National Parks of the Western U.S.

My travels in Central America was an unforgettable tour through a part of the world that is diverse both socially and culturally. Be it in ancient cities or crowded markets, with relative ease I was able to absorb elements of many distinguished cultures -- many dating back thousands of years. The lessons in history, anthropology, sociology, and politics that presented themselves were as exciting as they were ubiquitous.

Alas, I returned from Central America and embarked upon a new part of the world. Here I found a decidedly different set of lessons to be learned. Alone, I explored California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah both under the desert sun and the star filled night sky. In this part of the world, the lessons which presented themselves most saliently were on a different magnitude of time -- geological time. By comparison, the time since the existence of the ancient civilizations of Central America is merely a snap of the fingers.

I will end by simply exhorting you to GO VISIT A NATIONAL PARK. They are so close, and more amazing than words -- particularly mine -- can possibly describe.

May they speak for themselves:

Death Valley National Park, California

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Zion Canyon National Park, Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Capital Reef National Park, Utah

Arches National Park, Utah

Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Central America: The Final Post

The final stretch of my journey in Latin America involved travels in Costa Rica and Panama. I had the pleasure of being accompanied by my sister, Andrea, in the former country, and my dad, Parker, in the latter.

The Central American tourism behemoth, Costa Rica is indubitably worthy of its reputation. Natural beauty and an enjoyable climate -- most of the year at least -- make this country a very pleasant place to visit. Below is the consistently majestic sunset over a beach near Manuel Antonio, a city on the Pacific coast southeast of the capital.

As usual, despite the negative things I had heard about San Jose, Costa Rica's capital city, I found it to be rather hospitable. In the background of the picture below is the national theater/concert hall where the orchestra plays. Costa Rica has a notably famous international orchestra, which evidently shames those of its neighboring countries. It is said that this is possible, at least in part, because of the additional resources available given Costa Rica's lack of a military -- something the Tico's are very proud of. What could we do with the all of the money we dump into the defense budget? Perhaps the CEOs could get larger salaries. Even better, more media coverage of Paris.

Andrea and I had a nice time in the mountain highlands of Costa Rica. Among the many highlights was a canopy tour (zip lining) that exceeded by far all of our expectations.

After Andrea made her way back to Los Estados Unidos, Parker met me in Panama. Behind us is the surprisingly densely developed Panama City skyline. High rises everywhere you look.

Oh, and I THINK there is some kind of canal in Panama of some significance -- so I've been lead to believe. The bridge below crosses the waterway that passes through the canal, ushering ships from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean all hours of every day, and visa versa.

More than just the country with the canal, Panama has beautiful jungles and beaches too...

So, there it is. Parker and I enjoyed a week in Panama before I finally left my home away from home of the last three months, Central America, for the home land. At first culture shocked, but always happy to be once again amongst friends and family, I'm back.

Day 63

My journey with my sister, Alicia, has come to an end. Presently, she is back in Oakland, after spending her final week in Latin America with her boyfriend, Rob, in Costa Rica. Together, Alicia and I met the challenge of exploring the unknown with surety and enthusiasm. Collectively, we learned how to navigate parts of the world that were at times remote and unfriendly, we explored areas deemed unsafe by many -- often finding the opposite to be true, and we mastered the art of reaching distant locations on chicken buses -- the pervasive, substantially deteriorated, former North American school buses. Along the way, we had the fortune of seeing some of the most beautiful, historically significant, sights the world has to offer. The opportunity to explore, learn, and grow, with the company of my sister, was an opportunity that I will never forget and will always cherish. On day 52, Alicia and I parted ways in Managua, Nicaragua.

The adventure continues: allow me to fill you in on what I've skipped over, as I have until now fast forwarded through some wonderful experiences. I'll be sharing details of my travels in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

I left you last time close to the Guatemalan border with Honduras, near the Caribbean: after crossing the border into Honduras, passing by some expansive banana farms, and all the while contending with emasculating stomach illnesses, Alicia and I arrived by boat to Utila, Honduras. Utila is a member of what are known as the bay islands of Honduras. These English speaking islands -- a remnant of British colonialism -- are beautiful Caribbean getaways, extremely famous for scuba diving. Equipped with the necessary anti-malaria medication, Alicia and I enjoyed a few days on these islands Caribbean style. One of the days afforded us a great scuba/snorkeling trip to the nearby reefs. Although slightly less vibrant and spectacular when compared to the Belizean reefs to the North, the diving here was incredible nevertheless. At one point in our boat ride to the reefs, the boat came to an abrupt stop. The belligerent Scottish captain proceeded to scream commands in some creole dialect that sounded like complete rubbish to everyone on the boat save for his 12 year old deck hand; as far as we could tell, we had encountered some mechanical problems. No worries, after barking some profanities he proceeded to gather all three of the tools on the boat, donned a scuba outfit, jumped off the boat, and expediently resolved the dilemma.

