Category: Latin America

Sometimes called “La Gran Sultana,” or The Grand Sultan, for its Moorish-Andalusian aura, Granada is one of Central America’s best-preserved cities. Its setting on Lake Nicaragua is stunning, and its colonial-era buildings do, in fact, make you feel as if you have stepped into Southern Spain. During our Discover Nicaragua small-group adventure, we call this historic gem home for three nights, giving you a chance to explore after getting oriented with our included horse-drawn carriage tour. Here’s how to make the most of your time:

Stroll the Promenade on Lake Nicaragua. Lined with palm trees and overlooking the largest lake in the country, the relaxed promenade offers a pleasant way to while away an hour or so. As you do, ponder the water’s fame as one of the only freshwater homes to sharks; the bull shark swims upstream in the San Juan River from the Caribbean Sea, jumping through the river’s rapids like salmon.

Admire Pretty Pastel Houses. Granada seems made for strolling, if only because its narrow, cobbled streets were designed for people and horses, not for cars. The result is a cozy- and intimate-feeling city, with many of its lanes lined with vibrantly painted houses. The cheery facades illustrate the pride that home owners take in their homes and, by extension, in their families.

Browse the Bustling Parque Central. Granada’s colonial grandeur is on full display in the city’s main square. The centerpiece is the impossible-to-miss, yellow cathedral (see below). This is also an ideal spot to mingle with the vendors selling local items such as straw hats and mangoes. The square has long been a commercial heart of the city. In the 1950s, the proximity of your house to Parque Central defined your social status; the closer you lived to it, the higher your place.

Sample the Culinary Scene along La Calzada. Granada is fast becoming a food destination, and sampling the dishes along La Calzada explains why. Along this pedestrian boulevard, relaxed cafes and high-end eateries serve up the fresh bounty of Nicaragua’s fertile farms. The street, with its colorful colonial buildings and stately mansions, is also the perfect place for an after-dinner stroll.

Indulge Your Sweet Tooth at the ChocoMuseo. Chocolate is one of Nicaragua’s major exports, so we’re sure to take you to the city’s chocolate museum, located in the seductively named Mansión de Chocolate. Here, you can learn about the local history of the cacao bean, then enjoy a hands-on demonstration of roasting and grinding, followed by the chance to mold your own delectable chocolate bar.

Marvel at the Granada Cathedral. So bright is this breathtaking, butter-hued masterpiece of neoclassicism, you would never know that it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times since its initial construction in 1525. Its most recent completion was in 1972 and features four chapels and twelve beautiful stained-glass windows set into the soaring dome.

Ascend the Bell Tower of La Merced Church. Originally built just ten years after the Granada Cathedral, La Merced Church is praised for its deep character and authenticity. This historic treasure certainly shows its age—how could it not, after having been razed by pirates in 1655 and damaged by revolutionary forces in 1854—but it is beloved as a religious stalwart by the city. You can climb its soaring tower for a small fee, worth the climb for the sweeping city views you’ll enjoy.

Explore the wonders of Granada during Discovery Tours’ new Discover Nicaragua trip!

Soaring more than 19,000 feet above sea level, Volcán Cotopaxi, the mighty Cotopaxi Volcano, is one of the world’s highest volcanoes, and it takes the record as the planet’s tallest continuously active peak. Ecuadorians are rightly proud to call it their own, though they regard its power with a reverential respect.

It is perhaps one of the most majestic and serenely solitary sights you’ll ever see, standing on the wide páramo, or highlands, where cougars roam in search of rabbits and weasels. You can take a closer look during Discovery Tours’ new Galapagos, Ecuador, Andes & Amazon trip. You’ll visit Cotopaxi National Park outside of Quito and take a walk around a pristine lake at the base of the mountain. Here’s a taste of what you will see and learn about this magnificent natural wonder:

• • Like Japan’s more famous Mount Fuji across the Pacific, Cotopaxi has a symmetrical cone.

• • Also like its counterpart, it wears its snow cover like a well-fitted hat trimmed at the same elevation all the way around the cone.

• • Cotopaxi is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a circle of active volcanoes that surround the ocean. It is one of 452 volcanoes in the ring.

• • Cotopaxi is home to one of the world’s only equatorial glaciers, which begins around the 16,400-foot mark.

