Peten Itza Lake, sunset and recharging…

Four days after walking at the archaeological sites of Tikal and Ixlu I had the chance to absorb all the history, legends and the knowledge pass to me by locals, guides, the taxi driver-guide, and a very special person from Santa Elena.

Many activities complimented my trip!  Those included riding on a motorcycle in the city of Flores and the environs, terrific experience thru the trees via a Canopy zip lines tour at the Ixpanpajul National Park, Canoeing and swimming around the Peten Itza Lake.

I felt, it was the appropriate time to recharge my soul by enjoying all these unique experiences.

I selected the Maya International Hotel, built on the coast of the Peten Itza lake. My room was special because it had a huge balcony overlooking the Lake. During a late afternoon at balcony, the Sun & I would wait together for the sunset. That special moment where Earth would hide its power and a new night would begin, the perfect time for reminiscing in a real dimension my daily experiences in Guatemala. The perfect moment to fall in love…

At the Peten Itza Lake

*The “Itza” are a Guatemalan ethnic group of Maya, and also means “enchanted waters”

“Nunca olvidare aquellos momentos”

Guatemala, 2010. My first contact with the Maya Civilization

At the Tikal National Park, the 80% of this cosmopolitan ancestral city still cover for centuries of vegetation. In most of the pre-columbian ruins usually you just can see but not touch and you are not aloud to go inside of the pyramid. Imagine my surprise when I was able to go in and see how was to live in those times. I learned that when the final inhabitants abandoned the city in the 10th or 11th centuries and the rainforest claimed the ruins for the next thousand years, some of Tikal’s population may have migrated to the Peten Lakes region, which remained heavily populated in spite of a plunge in population levels in the first half of the 9th century.The most likely cause of collapse at Tikal is overpopulation and agrarian failure.

The Tikal National Park is very quiet, not to many travelers can reach this location but It is safe, and the Guatemalan people is very friendly. I encourage everybody to go and discover it!

At the top of Tikal Temple Great Jaguar

What an amazing day at the Tikal National Park!
From here I was able to see the main plaza, the acropolis, Temple of the Mask, and the Peten Itza Lake. This Temple rises 47 meters high and was completed around 740-750 AD.

Tikal Temple, Peten, Guatemala. First Visit 2010

Tikal: the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the archaeological region of the Petén, northern Guatemala. The site is part of Guatemala’s Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In that trip I visited also Flores at the Peten Itza Lake. The memories of this places and people from Santa Elena will always have a special place in my heart!

Warmiwanusqa Pass, Inca trail, Peru

In the 3rd day of the Inca Trail we reached the high point of altitude, 4050 meters. We touched the clouds! I will never forget that moment! With Richard and the two visitors from Chile.

Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, Peru 1990

After 4 days on the Inca trail, we reached our destination, Machu Picchu. The magnificent views, the curiosity, the emotions overcome the four days on the forest, the rain, the fatigue. We conquer our dream, been able to walk on the trail used for centuries for the Incas from Cuzco to Machu Picchu.

America. The mystic pre-columbian times

Since I was a little child, I have been fascinated to learn more about the original inhabitants of our Great American Continent. I remember people in my little hometown saying that in the plateau, close to my home, native indians’ arrowheads had been found, all made in stone from the times of the native tribes, maybe even as far back as the Patagones … In school, I was eager to learn more about the different tribes who were the original owners of the land, and why and how they later disappeared… Back then, I had so many questions than no one was able or willing to answer ….

I made a promise to myself in an early age, that I would learn more about our Great American Continent before I would embark in getting to know any other continent. I been in all the countries that conform South America and North America and now I close to conquer the last countries en Central America.

I know I can’t change history at this point, but at least I can learn more about the original inhabitants, pay tribute to them and make peace with myself and maybe, get a better understanding about the problems in our countries. My travels and discoveries continue….

Allow me to invite you to follow me in my adventure to discover the Americas !

Tikal Temple, Maya Civilization, aprox.942 AD                Peten, Guatemala

 

From dreams to envisage…

How many times do we hear in our heads “visualize it and it will come through”?

How many times has this happened in our lives; big and small plans or ideas that eventually we accomplish… but also how many times do we forget about that incredible power that we have.  Sometimes knowing that something isn’t right,  we still  continue with our plan or idea.

Could it be because as we depend more and more on technology nowadays, we fail to acknowledge and use our natural instinct ? Our intuition, that deep sense inside all of us that communicates  in a secret language, is in part what guides us to envisage our future. Many times instead of using our intuition, we use our ambition. Is it perhaps  because intuition is abstract and ambition we can be visualized as profits ?

If you have the opportunity to be by yourself, in a quiet room, close your eyes and try to hear what your intuition is telling you. See how comfortable your body will feel, what positive sensation will invade you when you hear that inner voice.

For me, Haute Experiences is the result of that. For many years I knew what I wanted but I was not following that voice. Finally I was able to hear.

 

Thanks for sharing with me what I envisioned all my life

What’s yours?

The beginning…

Was early in the morning when a car from the municipality of the City of Cinco Saltos, a remote little town in Patagonia, Argentina, came to pick me up to take me to the airport to represent my province in a Congress about cooperation for one week. I was 11 years old and traveling by myself! When we arrived to the airport, the terminal, the waiting room, the uniforms, later the plane, everything was like been part of a science fiction novel .

The carrier was Aerolineas Argentinas, the plane was the Caravelle VI R  that operated in my country since January 15, 1962 to 1973, built by the Sud-Est Aviation, a French company. My first flight went from the city of Neuquen to Rio Gallegos in the province of Santa Cruz, one of the most austral cities in the Patagonia Argentina.

That was the first time that I ever flew and was that trip that open my senses, my curiosity, my expectations, my imagination. The idea that travel will be an essential  part of my life.

Today, close to 40 years of my first flight, I started my blog about the experiences in my trips, with the idea that my readers will not only travel with my in my words, my desire is to invigorate, to stimulate the traveler that we all have inside of us.

Let’s go to new places, experience new sensations, taste new flavors in a remote village, fell the smell of new flowers, listen new types of music or the wind passing trough the walls in a sacret valley , touch new textures… Be more in love with life by expand your horizon with lifetime Haute Experiences. Here we go!