they all have quite different tastes and textures.

    It was interesting listening to Anita talk about her culture. She describes herself as a rebel. Her culture is clearly very important to her but she has broken the mould of what is normal - it is unusual for a women to work in tourism. It has taken time for her to gain the respect of her community but she has clearly done so. It was quite inspiring/challenging hear her explain that, whilst bartering at the market was normal, she never did so as she was blessed earning a good income from her cooking classes and wanted to share this with her community.

    Anyway, back to the food. Armed with an amazing array of fresh produce - all harvested locally (or slaughtered, in the case of the chicken) that morning - we stared to prepare our meal.

    Today our menu was:
    Snacks - guacamole, radish salad, tortilla chips.

    Joćon de pollo - a thick, spicy green stew with lots of herbs, veg and chicken. Traditionally families make this dish once a year, when they harvest the corn. They then share it with their neighbours (to share their blessing).
    This was served with Guatemalan rice, Tomalito de Chipilin These are a smaller version of tamales, made with a corn dough. In this case the dough is mixed with a plant called chipilin which is a bit like spinach, wrapped in a leaf and steamed.

    Rellenitos de Plátano - mashed plantains, filled with a chocolate mix then fried.

    A real feast and interesting insight into the local Mayan culture.
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  • Mirador Rey Tepepul

    24. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We had a couple of early mornings birding in the forest and cloud forest near Lake Atitlan. The habitat was wonderful - sights, sounds (watch video) and smells too. Lots of great birds including owls (3 species) nighthawk, hummingbirds (13 species). Great fun.

    The best bird was the Resplendent Quetzal, with 1m long tail feathers - google it as I didn’t get a photo.

    Sadly we kept hearing chainsaws and illegal logging activity so who knows how long this forest will survive. Our guide told us that there is only one poorly paid ranger and if he did much about the logging he would probably be killed!

    More info on wildscot.blog if interested. We travel to Antigua tomorrow for a week of Spanish study and staying with a local family.
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  • Antigua - Parade

    25. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    So we got the bus to Antigua the former capital of Guatemala today. Because we were driving through areas impacted by out of control forest fires all the windows were closed and the bus quite hot but at least it was only four hours.

    We have checked in with our home stay - a mother and grandmother we are living with for the next week. She is very good at explaining things to us in simple Spanish and also very welcoming.

    Since we are in lent now there is a big parade by the religious devotees each Sunday building up to Holy Week. Parts of the route are covered in flowers (this will be totally covered by Easter Sunday). Everybody was out and it was a real party atmosphere with street vendors every where.

    We had an unfortunate incident with an American Trump supporter who when ranting about immigration levels to the west went on sensitive ground asking how many children we had and made somewhat obnoxious and offensive comments. The vast majority of travellers and locals we have met have been lovely and this encounter has certainly not changed my views of American politics.

    Change of pace tomorrow as we start Spanish school. I hated languages at school so hope this is better than that.
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  • Antigua Guatemala

    26. feb.–4. mar. 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We are currently staying in the city of Antigua. This used to be the capital before a devastating earthquake in 1773. It is a UNESCO world heritage site for its cultural and historical significance.

    The views from the area are impressive as it is surrounded by hills and active volcanoes (called Agua and Fuego - water (inactive) and fire (active)). The centre is quite busy with several impressive churches but the outer streets are quiet and almost all are cobbled.

    We visited Inglesia de la Merced (church of the blessed) and climbed the stairs onto the roof. Health and safety is a bit different here as we could wander all over the roof with unprotected edges. The yellow and white made for nice photography.

    This afternoon we climbed “the hill of the cross” for views over the town.

    Currently we spend the morning in Spanish school (8-12) the afternoon doing homework for a couple of hours and exploring the town and then evening with our host family or making future plans.

    On that final note we have decided we cannot go to Nicaragua as planned next since they will confiscate our camera and binoculars at the border. The military dictator hates journalists so banned quality optics last year. So we will proceed to Honduras and El Salvador by land but then fly to Costa Rica. A shame as we were hoping to do our journey completely overland.
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  • Spanish Lessons

    29. februar 2024, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So we have been having Spanish lessons this week. The school has been excellent value and very well run.

    The principle they operate under is total immersion so our teachers only speak Spanish and we are living with a Spanish family. They also put on cultural events in Spanish too. At first it is very hard to understand but it is slowly starting to click.

    Living with a local family has been a lovely experience. Ana is the mum with four children. There are at least a dozen people living in a small house (plus us). But there are so many people coming and going in the home. Children from relatives she looks after. Neighbours and friends popping in. She also helps people by taking in lodgers and does so even if they cannot pay. There are normally four generations 2 years to 85+ I would guess. A very generous and welcoming family.

    We eat meals together and they are very warm hosts. They may not have much but they are very rich in other ways.
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  • Offering for Third Friday of Lent

    1. marts 2024, Guatemala ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    So the tradition here in Antigua during lent is that each of the smaller out of town churches around Antigua host a weekend until the big Easter celebrations held in the city itself.

    This involves the village creating an “offering” in the church using their local produce. This includes flowers, fruit and vegetables and coloured sawdust. This is all practicing for the Holy Week itself when the roads themselves will all be covered.

    So we took a 15 minute tuktuk out to the nearby village of Jocotenango. Many people came from far and wide on the colourful “chicken buses” for the evening. A long queue led around the full square to get into the church. We queued for about 90 minutes but by the time we left the queue had doubled.

    The “evangelicals” were out preaching. They seemed very angry and loud to me. Sadly there is quite strong antagonism between the catholic and evangelical traditions. The catholics have been in Central America for hundreds of years. They have done a lot of harm but they have largely fused/syncretised with the Mayan culture. The evangelicals arrived in the 1960s and teach that everything Mayan (language, sport, music) is of the devil.

    Loads of food sellers were present adding to the party atmosphere selling food of every flavour. We enjoyed chatting to the family behind us in the queue who were coming to pay homage to the offering, our Spanish lessons were starting to pay off.

    The offering itself was stunning in its detail and showed a lot of hard work (see photos and video). It was really interesting to see how well integrated the catholic church was with the community as all ages were out in force - unlike at home.
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