• • The volcano boasts not one, but two crater rims. The inner one, remarkably for an active volcano, is covered with patches of ice.

• • Cotopaxi is part of Ecuador’s famed Avenue of the Volcanoes, a 200-mile stretch of peaks – seven in total – that stand more than 17,000 feet tall.

• An 1862 painting of this magnificent peak by Frederic Edwin Church, an American landscape painter from the Hudson River School, hangs in the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Visit Cotopaxi National Park with Gate 1 Travel!

High in the Ecuadorian Andes, underground springs bubble up from deep in the earth. As tiny streams trickle through the forest, they combine with snowmelt and mix with the volcanic clay of eastern Ecuador. These are among the most fertile soils in the world and they bring to life an exuberant variety of flora—from towering trees to minuscule mosses and all types of ferns and flowers in between. They, in turn, harbor an endless variety of animal and bird life. But the journey of these waters is just beginning.

They continue their course into the wilderness until they join one of the world’s largest river systems, forming a massive web of waterways. In Ecuador, this lush region is known as “El Oriente,” or The East, part of the massive Amazon basin. It is among the world’s most biodiverse regions, and certainly one of its most fantastic. It spreads out over more than a third of Ecuador, yet only four percent of the nation’s people live here. Among the endless network of streams and rivulets, you’re more likely to see the rainforest’s other residents: caimans, monkeys, birds, and pink dolphins. To say nothing of the indigenous tribes that still eke out a living in the jungles.

Head Deep into the Amazon

The small size of our group allows us to explore this primitive part of the world at a gentle pace. You’ll make your way from the frontier town of Coca via motorized canoe, a modern-day version of the traditional mode of river transit, to a lodge nestled within a private reserve on the shores of Pilchicocha Lake. The ride on the Napo River with your motorista, or canoe pilot—with water splashing by your side and the river’s banks gloriously unfolding on either side of you—is the perfect way to enter this remarkable and breathtaking world. From your very first moment on the waters of the Napo, you’ll get caught up in the expedition spirit that brought so many explorers here before you. And once you see the Sacha Lodge, with its thatched-roof huts embraced by the jungle, you’ll feel completely immersed in the spirit of an Amazon safari.

Revel in a Paradise of Flora and Fauna

Throughout your stay at Sacha Lodge, you’ll venture into the mighty Amazon by canoe and by foot, by day and by night, giving you the most intimate experience there is. You may, for instance, try your hand at catching some legendary piranha. The legendary sharp-toothed fish makes the murky waters of some nearby lakes its home—but they are surprisingly easy to catch, as your naturalist guide will demonstrate. The white caiman and the water monkey fish are also key parts of this fragile ecosystem.

You may notice other colorful creatures along the water’s edge as you head out on expeditions via traditional dugout canoe. Pools of mud on the shore have become enriched with minerals that attract countless parrots and parakeets. These parrot clay licks, as they are called, actually save the lives of many birds as the clay essentially neutralizes toxic seeds or unripe fruits they’ve eaten that would otherwise harm them.

But you won’t have to go far to witness one of the world’s most bio-diverse wilderness spaces. Just step outside your hut and you may spot any of eight species of monkeys cavorting in the treetops, from the tiny pygmy marmoset to the 17-pound red howler. Anteaters, sloths, ocelots, and numerous types of frogs may also be keeping you company.

For bird lovers, almost 600 species have been identified around the lodge alone. You’re likely to see many of them when you venture along the Canopy Walk, one of just a few self-standing suspension canopy walkways in the world. This invigorating “floating” pathway spans 900 feet and provides magnificent views from 120 feet above the forest floor.

Alternately, visit the lodge’s tranquil Butterfly House, a magical menagerie of colorful winged creatures. Here, in one of the largest butterfly breeding farms in Ecuador, you may see transparent, glass-wing butterflies, resplendent blue morphs, vibrant tiger longwings, and many others.

Preserving a Way of Life

Tribal residents of the Amazon Rainforests also inspire fascination. Amazonian Kichwas have lived along the Napo River’s banks for centuries. Until relatively recently, they—like other tribes up and down the Amazon and its tributaries—lived their days in a pure and primitive state, untouched by civilization as we know it. As modern man encroached, they imposed their moral and religious values on the tribes and exploited their resources for profit.

