Color and texture - Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Chichicastenango Market, Guatemala, originally uploaded by Adal-Honduras.

AOL travel blog site Gadling.com has honored us by choosing one of our flickr pics as Photo of the Day 4.27.09 a few weeks ago.

Man, if there was *ever* a study in colour and texture, this fabulous photograph is it. Shot and shared by Adal-Honduras, you can almost hear the sounds and smell the smells of this Guatemalan market. Beautiful capture! — Gadling

It is indeed our region landscapes and people —like these Chichicastenango kaqchikels—with their colorful and elaborate textures who provoke those reactions. It is truly a proud for Central Americans to have such a diverse culture and riches, all contained in such small area of land.

Central America has a lot to offer to the traveler eager to experience living cultures, lush forests, abundant wildlife, artistic samples of ancient sculpture, mystical archeological sites, colonial towns, breathtaking white sandy beaches in the Caribbean Sea of crystal-clear pristine waters and home to the World Heritage Site Belize Barrier Reef spanning down to Roatan, second in size yet number one in biodiversity in the world —and closer to the Northern Hemisphere.

There are indeed 15 places in the region declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
Guatemala

• Antigua Guatemala
• Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua
• Tikal National Park

Belize

• Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

El Salvador

• Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site

Honduras

• Maya Site of Copan
• Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve

Nicaragua

• Ruins of León Viejo

Costa Rica

• Area de Conservación Guanacaste
• Cocos Island National Park
• Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Panama

• Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá
• Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection
• Darien National Park
• Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo
• Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Central American main cities are around 2 - 5 hours flight from main gateways in the U. S. there is wide connectivity to/from Europe and South America as well.