Colombia- Villa de Leyva, a Spanish colonial city with much to offer
The city of Villa de Leyva is known for many unique features. We stayed there long enough to fully explore the city and many of the surrounding villages as well […]
Category Archives: northstar
Colombia- fossils, glaciers and soccer balls!
For this round of our explorations we spent time in a wide variety of interesting places. But of course, before starting a rigorous round of exploring, we had to stop and […]
Antigua, Guatemala
Antigua means, “antique” in Spanish. The city of Antigua is truly an antique, a relic of the past. This city was once the bustling business and religious capital of the […]
Guatemala- Tikal
El Remate was the gateway village to visit the ruins of Tikal. This Mayan architecture is notable for its size and some unique building features. The most visible unique feature […]
Guatemala- arrival
After nearly 30 days of exploring this small country, we found that leaving Belize was a fairly simple procedure. The Belize side requires a few fees and stamps upon exit. […]
Belize- week one
We received an email telling us that the animal import permit was ready, so we packed up and headed for the border. As soon as we arrived a “border helper” […]
Three more Mexican states: Villahermosa, Campeche and Yucatan
After the blockades, rough highways and jungle ruins of Chiapas, we were ready to head for the touristic coastline. We arrived into the still, humidity of the city of Villahermosa […]
Pan-American Highway to Palenque
We waited out the roadblock in Ocosingo (see our previous post). It was an interesting experience and we never felt unsafe at all. When it cleared and we were done […]
San Cristobal to Palenque – Roadblock! You can’t pass by here today!
While we were visiting San Cristobal de las Casas we took our first trip with a tour guide! We paid for a van ride and boat tour of Sumidero Canyon. […]
San Cristobal de las Casas, Agua Azul and silly roadblocks!
After the low valleys and ocean roads of Chiapas, we were thrilled to climb into the mountains and experience San Cristobal de las Casas. This gorgeous mountain town is was […]
Chiapas state- A few nights in the capital, Tuxtla!
Chiapas made us feel nervous. I will not lie about this fact. When we traveled across Mexico many years ago, Chiapas was the only state where we encountered a roadblock, […]
Visiting an “orphanage” in Mexico- Hogar Infantil
Hogar means home. Infantil means children. Hogar Infantil is a children’s home with an excellent record of success. It is not really an orphanage, as many of the children have […]
Ancient ruins and water frozen in time! Oaxaca part two.
One of the highlights of Oaxaca City for most visitors is the ruins of the Monte Alban archeological site. This is huge area located on a mountain overlooking the city. […]
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca.
This city is in an ideal climate zone. It is surrounded by lush green mountains that send gentle breezes through. It blessed with a light afternoon rain almost daily and […]
Mountain village scenes (Veracruz and Oaxaca)
Somewhere in the jungly mountains of Mexico lies the line between the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca. I suppose there is a sign on a highway somewhere that marks that […]
Veracruz state- police encounters!
Mexico has 31 States and one Federal District. Many of them are named the same as the capital city. Leaving the city of Puebla and driving through the state of […]
Puebla & Cholula- A church on top of a pyramid, on top of another pyramid.
Puebla was a city that we enjoyed during our drive through Mexico back in the early 2000’s. When we passed by the VW plant we stopped at the gates and […]
Mexico City- a huge city, full of fun.
The fifth largest city in the world seemed a little intimidating to us. But there were a few things there we wanted to see and do. Yet there were a […]
Cascada de la Tzaracua (the trashy waterfall) and Ocotal Parque
After many days in small villages we had accumulated some dirty laundry. So we made a plan to pass through Uruapan and drop the laundry. Then we would go to […]
Lago Zirahuen- a few days at the lake!
Upon suggestion from other travelers and a person that lives in Michoacan, we decided that Lago Zirahuen might be a good destination. It has been a long time since we […]