A notably painful bus ride -- on buses clearly not intended to promote the comfort of its 6´-1" passengers -- brought us to El Salvador. Our apprehensions that El Salvador would be a more dangerous, less hospitable, travel location were immediately washed away. Strike that. They were ´blended´into oblivion at a juice stand at a bus station that presented us with two dozen juice blenders lined up in a row, like well mannered school children patiently awaiting a teacher's instruction. The menu of papaya, banana, watermelon, cantaloupe, granola, and chocolate, blended with milk and ice was tempting, the cost $0.60 for a fresh fruit blend made to order was outright seductive. With smiles on our faces, and delectable licuados in our bellies, we embarked on our journey in El Salvador with resolve to prove that our deprecatory predispositions toward this country were unfounded. We did, ten times over! For the next several days, we enjoyed peaceful mountain settings in the northern mountains of El Salvador. In one location, Jauyua, we took a hike to some nearby waterfalls accompanied by a local tour guide and two tourist police representatives.

In a concerted effort to promote tourism, and nullify the kinds of negative apprehensions that Alicia and I shared, the government of El Salvador is engaged in all sorts of areas to promote safe tourism. Short of emptying our pockets, a 3 hour tour to waterfalls -- with spectacular underground tunnels that propel you between different sections of the waterfall, an activity decidedly reserved for those who are goonies at heart -- cost Alicia and I a combined $5. Recall, we were all the while personally accompanied by three devoted Salvadorans. See picture above. We also enjoyed comfortable lodging with clean dorm beds, warm water showers (some of the only ones we´ve had on the trip), television, and free Internet. We made a few more stops in El Salvador: the lush forests of El Impossible National Park, the beautiful beaches near La Libertad on the Pacific where I surfed some of El Salvador's world renowned breaks, and the capital city of San Salvador. Each stop reaffirming the splendor of this glorious little county. Moving on...

...To Nicaragua. Another country of paradise. In no way a reflection of the enjoyment that this country brought me, I will TRY to be terse. First and foremost, the Sandanista's are still getting comfortable in their new seats of leadership of the country. The manifestations of this new spirit of political leadership are ubiquitous, if by nothing else, by the inspiring pictures of president Daniel Ortega with the words 'vos ganas --we won', in close proximity. The said former revolutionary leader was instrumental in ushering in the collapse of a long standing, brutal dictatorship in Nicaragua. A close ally of Chavez in Venezuela, and Morales in Bolivia, this left-of-center political leader has the potential to do some great things for the Nicaraguan poor. In fairness, the challenges created by an uneducated, poor electorate, burgeoning skepticism from abroad and among the elite within, and a struggling economy, will make his job of instituting positive change an extremely difficult one. For now, the students in rural communities walking around with new backpacks provided for by the government in a far-reaching rural education campaign are a pleasant reflection of political progress.

Getting to the point: Alicia and I explored a gorgeous coffee plantation near a tropical forest in the Nicaraguan highlands. After a rather challenging hike, we were rewarded with a spectacular view of nearby Matagalpa below. Look closely, the picture below reveals a large city amidst the mountains in the distance.

Next, we landed in Leon and saw Central America's largest and perhaps most beautiful cathedral. In this cathedral, the literary hero of Latin America, poet Ruben Dario, is buried.

Next, onto the capital, Managua. Here, Alicia and I parted ways.

On my own now, I visited Granada, Isla de Ometepe, and Playa Maderas, before crossing the border into Costa Rica. Granada is a charming town, if a bit artificially affluent. This is a lasting legacy of its former role as a conservative stronghold, countervailing its liberal counterpart of Leon. Mentioned previously, the latter city felt more like a city for the people, perhaps less tailored to tourists and other big spenders. Perhaps these views were painted by the author's rather colorful predispositions as well. That is Granada below, and Leon above.

