Thus far we have managed a grand total of two trips away from our corner of Lago de Atitlán, one to Panajachel and one to San Pedro la Laguna (check out the map for reference – our place is just east of San Marcos la Laguna). That’s not entirely true; it’s actually been three, but … Read more →

“Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes.” – Aldous Huxley Lago de Atitlán, in the Guatemalan highlands, is the deepest lake in Central America, surpassing one thousand feet in places, and is considered by many to be one … Read more →

May 1st 2013 Rural Chiapas highway Guatemala-bound The cars are all stopped What’s going on? Thirty minutes Walk to the front Road blocked with stones Circle of peasants, organizing What’s going on? Walk back to the car People seem annoyed But not alarmed Is this normal? Peanut vendors emerge Mango vendors too Thirty more minutes … Read more →

A cabin in a quiet secluded garden with secured parking, a fireplace, a hammock, space for the dogs to roam, and a reliable web connection, all within a fifteen minute walk of the Centro? Sounds good to me! Here are some pictures to do the talking for me…

This is an installment in an ongoing post series detailing a typical day in one of our destinations. Not everything in this schedule might happen on any given day, but it should give you a good idea of our usual activities. 6:15 AM – The very first hints of daylight creep up over the mountains … Read more →

One very notable aspect of day-to-day life in Mexico is the absence of big business. This isn’t to say that big businesses don’t run Mexico just like elsewhere; their banking industry seems fairly consolidated, their entire petroleum industry is state-operated, Coca-Cola could easily be the national beverage of choice, and their Gini coefficient is nearly … Read more →

Conveniently located just off Mexico 199 on the route between San Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque are the jungle-shrouded waterfall sites of Agua Azul and Misol-Ha. Aside from their proximity to Chiapas’ most famous Mayan ruins (and, obviously, the fact that they are both made of water moving quickly to a lower place), the … Read more →

Just north of Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, lies Sumidero Canyon National Park. The namesake and main highlight is, naturally, Sumidero Canyon. Formed by the Grijalva River over the past 35 millions years, the narrow canyon’s vertical walls reach up to 1 kilometer high. While there are several sweeping vistas from the canyon’s rim, … Read more →

If you haven’t picked up on it by now, we were absolutely enamored with San Sebastian Etla. With its relaxed atmosphere, laid-back pace, and smiling faces the village seemed a world away from the bustle and hustle of the usual tourist trail in Oaxaca de Juarez, just twenty minutes to the south. Our casita for the … Read more →

This is an installment in an ongoing post series detailing a typical day in one of our destinations. Not everything in this schedule might happen on any given day, but it should give you a good idea of our usual activities. 6:30 AM – The sun begins to peak over the mountaintops a few miles … Read more →