Make A Trip To Chichen Itza Ruins - Climb One Of The Seven Wonders Of The World

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Guatemala Outdoor Adventures

A small country on the Pacific ocean called Guatemala is bordered by Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize . The official language in Guatemala is Spanish. The country has entry to the Caribbean, that makes it an ideal vacation spot for vacationers enthusiastic about nature, wildlife as well as adventure. See Guatemala Tours Here.



You will find numerous outdoor adventures you may take part in - fishing, swimming with the dolphins, birding, scuba diving and canopy tours and much more. The greatest thing you can do is to participate an arranged tour, because this way you'll obtain the very best experience possible for your hard earned money. You will find arranged outdoor adventure tours in Guatemala for a lot of activities, and you can get complete information regarding it from your local travel agent or from your hotel once you've arrived. More Guatemala Travel Here.



Adventures In Guatemala



The guides are very well-trained and knowledgeable, qualified to watch after your safety as well as provide the best possible experience. Regardless of whether you're enthusiastic about underwater activities or adventure tours on land, Guatemala has a great deal to provide you with. Here are a few of the most well known outdoor activities in this stunning Central American country:



Mountain Biking



Guatemala has numerous rural roads which are ideal for mountain biking. Ensure you don't take the dirt paths alone, particularly if you're unfamiliar with the area. Outdoor adventure tours which are arranged by among the many operators are the very best choice, since you'll be with a group of other individuals who share exactly the same enthusiasm for mountain biking. The guides will make certain the whole group is protected and that nobody gets hurt.



Climbing a volcano



Guatemala has numerous volcanoes, a number of them still active, and their craters offer a challenge to individuals who want to climb them. A few of the popular volcanoes you can get an opportunity to go to on a prepared tour are the Pacaya volcano, Santa Maria, Acatenango and more. In the event that you're up for the challenge, a number of the guides will be prepared to take you even closer therefore you can feel the heat and see the boiling lava of the volcano. The feeling is incredible, because nothing making you feel more close to nature than experiencing the power of the earth and also the potential power of the eruption.



Fishing



Numerous people appreciate fishing, because it's an excellent way to hang around and unwind. Guatemala is continuously earning recognition as a fishing destination due to its rich marine life and the huge assortment of species of fish in the rivers. There are arranged fishing boat tours where one can try your luck, probably catching a few of the wonderful fish that live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the inland waterways, and also the Caribbean Sea.



Hiking is an excellent method to invest your time in Guatemala, because a large part of the country is unchanged by civilization. You may enjoy the natural surroundings and admire the scenery, in addition to watching numerous animals that call these forests home. Hiking in Guatemala can be harmful when you aren't acquainted with the country or if you're unacquainted with the risks, including wildlife. In order to make sure a pleasurable and secure hiking experience, join one of many organized outdoor adventure groups. Believe in guides; they will do their very best to keep you safe and ensure you have a lot of fun.



Some other possible outdoor adventures when going to Guatemala are rafting, scuba diving, swimming with dolphins and much more. In case you have any special requests, don't think twice to ask - your local travel agent and your hosts and travel guides will do all they can to satisfy your requests and needs.

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Unique Experience For Everyone - Guatemala Jungle Tours

Within the very heart of Central America is Guatemala; vital for every tourist who's enthusiastic about nature, history and culture, a nation with extraordinary geographic diversity, ethnographic variety, cultural wealth in addition to a zone of economical and cultural contacts between all the cultures of Central America. Visit Guatemala Tours here.

There are a lot of approaches to explore Guatemala. It is possible to travel exclusively by yourself or with a few friends that are local and who can show you around and inform you more about the local culture and history. You can also make the decision to join some of the organized jungle tours, you can find at many travel agencies. See Guatemala ruins here.


Joining a prepared Guatemala jungle tour

Joining on the list of organized Guatemala jungle tours is among the best decisions a tourist can make, because these tours can take you to a breathtaking world of national parks, authentic, colorful museums, magnificent archaeological sites, ruins and much more.

Visit Mayan Ruins

Many of the most interesting places to go while on a jungle tour in Guatemala are the famous city of La Antigua, Tikal National Park, El Mirador, Lake Atitlan and also other cities which, for several years, have been completely lost in the jungle. You can even see hints of the thousands year old Mayan culture and civilization.

Tikal National Park

This park is a cultural highlight. You will discover over 3000 Mayan constructions spread over 576 square kilometers area. Tikal National Park is a part of the Mayan Biosphere reserve that spreads over 1.4 million hectares.