Isla de Ometepe is an enchanting island formed by two volcanoes that protrude from the largest lake in Central America. This lake was nearly the location of a cross oceanic-canal, before the plans for the Panama Canal were finalized. Take a look at the map link below and you'll see why this would be a logical location for such a canal -- note that rivers join the lake from both oceans. The two adjoined blobs in the lake are the volcanoes, I hiked to the top the smaller of the two. For a mere two dollars a night, I slept on a firm, yet comfortable cot on the property of a coffee farm. The views, and the ambiance, were first rate! The picture below was taken from my hike up the volcano. That is the sister volcano is in the distance.

http://media.maps.com/magellan/Images/NICARA-W1.gif

I spent the next few days sleeping in a small shack on a beach called Playa Maderas, on the Pacific, near Nica's border with Costa Rica. The sounds of the crashing waves, and the myriad of stars -- including the North star and the Southern cross -- were unreal. The surf was fun, but disappointing when compared to that of El Salvador.

Alas, I crossed the border from Nica, the gem, into the more expensive, more touristy, Costa Rica. My first stop was Tamarindo; a northern Pacific beach, infamous for its ostentatiousness and divergence from the typical central American feel. While true to its reputation, Tamarindo proved to be a comfortable location to pass a few days and enjoy some conveniences that I have often foregone over the past couple of months. So there it is... I am writing from an air conditioned hostel, listening to Seinfeld re-runs playing from a big screen T.V. in the giant living room nearby.

In other news: I now have a return flight back to the states from Panama City in the middle of April. In time for the wedding of my dear friends, Nick and Elizabeth.

Wishing everyone all of the best,

Andres al Reves

Day 34

"...here was a land of several millions of primitive people, poor from an economic standpoint, spread over an area far greater than that occupied by most European nations, and with every physical and linguistic disadvantage between them and the proper functioning of their system; yet despite these obstacles they achieved a sort of agrarian communism which was stable, self-sufficient, and slowly progressive over several hundreds of years. Life for the average indian was undoubtedly on a very primitive scale. Yet all who were able to work did; no sickness went uncared for, few crimes were committed, no aged or infirm lacked the necessities of life; and co-operation for the public welfare, rather than competition for profit, was the mainspring of Inca Economy. These are achievements which any civilized nation of today might well envy."

-John A. Crow, The Epic of Latin American History

Within the context of the ´New World´, at times begging for money in order to sustain a meager existence, the many poor indigenous people whom I have encountered since I began my travels in Latin American are indeed a changed people. Colonialism of the Americas -- "the greatest revolution in the history of mankind" -- and its blind pursuit of wealth and grandeur is a part of history that cannot be ignored when visiting Latin America. The consequent poverty and backwardness is very difficult to see. Nevertheless, despite the legacy of exploitation of the indigenous peoples at the hands of the European colonists, and the subsequent years of suppression and outright persecution, they remain a proud people with a rich culture and a spirit of perseverance. Perhaps more than anything else, this vivid and tangible energy has brought me great pleasure throughout my travels.

Presently, I´d like to share some of my experiences during the second half of my travels throughout Mexico, then into Belize and Guatemala:

Before Alicia and I left Merida in the Yucatan, we had the pleasure of taking in a free concert in the town square. With an almost Madonna-like stage presence, Alehandra Guzman put on a great show. She is evidently one of Mexico´s most famous female singers. Among the other thousands of spectators, of which I was nearly the tallest -- a genuine advantage -- we were squeezed in every direction while Alehandra did her magic. It was great! The picture to the right shows the flood of people rushing away from the concert. It was taken from our hostel in the town square, a beautiful colonial church is in the background beyond the bright lights on the left.

Next we left Merida for Chicken Itza, the most famous and most touristy of the Mayan ruins. This ancient city was built after a fusion of the Mayan and Toltec societies. The last great city of the Mayans, it was abandoned in the 14th century. It was nearly empty when the colonists arrived. Well, it wasn´t empty when we were their. Early in the day we enjoyed it in peace, but fled when the tour buses full of pale skinned tourists arrived from Cancun.

At last, we arrived at the Caribbean! Here we lived a despondent existence, hardly managing to make it through each arduous day. I jest. Still, life on the Caribbean was a life of many challenging choices. Choices like how long to lay on your stomach before allowing the sun to warm your back. Or, more difficult still was the decision of when to enter the aquamarine water -- the perfect temperature to cool you down. While in Cancun, we soaked up the sun and walked around outside of the fancy hotels, using their beach chairs for free while laughing at our neighbors whom were paying exorbitant sums of money to do the same thing we were. A short boat ride to Playa de Las Mujeres brought us to yet another environment at which to soak up the sun, this one without the wastefulness of consumer capitalism breathing down our backs. The series of difficult decisions continued unabated at Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel. Life was tough.

