Comfort Ahoy: Guatemala

Hospital Ship provides assistance to thousands. by Matt Bokor. A hospital ship from the U.S. Navy brought free medical, veterinary, engineering and humanitarian help to thousands of Guatemalans during a recent nine-day deployment to Puerto Barrios. Personnel from the USNS Comfort provided dental, visual, pediatric and general medical services to more than 10,000 Guatemalans at two onshore medical sites in […]

Read more

Education First

A Safe Passage for Children in Guatemala City’s Basurero Neigborhood by Benjamin Reeves Guatemala City’s zona 3 includes the basurero, the city’s dump. Though there is no official census, an estimated 7,000 people, which according to local residents includes approximately 1,000 children, work in the basurero picking through trash to find plastic and metal that can be sold to recyclers. […]

Read more

Discovering Passion in Guatemala

  by Sri Ram Kaa and Kira Raa Passion! A word that evokes many differing images with diverse expressions of the experience. April is the month in Guatemala where passion ignites its richness with a cacophony of events, emotions and experiences that are here for you to discover. When we live from our passion we experience a richer life. It […]

Read more

Yellow Beard and other slithering surprises!

On a recent expedition to the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, one of the region’s premier protected areas, located just over the border in Chiapas, Mexico, I was walking up a remote river valley when I saw a slight movement on the path. As I approached I made out the form of a large serpent lying, perhaps sunning, squarely in my […]

Read more

Red-letter Days

This month is doubly patriotic Brace for a double dose of patriotic fervor this month in Guatemala. In addition to the Sept. 11 national elections (see page 54), Guatemala celebrates its 190th Independence Day on Sept. 15 with ear-shattering fireworks, resounding drumbeats from marching bands, festive concerts and more. Guatemala is hardly alone in its jubilation this day—also celebrating their […]

Read more

Agua y Fuego Fires Up Eco-Tourism on Ometepe

Nicaraguan ultra-marathon not for the faint of heart… literally. One word sums it up: extreme. A new ultra-marathon in Nicaragua is drawing the most audacious of athletes to its volcanic island of Ometepe. Fuego y Agua 100k and 50k is Isla de Ometepe’s first-ever racing event, challenging true adventure seekers to summit not one, but two looming volcanoes … by […]

Read more

Would the Real Independence Day Please Stand Up?

Guatemala, El Salvador and their sisters did not win independence on Sept. 15 At our house in Panajachel, July 4 is Independence Day for two reasons. As citizens of the United States, my sons and I observe it in some fashion. But July 4 is also the day that my youngest, Aaron Donald Coop, marks his birthday. This was not […]

Read more

ISTMO

With stunning aerials by internationally acclaimed photographer Ange Bourda, a new book featuring unique views of Central American sights, including volcanoes, beaches and rainforests, will debut in Guatemala in January 2009. Titled ISTMO (Isthmus), the colorful hardcover book contains 160 remarkable photos by Bourda, a widely published French photographer who considers Guatemala his adoptive home. In his own words, the […]

Read more

Humane Society International Grant to Support Wildlife Habitat Protection Work in Central America

WASHINGTON (Sept. 17, 2008) – Humane Society International (HSI) signed a grant with the U.S. Department of State last week for $396,000 to continue work on wildlife habitat protection in Central America. The grant will support the production of sustainable cacao, which is grown on small farms that also provide valuable wildlife habitat for animals such as woodpeckers, sloths, and […]

Read more