Photographing Tikal: Before Dawn in the Place of Voices

By Joshua | January 2nd, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Story and photos by Joshua Berman

On my first morning in Tikal, Guatamala, I blinked awake an hour before my pre-dawn alarm, anticipatory endorphins surging through hungry traveler’s veins. I could hardly believe where I was—Tikal. At sunrise. It was a legendary place-time combo. READ THE STORY IN PERCEPTIVE TRAVEL MAGAZINE ->

Article and Slide Show on 2012 Tourism in the Maya Region

By Joshua | December 30th, 2011 | No Comments »

My first column in Huffington Post Travel appears today: “The Maya World Braces For 2012 Apocalypse, Tourism Boom.”

Despite the title and the hundreds of comments debating the end of the world, my article has absolutely NOTHING to do with an apocalypse. It is about tourism to Mexico and Central America, which has been quite depressed for some years now. Hopefully, foreigners’ genuine curiosity and interest in the Maya people, culture, and history will result in a boost in these regions next year and hopefully the Maya themselves will benefit.

LINK–>

Tranquilo Traveler in HuffPo’s ‘Weird News’

By Joshua | December 25th, 2011 | 8 Comments »

In a Huffington Post Weird News article entitled “Dec. 21, 2012: Will End Of Mayan Calendar Bring Doomsday?” by David Moye, I serve as a voice of reason after a long list of possible apocalypse scenarios.

2012 is expected to be a bigger deal than Y2K when it comes to doomsday-predicting and bunker-building, reports Moye who goes on to discuss people who fear the comet Elenin, solar storms, Planet Nibiru, and unusually fierce weather, all of which have been linked by a few worried souls — without a shred of evidence — to the end of the Maya Long Count calendar.

“Meanwhile,” writes Moye, “if you’re unsure of who to believe about how to deal with the end of the Mayan calendar one year from now, you could always do what travel writer Joshua Berman did: ask the Mayans themselves. Berman is the author of Maya 2012: A Guide To Celebrations In Mexico, Guatemala, Belize & Honduras, and says there are 10 million Mayans still living in the region…

“‘I haven’t spoken with a single Mayan or Mayan expert who believes there will be an apocalypse,’ Berman said. ‘Instead, there is going to be a lot of celebrating and parties. They hope to increase tourism by 10 percent this year.’” [LINK]

Fuego Y Agua Ultramarathon Gets Ready to Run in Nicaragua: “hot sun, strong winds, high humidity, rain, and a lot of mud”

By Joshua | December 22nd, 2011 | No Comments »

I normally do not accept guest posts on The Tranquilo Traveler, but here’s one I am happy to share and support:

The third running of Ultramaratón Fuego y Agua, which includes 100 km, 50 km, and 25 km trail races, will take place February 18, 2012 after a one-year hiatus. Fuego Y Agua is a not-for-profit race and, as in previous years, the proceeds will benefit the mission of Natural Doctors International, a NGO dedicated to providing medical care for the residents of La Isla de Ometepe. A portion of the proceeds will also finance the Calzado 5k race, held the day after the race for the children of Ometepe, to promote health and fitness.

The race is held on Ometepe, an island known for its astonishing biodiversity, prehistoric rock carvings, and vibrant local culture. The twin volcanic cones of Ometepe, one still active, rise out of Lake Nicaragua, which is the largest lake in Central America, and located in the southeast corner of the Republic of Nicaragua. Read the rest of this entry »

2012 Deadly Awakening: Crackling story set in Mérida and Chichen Itza

By Joshua | December 12th, 2011 | No Comments »

I met writer Beryl Gorbman over a taco lunch in the Chichen Itza Salon in the conference center in Mérida, Mexico, and I admit, I was skeptical when she handed me a copy of her mystery novel, 2012 Deadly Awakening (Intelligent Life, 2010). I’d just completed a self-guided crash course on Maya studies, plowing through a pile of non-fiction books, most fairly fascinating, regarding 2012 and Maya time-keeping, but also fairly dry and dense. There are hundreds of such titles out there, but never had I seen a fictional treatment.

When I finally cracked open 2012 Deadly Awakening a few months later, I was drawn in and swept back to the Yucatan. “The scene in Merida is chaotic and tense,” reads the description. “People think that the world is about to end, as it is the end of the Maya long-count calendar. Other people think humanity will evolve to a higher form of consciousness. You wouldn’t think these are ideals people would kill to protect, but they do. Thousands of spiritual tourists have descended upon this once-peaceful city, creating chaos. People die, and die very badly.”

