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 »

Over 900 days on the road, and I’m still not immune to the phenomenon of culture shock. Continue Reading »

Descendants of shipwrecked slaves from Nigeria; Jerry Garcia’s rumored Caribbean seaside bungalow hideout; warrior dances (see video below) and turtle shell drums; echoes of an accented pigeon pidgin English that smacks of Jamaica; and a remarkable coconut seafood soup called tapado.

This is Livingston, home of the Garifuna. This is the other side of Guatemala.
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“Hola, Gringos!” a little Honduran girl calls out to us from the garden of the coffee plantation-cum-guest house on the edge of Gracias, Honduras where we awoke Saturday morning.

“Hola, ninos!” we offer in response.

Giggles all around. Little do we know what a prescient greeting it is. Continue Reading »

What do we do when we’re not chasing chicken buses from one town to the next? Here’s a hint.
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Some friends have suggested that we attach helmet cameras to our heads to give viewers the unabridged full monty version of our lives.

Trust us, you really don’t want to see all of it. Continue Reading »

Do you pay for your photographs? Do you ask permission? Have you had any problems taking photographs of people on the street?

We field these sorts of questions often. Several readers also recently requested that we write a post about how we get our photos, especially of people in street and market settings. In response, we share ten tips for taking engaging photos of the humanity that colors our planet.
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There we were at the dock in San Pedro bargaining for a boat to Santiago. The price seemed prohibitively high for a whimsical afternoon side trip on Lake Atitlan. Natasha, another traveler hoping to take the same boat, also questioned the price.

“You know, I have a car here. We could drive. You can just give me some gas money.”

Sounded like a reasonable alternative.

Just as we turned to leave, the boat ticket salesman’s voice rose, “Carretera. Banditos. Peligroso.” (Highway. Bandits. Dangerous.) Continue Reading »

The other day we broke down in Guatemala City — in front of a piñata factory no less.

I helped push the stalled PT Cruiser whose motor had knocked, pinged and spoken of better days. Back then forward, we rolled the car out of traffic and into a parking lot.

Guatemala City is notorious for guns, violence, drugs, blighted neighborhoods and danger lurking around every corner. And there we were in a sketchy little parking lot in the middle of the city at dusk. Continue Reading »

Sawdust carpets adorned with brightly-colored designs and cut fruit line the streets, giant carved floats sway on the backs of local men and women, and depressing dirges creep out of battered horns. Ceremony is high with marching Roman soldiers and elaborate crucifixion ceremonies as Guatemalan communities come together to mourn Jesus’ crucifixion and celebrate his resurrection and the close of Lent.

This is Semana Santa (Holy Week). And in Guatemala, no place takes to the occasion like the town of Antigua. We’ve never experienced a lead-up to Easter quite like it. The slideshow and video below show why. Continue Reading »