Archive for February, 2014


A review of the novel “NW”

February 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

On holiday in Central America, I read the latest – fourth – novel by British mixed race author Zadie Smith. I have reviewed “NW” here.

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Our Central America tour (25): postscript

February 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

How long can a person sleep? Three weeks touring round Central America + two long flights + jet lad = I have just slept for over 15 hours

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Our Central America tour (24): conclusion

February 15th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

Our return home on Friday started with the alam going at 5 am in our hotel room in Guatemala City. As with our outward journey, both flights were with American Airways. The first leg – the flight to Dallas/Fort Worth in a Boeing 737-800 – went smoothly with a flight of just over three hours. […]

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Our Central America tour (23): Chichicastenango

February 14th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

It was our last day in Central America (Thursday), but there was still one more adventure to be experienced: a visit to a major market. Leaving Panajachel at 8.30 am, we climbed our way out of the caldera, stopping briefly at a mirador to look back at Lago de Atitlan and its volcanoes, and headed […]

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Our Central America tour (22): Lake Atitlan and the living Maya

February 13th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

This is such a varied holiday and today (Wednesday) we spent our time on or around a lake, leaving the hotel at 8 am and returning at 3.30 pm. Located about 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) above sea level, Lago de Atitlan – the name means ‘by the water’ – was formed in a caldera or […]

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Our Central America tour (21): Antigua

February 12th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

On Tuesday, we had a late start of 9.30 am (oh, joy) for a tour of Antigua or, to use its full name, La Antigua Guatemala. Our guide Sandra lives here so, she was on home territory. This was Spain’s capital for all of the middle Americas until an epic earthquake of 1773 led to […]

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Our Central America tour (20): the wonders of Tikal

February 11th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

If yesterday was something of a washout (literally), then today (Monday) was a spectacular contrast because the weather was great (for most of the time anyway) and we were visiting the Maya masterpiece that is Tikal. We left our hotel in Santa Elena at the usual start time of 8.30 am in a locally-supplied coach, […]

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Our Central America tour (19): the wettest journey of our lives

February 10th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

Sunday and already time to leave Livingston. At least with only an overnight bag, packing was no problem. Now there is only one way to leave Livingston – and that’s the same way as you entered it: down the Rio Dulce. Our boat was scheduled to depart at 8.30 am, but the heavens had opened […]

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Our Central America tour (18): Quirigua and Livingston

February 9th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

After the ‘luxury’ of two consecutive nights in the same hotel in Honduras, on Saturday things became more ‘spartan’ with us reduced to an overnight bag for our next hotel somewhere up a river in Guatemala. Meanwhile our luggage went who knows where. It was a short journey back into Guatemala where the whole of […]

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Our Central America tour (17): Guatemala

February 8th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

The country’s name comes from the Nahuatl language and translates as “place of many trees”. A Spanish colony from 1524, Guatemala became fully independent in 1834. From 1960-1996, the country was ravaged by a 36-year long civil war which pitted four groups of Leftist, mainly Mayan, insurgents – who came together as Guatemalan National Revolutionary […]

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