Central America

The last stop on my adventure was Mexico City, where I put up my hiking boots and got myself an apartment, complete with a cat and a cleaning lady. I can't really describe how lively this place is, or colourful, or noisy, but hopefully these pictures will help.

Morning patrol in the city centre's park.

Taxi!

Build up to a sunday fight. The bullfighter was badly gored shortly after I took this photo.

Some more Mexico City colour.

My first trip to Mexico, before my stay in the capital, was in Chiapas in the south, in August 2007. It is Mayan territory.

The area includes the Mayan ruins of Palenque (first and second photo) and Chichen itza (third photo)

This is a picture of the hands of Trudi Blom, a jungle explorer from Switzerland who lived with and studied the Lacandon people, the only Mayans never conquered by the Spanish. There's more about her and her wonderful house at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Blom

Here's a picture of some beans.

I helped out on an organic coffee farm for a week. Grinding the beans is actually a lot more difficult than it looks.

I loved the charm of Antigua, near Guatemala city, and have more photos of cobbled side streets and ancient battered doors than is probably healthy.

The volcano in the background above is still active, although we weren't in that much danger during our climb.

I took a Gautemalan cookery class while I was in Antigua. The large leaves here are banana plant leaves that encase the stew which slowly steams in the pot.

This was the flower stall of the market in a place called Chichicastenango.

I arrived in Nicaragua's capital in time for the annual celebrations of their revolution. These two were taking the same bus as me.
The Sandanista flag was everywhere, as it is the flag of Daniel Ortega's party, who had recently been elected president. This was the tune blasting from every loudpseaker and every car, a sort of unofficial (and blatantly borrowed) anthem for their party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqplKh3q9TA

It seemed that everywhere in the country people had these ornate sillas de abuelita or 'little granny chairs', made in Granada, on the shores of Lake Nicaragua.

You couldn't go far without coming across a stray dog or two, most of them painfully thin.

I stayed on a coffee co-operative on an island on the lake, which was basically two volcanoes joined together. This is the larger one to the south.

Panama City was a bit of shock, after all things low-key in South America.

But the buses at least reminded me I was in Central America.

For anyone interested in big canals, it is a great place to be. For more info on it, visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal

I got away from the smoke and into the mountians of Western Panama which was a great change of scene.