Central America

San Ignacio Belize, C.A. January 4, 2007 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for photos of Lamanai, Xunantunich, Caracol.

I am sitting on the shaded breezy terrace of the Running W. Steakhouse & Restaurant at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, up the steep hill from the town of San Ignacio in western Belize. I enjoy the buffet breakfast of orange juice, freshly scrambled eggs, Johnny cakes (flour, yeast, salt, slightly hard), Creole buns (slightly sweet with cinnamon), watermelon, papaya and robust Belizean coffee. The staff is friendly and attentive.

Flores, Peten Guatemala, C.A. January 5, 2007 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for photos of Yahja.

Hat Co...Sa Qax,

Yes, I am a survivor!

So far on this trip to Centro America I have survived the four hour angry-bull-ride disaster of a mountain road to Caracol in Belize. By contrast the Guatemalan countryside highway this morning to Yahja was mostly almost Interstate.

Antigua Guatemala January 9, 2007 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for photos of Antigua and Tikal.

At 03:00am one morning in 1976, Antigua was destroyed by a "terremoto." The adobe homes here and and in many nearby villages were flattened by an earthquake. The ruins of the churches and public buildings remain. Three volcanos loom and threaten in the mountains surrounding Antigua.

Santa Cruz La Laguna Lago Atitlan Solola Guatemala January 11, 2007
	Please click on the image for photos of Solola, Lago Atitlan.

Editor
CondeNast Traveler
New York, New York

To the Editor:

I am a loyal and thorough reader of "CondeNast Traveler." I even cut out and save your articles. When I decided on Belize and Guatemala, I checked my "Central America" file. I found an article published in April, 1997: "The Gods Never Died - Like an infant with an old soul, Guatemala emerges from war to a vibrant Indian nation."