The market town of San Francisco el Alto adopts its suffix for good reason. Perched at 2610m atop a rocky escarpment, it looks down over the plain of Quetzaltenango to the perfect volcanic cone of Santa María that pierces the horizon to the southwest. But on Friday mornings, few of the thousands that gather here…
If you’re feeling tired of your local concert hall, or you fancy combining a trip with some world-class music, you may want to consider one of these truly memorable music holidays, from Rough Guides’ Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth. Checking out the Kinshasa music scene, Democratic Republic of Congo The young François…
Camionetas (“chicken buses”) start their lives as North American school buses, Bluebirds built to ferry under-eights from casa to classroom. Once they move down to these parts, they’re decked out with gaudy “go faster” stripes and windshield stickers bearing religious mantras (“Jesús es el Señor”). Comfort, however, is not customizable: bench seat legroom is so limited that gringo knees…
This is not the Costa Rica you may have imagined: one glance at the wide-open spaces, the legions of heat-stunned cattle or the mounted sabaneros (cowboys) trotting alongside the Pan-American Highway reveals that Guanacaste has little in common with the rest of the country. Often called “the Texas of Costa Rica”, this is ranching territory: the lush, humid rainforest…
The road to Corcovado National Park was once paved with gold – lots of gold – and although most of it was carried off by the Diqui Indians, miners still pan here illegally. These days, though, it’s just an unpaved track that fords half a dozen rivers during the bone-rattling two-hour ride from the nearest…
If you’re looking to combine your next trip with a world-class festival or a mind-blowing carnival, then look no further. Here, from the pages of Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth, we present ten of the best parades, parties and processions across the world. Walking on the wild side at the Sydney Mardi…
Away from its sun-drenched beaches, palm-adorned resorts and colourful reefs, the real pulse of the Caribbean is found in the homes of the locals, and on the sometimes sleepy, sometimes vibrant streets. The following five experiences will give you a little taster of Caribbean life. Root veg and culture, Jamaica There are carnivals and festivals…
Costa Rica has been at the forefront of the green tourism movement for many years now, so it’s no surprise the country plays host to some spectacular eco lodges. These ten represent the pick of the bunch. Lapa Rios Costa Rica’s best-known luxury ecolodge has the maximum five stars in the government’s Certificate of Sustainable…
It’s a sweltering Saturday night in Santiago de Cuba, and the entire barrio seems to be packed into La Casa de las Tradiciones. A mist of rum, beer and sweat fills the air of the much-loved club, while dozens of pairs of feet pound the flexing plywood floors. The wail of a trumpet rides above…
With his sticking-out ears and Groucho Marx moustache, Lucio Parada Camenate makes an unlikely revolutionary hero, but as the face of Fruit Passion, his mugshot appears on juice cartons across the world, wherever Fair Trade products are marketed – much to the evident amusement of his colleagues, who tease him mercilessly for being famoso. Lucio…