Video of El Petén Annual Fair
15 JANUARY: This traditional Parade in Flores, Petén is more than 100 years old. The procession always carries the figure of LA CHATONA which is a big doll. La Chatona originally was a woman who would go along with the “CHICLEROS” the guys who got the chicle for all our chewing gum. These adventurers combed [...]
Controversy at Tikal
THOR JANSON reporting from Yaxhá National Park – As of Monday December 17th, plans are going forward to close the Main Plaza of Tikal to the public from 9:00pm on the 20th until 5:00am on the 21st, although things are evolving and changing every few hours. At Yaxhá the administration had an emergency meeting this [...]
Tikal Solstice at Mayan Forest in Petén, Guatemala
Here’s a video by Thor Janson about the Tikal Solstice at Mayan Forest in Petén, Guatemala. Enjoy!
Small Is Huge
We often overlook the fact that our planet’s ecology is totally dependent upon the health of these teeming hosts of creatures numbering in the billions. I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words on behalf of all the “little guys”—all the little creatures that make up the vast majority of the [...]
Rabin Ajau Update
100 Mayan Princesses converged upon the imperial city of Cobánwith the hopes of becoming the next Daughter of the King
The Symbol of Liberty
An ark of green fire in sun An emerald meteor in mist A cold viridian flame in rain moved the Quetzal.
When Giants Roamed The Land
FIFTY THOUSAND YEARS AGO We were in the middle of one of the Earth’s cool periods. Ice and snow covered much of the land. Massive glaciers grew to blanket vast expanses of South and North America. The highlands of Central America were a winter wonderland, where mastodon and megatherium frolicked. So much water was locked [...]
Theobroma Cacao—The Heavenly Elixer
Chocolate is a divine, celestial drink, the sweat of the stars, the vital seed, divine nectar, the drink of the gods, panacea and universal medicine.
Sunset Party of the Oropendolas
Every evening as I returned to camp I was greeted by a most unusual show. The local community of oropendola birds, perhaps numbering over a hundred…
The Rabin Ajau 2012
This incredible pageant will take place in Cobán, Alta Verapaz on Saturday July 28 – 4pm The annual Rabin Ajau pageant exalts the purity and essence of the indigenous cultures from the four cardinal points of Guatemala and brings together in a harmonic convergence all the Maya ethnicities of the Land of the Quetzal and [...]
The Rabin Ajau pageant will be held this year on July 28
The Rabin Ajau pageant will be held this year on July 28, it incorporates various entertainment including some major pyrotechnic displays.
Yaxhá Lagoon and the Crocs
There are two main gateways leading to the Mayan rainforest in the department of Petén, which forms Guatemala’s northern frontier. The main route takes you through the humid lowlands of the Motagua Valley and then north passing the magnificent Sweet River (Río Dulce), the jungle outpost of Poptún, and finally to the departmental island capital [...]
The Uaxactún Equinox
The next major event in the Maya sacred calendar The kickoff for the 2012 cosmic events was the solstice party at the ancient ruins of Tikal. In attendance were dozens of Maya shaman dressed in ceremonial attire soberly attending to their prayer offerings of copal incense, sacred incantations and song, and the sacrifice of doves. [...]
Refugio del Quetzal
A birder’s delight, this Highlands sanctuary is home to an avian roster of more than 70 species A hidden gem of the Western Highlands, the Refugio del Quetzal (Quetzal Refuge) is an 8,000-square-kilometer sea of green that’s one of the few remaining habitats for Guatemala’s national symbol. Owned and managed by the nearby municipality of [...]
Just a Reminder
It is always a joy to see one of the most beautiful and magical creatures on Earth, the resplendent quetzal-serpent. Right now I am spending every day, all day, watching this nest in the remote cloud forest of Kukulandia. Just being in God’s Creation brings joy and peace to a weary heart. Let us all [...]
Shake Your Booty: Carnival in Mazatenango
There are special moments when the sheer exuberance and joy of the human spirit, shining so brightly, transcend all the negative forces and we find ourselves walking on air! Another in a long list of Guatemala’s best-kept secrets is the fantastic annual Carnival of Mazatenango: an event virtually unknown to those outside the Pacific Coast [...]
Amazing Sunsets at Finca El Pilar Nature Reserve
Extraordinary sunsets in the Volcanic Heights of the Mayan Highlands
Video: Tikal Solstice at the Mayan Rainforest
I expect this year’s Tikal Solstice to be an even bigger solstice, which will happen on December 22 at 05:30 a.m. Here’s a fragment about the Solstice from Wikipedia. Many cultures celebrate various combinations of the winter and summer solstices, the equinoxes, and the midpoints between them, leading to various holidays arising around these events. [...]
Photo Op
Where we love is home, Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. —Oliver Wendell Holmes Photo by Thor Janson: The town of Ixchiguán
Getting High in Ixchiguán
Like Shangri-La, the name beckons from the maps–enticing, mysterious and alluring: Ixchiguan! I had noticed the place many years ago, and I was always looking for someone who could tell me more about this far-flung outpost. Ask anyone on the street in La Antigua Guatemala if they know anything about Ixchiguan and 99-to-1 they will [...]
Cute creatures with bad habits
To the uninitiated, the roar of howler monkeys in the wild has caused many a traveler to shiver with trepidation. However, the only danger these hairy tree dwellers pose to hikers is the fact that, in many regions, they have inherited some very bad habits. One of their favorite sports is to wait silently for [...]
RABIN AJAU UPDATE: A Princess is Crowned
Selected from a field of some 80 young Maya women, Rosa Lidia Aguaré Castro, from Santa Lucía La Reforma, Totonicapán, is the new Rabin Ajau (Daughter of the King) for 2011-2012. The highlight of the annual National Folkloric Festival in Cobán, the magical pageant was conducted July 30 at the sports stadium field house. In [...]
Unicorn Hunting
A photographic quest to the upper cloud forest on Atitlán Volcano’s southern flank in search of the rare and elusive Oreophasis derbianus I reached for my cell phone to turn off the alarm: 12:30 a.m., time to get started. I lit the stove and put some water on for coffee. A few minutes later there [...]
Green Gospel
The tradition of slash-and-burn farming cannot continue text/photos by Thor Janson (www.bushmanollie.com) In Mesoamerica the end of the dry season—April and May—finds millions of campesino farmers busy practicing their age-old method of slash-and-burn agriculture. All the refuse on the fields is put to the torch, enriching the soil with mineral ash. This traditional method of [...]
The Gallon Jug Rainforest
After an expedition to the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, I was returning to Guatemala recently only to be greeted at the border by a glitch in the system and a real-life Catch-22. A new regulation says foreign-plated vehicles have to stay out of Guatemala for 90 days while the driver is welcome to return. So, [...]
Cobán’s Folkloric Festival
In 1936 Cobán prospered greatly from coffee exports to Europe. A group of leading businessmen decided that it was time to organize a regional fair, and so the inaugural “Feria Departamental” was planned for the first week in August. As part of the event it was decided to elect two queens, one representing the European [...]
