El Salvador is one of those places I recall from my childhood, but for all the “wrong” reasons. Newscasts in the 1980s equated the country with menacing jungles, death squads and guerrillas. Our recent conversations suggest that for many, El Salvador’s image as dangerous and gun-prone persists today.
So we wanted to see El Salvador for ourselves and perhaps dislodge some of those lingering perceptions. Our itinerary was simple: Perquin to better understand the civil war that plagued the country from 1980 to 1992; Santa Ana as a transit point; Juayua for its weekend food festival and coffee plantations; and Alegria for a look at life in the hills. Our focus: the people we would meet along the way.
If you’re itching to get to the photos:
Perquin, Santa Ana, Alegria, Suchitoto
Juayua and the Ruta de las Flores
And if you’d like to read more about El Salvador, keep going… Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Central America, El Salvador, Photography, Travel by: Daniel Noll
9 Comments | 21 July 2009
Last month, we asked readers to share their most satisfying value meal experience for a chance at a gift certificate.
The resulting entries from five continents (Africa and Antarctica conspicuously absent) did not disappoint. Some of the entries made us laugh. Some even made us cry. And all of them made our mouths water. Here are a few representative quotes that struck us.
And of course, we announce the randomly selected winner at the bottom. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Contests, Food by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
6 Comments | 17 July 2009
We physically feel the weight of our equipment day in and day out. After settling down for a few days in northern Nicaragua recently, we unpacked and were visually reminded of it all, too.
Although the contents of our gadget bags haven’t changed drastically since we first shared the nuts and bolts of our digital nomadism, a few items have.
Here’s what’s new in our packs these days and why. Continue Reading »
- Our Office-less Office
- Lensbaby, GPS upgrade, and a Mac: What’s New in Our Packs
- Backing Up Is Hard to Do
Filed Under: Technology, Travel Gear by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
19 Comments | 13 July 2009
Our timing was again impeccable.
Honduras, a country we had just visited, experiences a military coup and begins to melt down just days after we leave its borders. Nicaraguan newspapers go so as far as to headline “Blood Bath.” Nothing from our visit indicated how events would turn so suddenly. With the exception of a taxi driver in La Ceiba ranting about corruption across the political spectrum (a common taxi driver tirade the world over), politics didn’t figure much in our other conversations.
You’ve probably seen the images on TV, websites and newspapers of riot police, protesters and barricades in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital city. But if you’re curious as to what Honduras looks like without a coup, we share photos from our recent visit to the Ruta Lenca, the Mayan ruins at Copan and the bay island of Utila. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Central America, Honduras, Photography by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 10 July 2009
The weight of my backpack at 5:00 AM was brutal: 9 liters of water, 1 sleeping bag, and sundry other camping bits and bobs. And I was one of the lucky ones. Dan carried all that plus an old school (read: heavy) four-person tent.
Even at this hour, it was steamy. Under the weight of my pack, I was glazed in sweat before we reached the crossroads for the chicken bus to the trail head. I looked around at the young, energetic faces – mostly in their early 20s – and wondered, “Am I too old to be doing this?” Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Central America, Nicaragua, Panorama, Travel, Videos by: Audrey Scott
20 Comments | 3 July 2009