The causeways, pyramids, stone-build temples, astronomical complexes and houses were once the undisputed heart of the Mayan civilization. Today, they've been overtaken by the subtropical forest and are inhabited by a numerous species of both flora and fauna - monkeys, parakeets, toucans and even more.

La Antigua

Antigua may be a unique colonial city, nestled between three volcanoes. It's really a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is over 400 years old. The area was the former capital city of Guatemala and features restaurants with local cuisine, many museums, art galleries, outdoor markets with hand-crafted items and many shops on the cobblestone streets.

The weather conditions in Antigua is pleasant throughout every season and is referred to as the "land of the eternal spring". This fact will make it an excellent place to visit whenever you want of the year, plus the perfect base from which to start your trip along with other popular destinations in Guatemala.

Lake Atitlan

Lake Atitlan belongs to the most beautiful lakes on the globe. It's ringed by three volcanoes, and its clear waters are home to several unique lake-shore villages. Visiting one of these brilliant villages will permit the tourist to enjoy the Mayan culture, as in a lot of them the population still wear traditional Maya clothing and produce breathtaking hand-crafted items.

There's a lot more to experience in Guatemala, joining one of the organized jungle tours is perhaps the ultimate way to explore quite as much of this amazing place in the world as possible.

Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

How The Long And Short Count Of The Mayan Calendar Originated

The Mayan civilization was very advanced for its time, and had remarkable knowledge of astronomy, geometry and last of all - methods to determine the time. Numerous experts in the fields of astronomy, mathematics as well as other sciences discover the way the Maya utilized to compute periods of time unique. See Chichen itza tour here.

The requirements of their calendar system were similar to other calendar systems seen in the same part of the world by other Mesoamerican civilizations, dating as far back in time as the fifth century BC. See tikal tour here.

The initial style of the Mayan calendar was only accustomed to exhibit the thought of time as past, present and future. The Maya understood really well that time is linear and they needed an approach to tell if one incident had took place just before another. This standard idea speedily evolved into a lot more difficult, sophisticated and highly accurate calendar system, that individuals find fascinating to this day.

Long and Short Count

You will find two major parts in the Mayan calendar which are employed to determine and look at the time - the Long Count and the Short Count. Both the Long Count as well as the Short Count have a particular date as a starting point - August 11, 3114 BC when we're making use of the present Gregorian calendar to specify it, and September 6, 3114 BC if perhaps we're utilizing the Julian calendar.

The Short Count was utilized for calculating short time periods. It was made up of 260 days, divided into 13 periods (20 days each). This way of counting the time remains used in some areas of Guatemala by ancestors and forefathers of the Mesoamerican civilizations.

The Long Count was used generally for computing longer intervals and events that took place a long time ago, or will occur very far into the future. This calendar system was also employed for the inscription of calendar dates.

The cycle of the Long Count is independent of the solar year, mainly because the Maya employed the vigesimal (base 20) instead of the decimal (base 10) numeral system. One Long Count period following the rule above should have been equal to 400 days, but the Maya permitted an exception to the rule and the actual Long Count period is 360 days. Although this recently formed period is close to the solar year, it is still 5 days shorter. It is not certain why the Maya made a decision to transform their calendar slightly, but the fact that they did so illustrates how adequately they understood and observed the sky and the placement of the stars in it.

The Moon and Venus also portrayed an extremely important function in the calendar of the ancient Maya, and they have separate Long Count inscriptions to symbolize the lunar cycles and a Venus cycle.

One Venus cycle was 584 days long, and events just like warfare and conquests were timed to equal particular stages of this cycle. Scientists these days really find the fact that the Maya were able to estimate the Venus cycle very accurately; showing terrific observation along with astronomy skills and expertise in how the planets move in the sky.

The lunar cycles in addition perform an important role, as historians have revealed. The Mayan calendar has completely different lunar cycles that are connected to animals. weather, food and deities. These series show how advanced the culture of the Mayan was in addition to how near the bond was between them and mother nature.

Overall, the Mayan calendar is an extremely complex instrument to assess the time in short or long periods. It demonstrates the Mayans fully understood the concept of time, and had a clever tactic to put an event in a period of time - past, present or future. They created an evolved and advanced calendar concept (the Long Count) along with the additional supplementary forms to the initial calendar (the Short Count). Because of this, the Mayan calendar was understandably the most sophisticated and one of a kind calendar for its time, and numerous civilizations integrated it to a certain extent or entirely throughout the following centuries.

Labels: , , , , , ,