Our final stop in Mexico was in Tulum, another beautiful Caribbean beach. This one is quite unique, it has incredible Mayan ruins on the cliffs and spectacular beaches with very few people about. It was a great way to end our time in Mexico! By the way, the city that appears in the picture below was occupied when the European colonists came.

Next, we crossed our fist border into Belize, a unequivocally beautiful country, if a bit more expensive than we had grown accustomed. We caught a ferry to San Pedro, Caye (key) Amberghis. This is a great island town (although geographically more of a peninsula) with a spectacular beach that makes for a very comfortable walk to and from the different business. Check out the picture below. The culture here is very rich with linguistic and ethnic variations from African, to Creole, to European. The unique Belizean Creole idiom is very interesting to hear. I´ve come to learn that this idiom is not formally written, rather, it is passed on via verbal transmission.

Belize offered me the best diving of my life! The blue hole, a 1000 foot diameter submarine collapsed hole off of the coast, exhibits giant stalactites at 140 feet under water. Given the way stalactites are formed, this is evidence that this was once an underground cave when the water level was much lower during an earlier era (click on the link below). I was followed by a pack of say 20 giant reef sharks. It was nuts! I did two other dives along the second largest reef in the world, with the most marine life and coral i´ve ever seen. The rest of my time in Belize was spent relaxing and visiting with some friends of Alicia´s, two of whom live there, Angela and Casper, and one who came to visit, Deborah. We had a great time together taking in the scene in San Pedro, watching Casper play with various bands at a nearby touristy bar, and taking a road trip from Belize to Guatemala.


Blue Hole link: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/galleries/belize/photo2.html

Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatamela!!! What a beautiful country. I can´t say enough about this place. It truly stole my heart. I´m going to be quick...

We visited the pride of the Mayan ruins in Tikal -- short trip from the beautiful colonial town of Flores. Tikal is magnificent for several reasons: it is deep in the jungle, there are lots of ruins, and more archeological excavations are underway. It was like being on the set of an Indiana Jones film.

Next, we skipped over to the Enchanting town of Antigua, one of my favorite cities yet. Here we gazed in awe at the countless beautiful churches. Many of them were built by Cortes´s cronies. Too bad for them, many were devastated in a major earthquake in 1773. The remaining structures, many damaged to a point far beyond that which would permit them to be inhabitable, are STILL beautiful. It is incredible. That is the inherent consequence of unreinforced masonry and mud structures -- the damage I mean. Due to its ease and economy, this building method is still widely used in Central America! The knowldege gap, and inability of first world countries to share valuable insights that could save lives is stunning. I won´t get started.

More quickly now: we also climbed a very hot, and very active volcano near Antigua. Behold -- Volcano Pacaya! We were close enough to touch this flowing lava, sadly, pictures do no justice to this natural phenomenon.

Then, we crossed more beautiful mountains, jungles, and forests, to Lake Atitlan and spent some time on a lake ringed by three volcanoes. Gorgeous! Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that this lake was formed by the eruption of a predecessor to these volcanoes. A monster to be sure!

More mountains, jungles, forests, winding roads, a climb in elevation...Coban, and nearby Semuc Champey. A natural limestone bridge with cascading pools whose beauty I won´t even began to capture with words.

More mountains, etc, a drop in elevation.... Rio Dulce and a boat trip to nearby Livingston. The bridge below is the longest span in Central America (I think). Clearly, this is an example of knowledge being shared with the developing world.



















Not before some severe illness, we arrived today, day 34 or our journey, in La Ceiba, Honduras. We will soon embark on the bay Islands -- for more difficult decisions on the Caribbean.

Speaking for myself now, I am having an amazing time. I think of all of you at home a great deal, and wish that you could share in these experiences with me. Let me know how you are all doing. All of the best from Honduras!

Andres al Reves

Day 13

Hola!

Today is Day 13 of my trip in Latin America. Of course, I am joined by my beautiful sister, Alicia. I´ll do my best to chronicle some of the things we´ve done in the past 13 days: First, we met in LAX. Alicia departed from SF and I from Nipomo, our paths converged in a busy terminal in LAX, one of the many crowded places we would be over the next couple of months. We were both extremely excited for what lay ahead, if a bit apprehensive as well.