Enter a New York City detective Read the rest of this entry »

My Global Yodel from downtown Boulder

By Joshua | December 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »

Global Yodel is a website about “travel through a local lens.” It’s a cool idea, asking writers and photographers to contribute blips from their bases. I submitted this photo from the Pearl Street Mall of didgeridoo players. It includes a short interview with me about exploring my current hometown:

A perfect day in Boulder? An early-morning hike, followed by breakfast at the farmer’s market (Saturday mornings in the summer and fall). Follow that with a bike ride (the city has cheap red rentals all over the place), then a concert at Chautauqua or the Boulder Theater, both legendary places for musicians to play.

For the visitor? Walk the Boulder Creek path upstream from the library and take a dip if you don’t mind the snow-melt temperatures. Read the rest of this entry »

Second Reference to 12/21/2012 discovered in Mexico? Probably not, say scientists.

By Joshua | November 25th, 2011 | No Comments »

As always, when it comes to anything having to do with Maya 2012, your first assumption should always be “don’t believe the hype.” That seems to be true with the new story by Associated Press today, “Mexico acknowledges 2nd Mayan reference to 2012.” Until now, the only known direct reference to December 21, 2012 is a 1300-year-old inscription on Tortuguero Monument 6, found near Tabasco, Mexico. Headlines today are announcing a possible second reference to 2012 on an artifact known as the “Comalcalco Brick,” the sketch of which is pictured above. Interestingly, the mere mention of a second ancient reference to 2012 (which, by the way, is probably NOT even a reference to 2012), even one which says nothing about any event or prophecy, is still apparently a license for the media pull the A-word (“apocalypse”) back out of their pockets.

But Dr. Edwin Barnhart, Director of the Maya Exploration Center and a former student of Linda Schele, who assembled the team which broke the code of Maya hieroglyphics in 1973, has seen photos of the brick and told me in an email that he is “of the opinion that [the Comalcalco Brick] does not reference 2012, or at least there is not enough information to say. It would be like finding a broken tombstone that said December 21st and concluding that it was said December 21st, 1968.” Read the rest of this entry »

My Maya 2012 Travel Blog at Moon.com

By Joshua | November 23rd, 2011 | No Comments »

Yes, I’ve been double-blogging. It’s been a few months now. I’m posting puro Mundo Maya travel in the year 2012 so be sure to bookmark it if that’s your bag, baby. There will be nuggets and spin-offs from my books, and updates and announcements as I hear about special travel opportunities in the year 2012. I suspect I’ll be giving away some free stuff too. Some posts will be duplicated here, since there it is plenty of natural overlap between the Maya world and tranquilo travel, but most will be moon.com exclusives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nicaragua Dispatch launches English-language publication

By Joshua | November 16th, 2011 | No Comments »

English-language rags have come and gone in Nicaragua. I used to write a column for the Nica News in the late 1990s, a monthly lifestyle paper out of Managua. Then there was the Tico Times’s Nicaragua edition, edited by Granada-based correspondent Tim Rogers (in between his hard-hitting political pieces in TIME, Christian Science Monitor, and other major publications). Now Tim and friends have launched The Nicaragua Dispatch, “to expand readers’ understanding of Nicaragua with original reporting, while stimulating online discussion and debate with a free exchange of opinions and ideas from those who live here and know the country best.” They promise to cover breaking news, politics, human-interest features, business & travel, and exclusive interviews with leading newsmakers. Here’s the newest link on my bookmark bar, a must for any Nicaphile: The Nicaragua Dispatch.

Upbeat World Music CD takes kids to the Caribbean, Latin America, and South Africa

By Joshua | November 8th, 2011 | No Comments »

I am a complete sucker for pretty much everything produced by Putumayo Kids, the children’s and educational division of the renowned music label Putumayo World Music (for which I am an equally eager sucker). In addition to their new Kids World Party CD, Putumayo Kids has launched a collection of sticker and coloring books. I LOVE the Latin America book — it is oversized with an alluring travel scene on the cover and big, simple drawings of animals and cultural landscapes inside.

“That looks like the Banjo Billy bus,” said my four-year-old when she saw the cover. She was referring to the funky, decked-out tour bus that we often see lumbering around the streets of Boulder, Colorado.

“That’s called a ‘chicken bus,’” I explained, loving this sudden teachable opportunity the book had given me before I’d even opened it. Read the rest of this entry »