Many tribes survived. And though they can never again return to the ways of their ancestors, they strive to keep long-cherished traditions alive. The Kichwa, in particular, have had to fight to retain much of their land. As recently as 1992, Ecuador returned 2.75 million acres of land to them. Their traditions are critical to understanding the Amazon and you can examine them in depth at the Nueva Providencia Kichwa Interpretation Center. A group of local women are on hand here to share intimate details of their customs, cuisine and culture. You can support them and their tribes by purchasing their handmade crafts.

Magnificent beauty … an immersive lodge expedition … fascinating cultures clinging to tradition. Visit this magnificent country with Gate 1 Travel!

In 1835, Charles Darwin arrived in the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle. It was the ship’s second voyage and he was eager to take rock specimens home for study. But what he found instead piqued his curiosity: Tortoises from different islands, he wrote, “differ not only in size, but in other characters.” Some had long necks, some short. Some had shells shaped like domes, some were curved at the edges like saddles. The observation laid the foundation for his pivotal theory of evolution.

It also drew new attention to the Galapagos tortoise, named 300 years earlier by the Spanish when they landed here and first saw this gigantic creature. They could not yet know that these wise-looking animals live to be well over 100 years old and can weigh up to 900 pounds. One female, named Harriet, is said to have been brought to England, then Australia, by Darwin; remarkably, she died in 2006 at the Australia Zoo, at the ripe old age of 175.

When Spaniards landed on the Galapagos, there were about 250,000 tortoises on the islands, but that number shrank to just 3,000 by the 1970s. Predation by humans and other non-native animals that have been introduced to the islands—including goats, pigs and egg-eating rats—is responsible for the decline. Ten of the original fifteen species that Darwin observed survive. An eleventh was long represented by a lone survivor, named Lonesome George, until his death in 2012. Today, about 19,000 turtles roam the islands, thanks to conservation and breeding efforts.

One of the islands’ breeding centers is located on Isabela Island, and your Discovery Tours small group will have a chance to visit and learn about its successes and challenges. The center exists largely thanks to the formation of the Galapagos National Park in 1959, which alerted the government to the near-extinction of the remaining tortoise species. Breed-and-release programs started in 1965 and have done well to bring the population back. Goat eradication has also been effective, with 41,000 being removed from the islands over a period of a decade.

Conservation efforts are about more than bringing species back from near-extinction. Tortoises are what naturalists call a “keystone species” in that they play a critical role in maintaining entire ecosystems. To the casual observer, it might look like they merely roam around an island without having much impact on their environment. But their slow lumber helps to spread plant seeds and thin the underbrush so that sunlight can bring other plant life to germinate. The tortoise also frequently has company: small birds such as the flycatcher. The winged freeloader finds a perch atop the shell and, as their host tramples over brush, they catch the insects that are released into the air. The unassuming tortoise, then, helps flora thrive, supports birdlife, and keeps the insect population in check.

You may meet the magnificent, unsung Galapagos tortoise during our Gate 1 Travel Galapagos trips.

If there’s one island in the Galapagos that illustrates the diversity and natural history of the spectacular archipelago, it is Isabela. The largest of the islands – four times the size of the next largest, Santa Cruz – it is also one of the youngest, a mere one million years old. During our exciting new Galapagos, Ecuador, Andes & Amazon trip, our Discovery Tours small group spends three nights on Isabela, ample time to explore.

Most travelers come to the Galapagos for the wildlife. But once you set eyes on Isabela Island, you are as likely to be transfixed by its geology. And you’ll be in good company; after all, geologists remain fascinated by this active zone of volcanic activity. Straddling the equator, the island itself was formed when six volcanoes erupted and pushed their magma above the surface of the Pacific, merging together into one land mass. The tallest, Volcan Wolf, stands at 5,600 feet, and you will have the chance to hike the lunar-like landscape to the crater of Sierra Negra, at 3,688 feet, whose caldera stretches across six miles.