We were greeted in Mexico City by a friend of Alicia´s, Pepe, who turned out to be a wonderful friend, and a skilled tour guide. Despite the seemingly innumerable warnings that we each got about the dangers of Mexico City, we both found it to be very hospitable -- a wonderful place to visit. We rode the extremely efficient subway! Step aside NYC, Mexico has you beat with state of the art rubber wheels, frequent trains, and an $0.18 fare. We toured around the City Center and saw awe inspiring civil structures built in the 16th century under Cortez. In the center is a GIANT Mexican flag -- a very salient symbol I thought. The Museum of anthropology in Mexico City is perhaps the most impressive museum I have ever seen. Here, there is much to be learned about the ancient civilizations which existed before the Spaniards ended their way of life and enslaved them. These Conquering Catholic Crusaders (CCC) were quite effectivee in building Churches to symbolize their dominance over the now subjugated race. Of course, the ubiquitous churches are beautiful! There is, however, still something to be said for these former civilizations. The ancient city of Teotihuacan where Mexico oldest civilization (peaked between 250 and 600A.D.) built its City Center is incredible to behold. It is ineffable, really. See for yourself on the left. In the distance, on the left of the photo, is the Pyramid of the Sun. The photo was taken from the Pyramid of the Moon.

While in Mexico´s capital we also stopped in on Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo´s old stomping grounds, visited another ancient city of Tepoztlan to the south near Cuernavaca, and took in some of the local culture at the evening festivals in Cayoacan, the charming part of Mexico City that we stayed in. All in all, we found Mexico City to be rich with culture, and a great place to visit.

A 20 hour overnight bus ride brought us to the pristine beaches of Puerto Escondido. A few days in the sun in a relaxed beach community were quite welcome in our travel itinerary.

Another 12 hours on an overnight bus brought us to San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. This was a remarkable town, flourishing with culture and enthusiasm, set low amongst the beautiful tropical mountains that surround it. We savored the rich coffee which was easy to find in this town of Chiapas, the State with the most coffee production in Mexico. It weighs in at 30% of all of the coffee grown worldwide. The urban planning of this city was stunning to both Alicia and I. Clearly much forethought went into the many promenades, cobble stone roads, and plazas. There was some unique live music in the Central Plaza one of the evenings we were there. Lots of percussion instruments, two giant wooden xylophones, and a horn.

Our last stop in Chiapas was in Palenque. This is a town which can be very proud to be located in the jungle near the Palenque ruins: by far the most spectacular ruins we´ve seen on the trip. I will let the picture do the talking for this one. A bit of history: this is an ancient Mayan city that was the heart of the Classic Mayan Era, first occupied in 100A.D. and flourishing between 600 and 900A.D. The subsequent era was characterized by a mixing of cultures with the northern modern day Mexico civilizations. Thus, this shit is the last of the pure Mayan architecture, and, well, this is some REALLY good shit. To be sure, it was difficult to stand amongst these impressive temples without thinking that I would soon wake up from a dream.

Presently, Alicia and I are in Merida, Yucatan. We´re staying in a great hostel right along the central town square. A note: when the Spaniards did their CCC act I mentioned above, one of their first orders of business, after they had satisfied their imperialist egos and subjugated enough dark people, they quickly constructed city centers in their new land. Their way of claiming their booty. Here is Merida, as in many other places, the results are some phenomenal works of architecture, and of course, structural engineering. Albeit, this dichotomy of professions wouldn´t come until much later. Not until the industrial revolution in Europe and the wide use of iron as a construction material. Oops, i digress, apologies. Right, so our hostel is one of the historical buildings making up this square that the Spaniards built. High ceilings, huge windows, marvelous.

While in Merida Alicia and I have done something very unexpected. We took a chance and followed the advice of a fellow dorm-mate and went for an all day trip to the City of Cuzama, south of Merida, to visit some cenotes. Honestly, we didn´t really know what cenotes were at the time. But, as we´ve learned along the way, some of the best decisions are spontaneous in nature. Not your everyday form of transportation, we enjoyed a ride on a train cart pulled by an indomitable horse named Chacho, with the incessant urging of a local Cuzaman at the reigns. We were floored to find four beautiful, enormous limestone caverns (cenotes) with crystal clear blue water along the journey. The above picture cannot begin to do them justice.

There. That brings us to the present. Day 13 of our trip. I have fallen in love with travelling. The ability to go wherever you want to go, whenever you want. The ease of meeting people. The allure of new places, new cultures, and new activities with each day -- it´s overwhelming at times. In short, I am having a great time, better than I could have imagined. I feel liberated.

I hope this ´blog´meets all of you well. Please send me emails or make comments on this page. I would love to hear how you are all doing. I miss you all!

Andres el Reves