Mexico's north is a lesser visited land of sprawling cattle ranches and endless expansive vistas. Tempered by harsh deserts and mountains, el Norte has always been a wild and uncompromising destination, as well as an historic bastion of political resistance. These images were snapped at various locations: Chihuahua City, the Copper Canyon, Hidalgo del Parral, Alamos and others.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Several decades ago, tracts of dense, impassable rainforest consumed the southernmost stretches of Veracruz state, barely penetrated by roads or humanity. Only a few obscure settlements lay hidden in the miles of ravenous foliage, teeming canopies and bursting vegetation skirting the Gulf of Mexico. Today, southern Veracruz is a less dramatic land of rolling cattle [...]
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The dance signifies the blessing of ancestral forces, the renewal of the earth and the return of fertility. It signifies spring after winter, where the banging of the earth is reminiscent of the sexual act, and the manner in which pre-Columbians planted maize using a stick, one seed at a time.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Clouds of bright orange butterflies pour through the sky like storms of ash, carpeting the earth and weighing down the trees in dense, flaming clusters. They surround and swallow me like swirling curtains of fire, and as they burst into flight, the sound of rippling wings purrs through the air surreally.
Friday, August 14, 2009
From Tuxpan I head south through the verdant landscape passing Poza Rica and arriving in Papantla, a small Totonac town that’s famed for its nearby ruins, El Tajín. The town is busy and replete with all the teeming energy you’d expect from a working indigenous settlement. Passersby hold animated discussions on street corners. Market vendors [...]
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Veracruz is a city with a Caribbean soul, soaked up with feisty rhythms, feisty people, fierce sunshine, salsa and beautiful spirited madness. Veracruz is hot with music – sensuous and sensual – a city for dancers, drinkers and drunks. Part grotty industrial port, part elegant colonial jewel, Veracruz derives its endless energy from the melodies [...]
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Once upon a time, Acapulco was the place to be seen. A place where Hollywood film stars mingled with the Nouveau Riche, Jet Set playboys flaunted their wealth, and starry cocktail parties played out under a canopy of unrestrained tropical hedonism. It was a place where glamour and elegance reigned. It was a place of [...]
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Bay of Acapulco after dark is a seductive and strangely hypnotic spectacle. Clusters of glimmering lights illuminate the hills like some rare jewel-encrusted tiara, silhouettes of great yachts dance upon the dark waters, and party cruisers criss-cross the waves on some spirited adventure, adorned with blazing neon hearts. Nearby, on the shores and beaches, [...]
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The lowlands of Chiapas, southern Mexico, are home to some of the most entrancing forests in the country. Dense vegetation, streams, waterfalls and exuberant plant life occupy the region, also home to haunting ancient ruins. This was clip was shot in the famous Mayan site of Palenque.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I was walking through Oaxaca City one evening when I stumbled upon a group of dancers practicing their routine. Dance is an ancient and revered art in Mexico. Rooted in the ancient Pre-Columbian past, many dances have complex symbolic moves and meanings; others are performed solely for fun.
Interamericana is an intrepid new travel blog about the people and places surrounding the Carretera Interamericana - a 6000 kilometre stretch of highway that links Mexico and the seven nations of Central America. Created by guidebook writer and journalist Richard Arghiris, Interamericana combines photography, video and the best in alternative travel writing. |
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Located in Nicaragua’s most remote and disconnected province – the North Atlantic Autonomous Region – the diminutive settlement of Waspam is the centre of the Miskito universe. This short video clip, featuring music from Miskito musician Li Lamni, was shot on take-off from town’s modest airstrip.
Mr Edgar ‘Rasta’ Coulsen is a native of the Caribbean town of San of Juan del Norte – an end of the world settlement perched at the mouth of the Rio San Juan. In this short video interview, Interamericana talked to him about the changes that have taken place in the region since his childhood.
One day, me and my compadres took a trip up the Río Istiam – a tranquil waterway that meanders inland at the isthmus between Ometepe’s two volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas. The river is home to abundant bird life, caimans, turtles and herds of indolent livestock. Many thanks to Jennifer Kennedy and the three Matts – Barwick, Hicks and Ashford, who appear in this video clip.
Via Via is something of a León institution, attracting Nicas and foreigners alike with its buzzing multi-cultural atmosphere, dirt-cheap bottles of rum and rousing Friday night music sets. Amalgama, featured in this video, are an institution in themselves, playing everything from rock ballads to crowd-pleasing revolutionary classics. In this clip they are accompanied by itinerant musician Richard Crandell and his Zimbabwean imbira.
As a poor chele, or white boy, rhythm was never going to come naturally to me. Nonetheless, my militant salsa instructor, Angel, patiently tried to teach me to dance. And when he could be patient no longer, he simply ordered me to the nearest disco…
Granada’s international poetry festival kicked off yesterday, 14th February 2010, with a belting set from Katia Cardenal. Performing at the Plaza Independencia, Katia sang a mixture of rousing folk songs and revolutionary ballads, including a superb homage to the Miskito people of the Atlantic coast (2nd song featured, actually in the Miskito language). Turn up the volume, pour yourself a rum, kick back and enjoy…
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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