The Isthmus - Travels in Central America
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The Central American Isthmus
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The Isthmus

The Central American Isthmus is a narrow subcontinent tying North and South America together in a land of steamy jungles, desolate coasts and rising nations. The Isthmus houses seven countries and many more cultures and languages. Join me as I explore the Central American Isthmus.

 
   
       
  Frog  

isthmus | January 19, 2011
The Pumilios of Salt Creek

We had been the sole guests at Al Natural Resort for three nights, but tonight, Martin had set the table for 12. Over a glass of rum, he sits with us and talks with our toddler while evening turns to night. When the chef arrives dressed cleanly and smelling of perfume, I quietly wonder where she came from. There are no roads here, and I heard no outboard, and no canoe tie up to the dock. This part of Isla Bastimentos in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama is surrounded by thick forests and mangroves.

Isla Bastimentos, Panama

   
       
  Panamanian Night Monkey  

isthmus | December 16, 2010
Moonlight Ferry to Zapatilla Cays

I awake the Captain from his hammock at the edge of the dock, and we jump in the boat. The dock belongs to a small seven bungalow resort on the island of Bastimentos, where my wife, my son are asleep, and are the only guests. Bastimentos is a large island, but almost the entire island is preserved as a Panamanian National Park.

Zapatilla Cays, Panama

   
       
  Glass Frog in Panama  

isthmus | September 24, 2009
The Wise Glass Frog of El Valle de Antón

Travel can seem dual acts of nostalgia and ancestor worship, with all our package tours to museums and churches and places that seem stuck in the past. I find  that what is happening now, or about to happen tomorrow, reveals  more about our world than tumbled-down bricks and aged parchment.

El Valle de Anton

   
       
  Honduras Train  

isthmus | April 15, 2009
The Coconut Train to Cuero y Salado

There is a moment in all of our lives that it happens. When experience has beaten us down. When responsibility has trained us to caution above all. When our failures and losses in life finally make us bow our heads and accept the linear line of our destiny. This is the moment, I have always believed, we lose our youth.
Cuero Y Salado

   
       
  Panama Hummingbird  

isthmus | Updated January 8, 2009
Letters from the Canopy

"Atop Panama's Soberanía jungle and near the banks of the canal, I write a series of letters to a mysterious pastor,offering a conclusion to a long debate between us about monkeys, birds and beetles in the context of science, religion, intelligent design and the importance of preservation. "

Soberania National Park, Panama

   
       
  Pineapple  

isthmus | June
The Kuna Islands

"Their land includes both these 400 San Blas Islands stretching for 160 miles along the coast of present-day Panama, and the nearby Panama mainland with all of its mountains and jungles and fresh rivers. Their land is called the Comarca da Kuna Yala, and the Kuna live as if this is their country. Few Panamanian laws affect them. "

San Blas Islands

   
       
  Cave in Belize  

isthmus | April
The Philosophy of Monkey River Town

They are traveling long distances at age eleven, unguided, expected to make a profit, to hitchhike with people of unknown integrity, to be able to pay for their boat back home. They are inquisitive, polite, and comfortable in the company of adults.

Monkey River, Belize

   
       
  Tikal, Guatemala  

isthmus | April
Old Highways of Peten

Army and police officers in Guatemala have begun a new campaign of abuse to cover the tracks of their past. Although from the left-wing that supported the demands of the Indian insurgents, Portillo has been unwilling to take steps against the new bloodshed. But all Guatemala's killings and bombings seem silly for a country of farmers.

Peten, Guatemala

   
       
  Howler Monkey in Nicaragua  

isthmus | February
The Howling Coast

When French-born agronomist Clemente Poncon went to The World Bank for a loan to develop the Morgan's Rock property, The World Bank conducted a report, the contents of which recommended that the best solution for the property would be a golf course hotel mega-development.

Pacific Coast Nicaragua

   
       
  Mango Vendor in Granada, Nicaragua  

isthmus | February
Granada Libre

In the hotel’s small courtyard, there's these two age-ripened Canadians feeding the hotel's pet parakeets. They had lifted them onto their table, to let them peck at their butter and jam. Margaret, who was wearing a medic-alert bracelet, lit up a cigarette.

Granada, Nicaragua

   
       
  Jungle in the Sky  

isthmus | February
Jungle in the Sky

"While the old toothless man describes the view, Ramón explains that to him, the old man sounds funny. He looks at him and laughs, and then looks back at us and whispers, “He is a country man, and his accent is very stupid to us city people. "

Mombacho Volcano, Nicaragua

 
 
 
 

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