Like most any volcanic zone, Isabela is home to a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Certainly, Charles Darwin thought so when he observed species and subspecies here found nowhere else on earth. For instance, more wild tortoises live here than on any other of the islands, but several different types developed over millennia. Why? Because the hilly topography of Isabela prevented the gigantic lumbering tortoises from moving around the island. So small groups became isolated and evolved on their own, adjacent to but forever disconnected from their hard-shelled brethren. Today, they roam wild in the island’s various calderas.

Land iguanas, boobies, pink flamingoes, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Darwin’s finches, Galapagos hawks and other species also call Isabela home, and have done so for countless centuries. Forever isolated from predators, they show no fear of humans and might be more curious about you than you are about them. Just off the coast, surrounding the Tintoreras Islet, more wildlife abounds: This is an ideal spot to view penguins, sea lions, sea turtles and marine iguanas, the only lizard in the world whose habitat is the sea.

Humans also have a place on Isabela Island. The sleepy fishing village of Puerto Villamil, home to just a couple thousand people, is one of the island’s bases for exploration. Its pretty harbor is often dotted with yachts stopping over en route to the Marquesas. Just outside of town is evidence of a darker chapter in island history: the Wall of Tears, or El Muro de las Lágrimas. The 65-foot-tall wall was built between 1945 and 1959 by prisoners of war, when part of the island was a penal colony.

Human history aside, it’s the breathtaking natural beauty of the Galapagos that stirs the soul—a rich canvas of stunning volcanic island beauty, turquoise waters, walking trails that lead to mangroves and lava fields, and magnificent wildlife. Join our new Galapagos, Ecuador, Andes & Amazon trip and explore it all up close in your small group.

Deep in the dense jungles of Mesoamerica, an advanced civilization emerged 4,000 years ago. Its architectural and cultural achievements have been compared to those of ancient Egypt, Greece and China – with many advances occurring simultaneously as those of its overseas counterparts. Intriguing? To be sure. And visiting the ruins of these mysterious societies is more captivating still. And so we invite you to explore the vestiges of the Maya with Gate 1 Travel.

Mayans are believed to have developed the first writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. Art, architecture, mathematics, and a calendar and astronomical system were also central to their culture. The structure of complex societies and organized agriculture predates the construction of cities, but once stones started being quarried for temples, palaces and other buildings, the Mayans went on a building spree. In your small group, you’ll visit four of the most significant and remarkable ruins.

Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, could well be the most famous and spectacular of ancient Mayan cities. Developed late in the arc of Mayan history, between 800 and 1200 AD, its many architectural styles suggest that it had a diverse population. As it grew in size, it also grew in reputation, gaining a place as one of the great mythical cities cited in Mesoamerican writing.

The city was a collection of temples, ball courts, several platforms, a steam bath, and many residences that fan out from the center. Parts of the city are connected by sacbes, or raised causeways that served as footpaths. Also central to Chichen Itza were the several cenotes, or sink holes, that still today are typical of the Yucatan Peninsula. These holes were often quite deep and took on religious significance to locals as they were believed to be portals to the gods of the earth. Sacrifices of gold, jewels and even humans were made to them.

But the centerpiece of Chichen Itza is El Castillo, a magnificent step pyramid also known as the Temple of Kukulkan, the feathered serpent deity whose carved figures can be seen at the temple’s base. Each of the four sides has 91 steps which, when totaled with the “final step” (the temple’s uppermost platform) add up to 365, the number of days in the Mayan calendar system.

The ancient city of Palenque is not as famous as Chichen Itza, but it should be. The mysteries of this UNESCO World Heritage Site have enthralled scholars since its discovery in 1773. Hundreds of buildings are strewn across the jungle that had once swallowed the city whole. Temples, stucco pyramids, funerary structures, a grand palace, intricate bas reliefs, towers, courtyards, and other buildings that mystify archaeologists and are therefore simply given a generic name and number, such as “Structure XII.”

The largest structure is the Temple of the Inscription, a step pyramid built as a funerary tomb for K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, who ruled for 70 years in the 7^th century. Scholars flocked to this pyramid when it was discovered that it held many keys to the ancient Maya. Rich and revealing hieroglyphics were found on interior tablets expressing the idea that past events will be repeated on the same date in some future year, a uniquely Mayan notion that often reasserts itself in today’s culture. Inside the tomb, the great ruler was found wearing a death mask made of jade.

