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Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

Castillo de San Felipe, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

An amazing colonial structure rises in the Lake Izabal, Guatemala, near Rio Dulce, one of the nicest spots in eastern Guatemala, where you can spend a couple of days exploring the surroundings and having a most exciting boat ride downstream  Rio Dulce through the gulf ending in the quaint little Garifuna village of Livingston.

The Castillo de San Felipe de Lara is a Spanish colonial fort located at the entrance to Lake Izabal in eastern Guatemala. Lake Izabal is connected with the Caribbean Sea via the Dulce River and El Golfete lake. King Philip II of Spain ordered the fort to be erected in an attempt to reduce pirate activity in the area.

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on September 23, 2002 in the Cultural category. (via Wikipedia)
Overlooking the Lake Izabal

"Castle of San Felipe de Lara, it is composed for defensive strength that watched over the entrance to the old Kingdom of Guatemala from the Caribbean sea, built during the time of Spanish dominance (1524-1821). This construction has served from protection to important cultural goods for the reconstruction of the history of this type of monuments. It is connected in a natural, simply impressive landscape." ~via UNESCO
Interior passage

The Church and Central Plaza, Copan Ruinas

The Central Plaza in Copan Ruinas, Honduras is going through some radical transformations. Apparently the municipal authorities had finally come to their senses and realized that the Central Plaza in a small town like Copan Ruinas should not have that many ornaments and walls inside.

It is the same situation as any other town in Honduras (or Latin America) that has the typical layout of the Spanish cities, with the church opposite to the government building. The Central Plaza doesn't have any walls or tall edifications inside, because buildings around have even more historical value to be appreciated from the plaza itself.

Although a properly maintained—beautifully adorned Central Plaza contributes to the embellishment of the city, Central Plazas should not be crowded with vision-obstructive elements that impede the view of those historically valuable buildings.

The actual Plaza with all those decorations inside (and an unnecessary wall in the south side) was created by the same architect who designed the Central Plaza in Puerto Cortes, but the difference in that city as compared to Copan —no offense to the Porteños— is that the only pretty element in the city is the Plaza itself. There are no historical buildings around worthy of singular appreciation.

Let's hope the remodeling process won't suffer the same interference as the so—called garden refurbishing.

Museum of Anthropology and History - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

The Palestinian Kattan family in San Pedro Sula Honduras 1920.Courtesy of the Museum of Anthropology and History of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Middle Eastern migrants to Latin America traveled predominantly from the eastern Mediterranean region variously known as the Arab East, the Levant, or the Mashreq. Part of the Ottoman Empire until the early twentieth century, this area includes modern Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Palestine. Considerable migrant populations have also come from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. ~via international.ucla.edu 

They traveled with Turkish passport, therefore in some countries including Honduras they were know as 'Turcos'

The Museum of Anthropology and History in San Pedro Sula  has a nice photo gallery of those early immigrants, as well as one of the most extensive collection of Lenca an other cultures' pottery artifacts and sculptures from pre-Columbian times way before Copan's Mayas glorious times.

If you travel to San Pedro Sula, Honduras don't forget to visit the Museum, open daily from 10am to 5pm (except on Tuesdays).

The Museo de Antropología e Historia is licensed by the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History to house archaeological and historical collections, which by law belong to the people of Honduras. The ground floor of the museum is devoted to the history of Honduras, and San Pedro Sula in particular. The upper floor exhibits are about the prehistory of the valley where San Pedro is located. The Museum has a research library with information related to the history of Honduras. ~Wikipedia

Cozy kitchen - Copan Ruinas, Honduras

Our thanks to Karen Walrond writer from AOL travel blog Gadling.com who has chosen another of our flickr photos as yesterday's Photo of the Day 6.29.09.



Awesome sunset, West Bay Beach, Roatan

May, 2009 - West Bay Beach, Paradise Beach Club

Posted via web from adal's posterous

Traveled to Central America? -- ...share your photos on Flickr!

We have created a Flickr.com Group named Visit Central America and another one called Visit Honduras, where you are welcome to share your photos of your travels to this enchanting region. Please feel free to publish as many photos as you like, and also please add the following 'tags' for easier handling and display: geotagged, geotag:Honduras, Honduras (or corresponding country accordingly).

You can also pin-point your photos to a map (check out the Map) for the Group (or any other Flickr Map) just use 'geotags', there are several methods, but I found this one very easy: You can use Google Earth plus Trippermap Tool as explained here

This is a sample of some of the photos added lately:

Visit Central America - View this group's most interesting photos on Flickriver

Visit Honduras - View this group's most interesting photos on Flickriver

Big Ben and Parliament Square, London


Big Ben, London, originally uploaded by Adal-Honduras.

It is rewarding to learn your photos are appreciated by some important information sources such as Schmap guides. They have for the second time added one of my photos to the just released seventh edition of their Schmap London Guide: Big Ben and the Parliament Square (my first photo included was the Cloister of St. Jerome in Madrid).

Big Ben

Parliament Square
London, SW1A 2NE
"Big Ben" is the name of the clock inside the famous tower that also forms part of the Houses of Parliament. Its impressive mechanism weighs in at over 13.5 tons, and the pendulum, which beats once every two seconds, is 13 feet long and weighs 690 pounds. The clock was named "Big Ben" after the First Commissioner of Works, and since 1885 a light above it has been lit while the House of Commons is in session. — Review © 2009, Wcities
Their London Map:

Color and texture - Chichicastenango, Guatemala


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 kaqchikelswith 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
Belize

El Salvador

Honduras

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Panama

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.

Cloister of St Jerome the Royal - Madrid

I was surprised when I received a flickr message asking permission to include this photo in the newly released 7th edition of Schmap Madrid Guide


This photo was taken on February 2, 2008 during a trip to Madrid to attend FITUR. A really nice church from the XV Century, located in front of the Museo del Prado, besides the Real Academia de la Lengua.
Cloister of St Jerome the Royal — Calle Moreto 4 — Madrid, Madrid 28014
A church, popularly known as Los Jerónimos, that's full of history - kings and queens sought refuge here, Spanish parliaments were sworn in here, Alfonso XIII was married here and King Juan Carlos I was proclaimed King of Spain in this very building. It dates back to the 16th century, but has been restored several times and only a few external features remain from its early days. Inside, you'll see famous paintings by Carducho and José Méndez along with valuable sculptures like Juan de Mena´s 18th-century Cristo de la Buena Muerte, neo-Gothic lamps and stained-glass windows. It's close to the following museums: Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Ejército (Army), as well as the Ritz and Palace hotels. — Review © 2009, Wcities

Schmap Madrid Map:

White hibiscus - Chaa Creek Lodge - Belize


Hibiscus, especially white hibiscus, is considered to have medicinal properties in the Indian traditional system of medicine.
In Mexico, the red variety is also popular to make a refreshing beverage. The drink is known as agua de Jamaica and is quite popular for its color, tanginess and mild flavor; once sugar is added, it tastes somewhat like cranberry juice. Dieters or persons with kidney problems often take it without adding sugar for its beneficial properties and as a natural diuretic. It is made by boiling the dehydrated flowers in water; once it is boiled, it is allowed to cool and drunk with ice. — Wikipedia

Did you know that infusion from this flower is also believed to benefit hearth disease? A 2008 USDA study shows consuming hibiscus tea lowers blood pressure in a group of pre-hypertensive and mildly hypertensive adults.