GUATEMALA

Guatemala

This Central American land encompasses an environment of amazing diversity, both in geography and the life that thrives within it. From the western highlands of the Sierra Madre with deep crystalline lakes, towering volcanoes and verdant valleys to the jungled lowlands of the Petén. Its inhabitants range between two ethnic poles. The indigenous peoples mostly of Mayan origin form the large population (40%). At the other end of this spectrum is a much smaller caste the Criollos, or those of European ancestry, which while being only about half as numerous have traditionally held a monopoly of the political and economic power. In between are another large group, the Mestizos or those of mixed ancestry who in the main served in varying degrees as intermediaries between rulers and ruled. As a tourista I found myself in another category, which compounded by my American nationality was tolerated as a source of income, allowed to view but not participate in the life around me, in short the lot of a tourist worldwide. Together with my spouse and lifetime travel companion, I travelled to Guatemala for six short weeks in the summer of 2004. It was a pure magical mystery tour, whose only direction was dictated by travel books. Our intent was a pleasurable break from the claustrophobic monotony of what was then our life on our desert island home in the Arabian Gulf. We went with little prior knowledge of the country, other than a general understanding that there was an equally great tragedy underlying the great surface beauty, which perhaps made it even more enticing. Both my travel and photographic goals were purely apolitical and undirected, seeking to experience the extreme beauty of nature and the wonder of the architecture, reminders of the advanced civilizations that waxed and waned here for more than two millennia. In typical tourist fashion I was drawn to the most famous sites. First (and last) was Antigua the former capital which for over two-hundred years served as the capital the Spanish Colonial Central America. Then as a welcome respite, the tranquility of Lake Atitlán and the surrounding Sierra Madre, and finally to the ruins of Tikal, a large Mayan “city” in the jungled lowland of northern Petén. Like many of my other efforts the following images in no way capture the full character of Guatemala. Rather they reflect what caught the eye of this gringo in what was for me a very strange land.