Category: Cobán
Birds of a Feather?
The new nation of Timor Leste has yet to choose its national bird. For the moment, though, a chicken appears both on a coin and on postage stamps. This might not be as bad of a choice as it initially appears. Chickens, considered objectively, are resplendent things. Colonel Sanders would never have been interested in [...]
RIOS Guatemala
written by Max Baldetty RIOS Guatemala is the result of the passion for paddling, the love of nature and the need to preserve at least one river in Guatemala. The push to create RIOS Guatemala came most recently from an expedition to paddle and film the country’s endangered rivers (details of the documentary screening are [...]
Rabin Ajau Update
100 Mayan Princesses converged upon the imperial city of Cobánwith the hopes of becoming the next Daughter of the King
A Cangrejear, Let’s Go Crabbing
It’s the beginning of the rainy season and I’m relaxing in a hammock at my favorite little beachside haunt on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. A couple of friends are sitting nearby. We’re just hanging out and talking when someone mentions something about crabs. Crabs being one of my favorite seafood delights, I perk up. [...]
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
Rabin Ajau: Daughter of the King
Cobán’s annual festival includes a spectacular traditional pageant It was a cool July afternoon and the cheepy cheepy (misting rain) was refreshing the land when we arrived in Cobán, the capital of Alta Verapaz Department. The last week in July is when Cobán celebrates its annual festival with parades, rodeos, expositions, fairs and one of [...]
Cobán’s Rabin Ajau Pageant
text and photos by Gary Kaney Women from more than 90 communities competed last month in the single-most impressive festival of indigenous tradition in Guatemala: the Folkloric Festival of the Rabin Ajau in Cobán and the election of the Princess Tesulutlán. Contestants wore their colorful native finest, including the colorful hüipil, head dress and jewelry [...]