In Uxmal, a vast array of structures reflect the dominant building fashion of the Maya. Its most celebrated building, the Governor’s Palace, is a low structure built atop a large platform. It features 20,000 stones carved to resemble fine lace and boasts the longest façade of any Mesoamerican structure. The site’s tallest and most magnificent creation is the Pyramid of the Magician. Its smooth steep surface, rounded corners, and elliptical base set it apart from other pyramids.

Uxmal was remarkably preserved over the centuries, thanks in large part to the well-cut stones that the original builders used. It is second only to Palenque for the elegance of its square-built buildings and its layout. If you want to get a clear sense of a ceremonial center in the Mayan world, visit Uxmal.

Ek Balam is one of largest Mayan ruins in Mexico.  Elaborate statues, grand architecture, and intricate stucco facades reveal much about this once-mighty city. The most impressive site at Ek Balam is its Acropolis, a six-story ancient behemoth at 525 feet long, 230 feet wide, and 96 feet tall. Within, archaeologists discovered 72 rooms and El Trono, or “The Throne,” the temple and burial site of the king Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’. And just so his people would always remember how powerful he was, the doorway to the temple resembles the open mouth of a jaguar or, some say, a monster carved there in order to protect the underworld.

Mayan ruins have many stories to tell and many mysteries to unveil. Many visitors are surprised by their size and breadth, which is why a small group adventure is the perfect way to explore them. Join Discovery Tours—and an expert guide seasoned in Mayan history and archaeology—and uncover the mysteries of Mexico’s Mayan ruins for yourself during our fascinating Mexico’s Mayan & Aztec Illumination.

Though Mayan civilization lasted for more than two millennia, starting around 2000 BC, it reached its technological and cultural zenith from 300 AD to 900 AD. Like the ancient Egyptians and Greeks before them, Mayans built vast cities, developed complex societies, and worshipped multiple gods. They were among the first cultures in the Americas to do so, and their legacies live on still today. When you join Discovery Tours’ Mexico’s Mayan & Aztec Illumination, you’ll stroll in the footsteps of the brilliant Mayan minds who laid the foundation for civilization in the Americas.

There was no one ruler in the Mayan world. Rather, the empire was divided into many fiefdoms, each one ruled by a king. The king had a straight line of communication to the maize god and his enthronement was celebrated with a lavish affair. The royal seat was always passed down the paternal line, from father to eldest son. Their society is known to have comprised a noble, middle, and commoner class.

What the royals oversaw was truly monumental for its day. Mayan urban centers have been called one of the great preindustrial civilizations of the world. Of course, the construction of massive temples and other sites was a gargantuan task by itself— quarrying, carving, lifting, and assembling massive stones without the advantage of modern-day machinery. But there was another new concept that had to be invented and developed for it all to come together—namely, project management. Specialization of craft, a centrally controlled organization, and having the political clout to call together a massive work force were as important as the rocks used to build the cities.

As cities grew, the need for communication increased. The Mayan writing system was an extraordinary achievement whose roots took hold somewhere between 300 and 200 BC. Of the dozen or so scripts that developed in Mesoamerica, theirs was the most sophisticated and advanced. It is believed that no more than 500 symbols were in use at any given time; these symbols represented entire words (a jaguar head represented the jaguar, for instance) or represented syllables that, when combined, expressed a word.

Numbers, too, found expression in the Mayan world. Using a “base 20” system (compared to our “base 10”), Mayan numerals were similar to Roman numerals: That is, a dot (“•”) represented “1” and a bar (“—“) represented “5.” Dots were written on top of the bar. So “12,” for instance, was written as two dots side-by-side on top of two bars. The symbology of higher numbers increased in complexity.

This number system played a crucial role in the Mayan calendar. One of the era’s most sophisticated, it recorded lunar and solar cycles, eclipses, and even the movement of planets—all with startling accuracy. Rather than counting 30 (or 31) days in each month, the Mayans counted 20 days (or k’in) in each winal. A year, then (or tun), consisted of 18 winal, which totaled 360 days, followed by a 5-day period known as the wayeb.

Marvel at the ingenuity of the Mayans firsthand during our Mexico’s Mayan & Aztec Illumination small group adventure.