The heavily lined-face man approached me again. As he got close, he suddenly pulled from under his thick sweater a gun! Initially I felt numbed rather than shock. Waving the pistol in his hand, he nervously motioned for me to walk on whilst he followed a couple of yards behind. This was not a moment to argue.
Being a melting pot of the Spanish and local indigenous cultures, Central America is a perfect region to learn about ancient, pre-Columbian religious traditions, and also about the ways these traditions are being influenced and transformed by Christianity and Western culture in general.
Wonders of Winchester
Maybe we easily take it for granted because it’s all too familiar, but one can usually discover an astonishing amount of interest in and around one’s local area with a little bit of effort.
Whilst there is much personal benefit and enjoyment to be gained from travelling, I fully appreciate that my footprint (along with everybody else’s) has an impact and in effect makes a statement about how one treats the planet.
La Palma - a quest for a beach!
It was hard to pull ourselves away, so nice was it to feel the warmth of the January sun on the sheltered terrace at the small micro brewery, ‘Cerveceria Isla Verde’, whilst looking out across the fertile volcanic slopes dropping towards the ocean.
In highly organised tours or mainstream holidays, one can be relatively immune from meeting strangers and one’s contact with local people is more likely to be confined to local tour operators or hotel and restaurant staff.
Greenland – a land of surprises!
Why go to Greenland? This has been a frequent comment from people who probably don’t know me well, yet it was at the top of my travel list for many years.
Winchester - discovering its lesser known history
Not many things in life are free these days, but on a heavy cloudy Saturday morning we truly struck gold.