Making your Way! Boa Vista, Brazil - Santa Elena, Venezuela International border crossing

Arrive Boa Vista, looking to continue the trek. Little information in the guide book and great hopes of heading north to Venezuela. We run to the airport (30Rs) to find out about flights and options. Speaking with locals the plan is clear.

Following advice, we share a cramped taxi (40Rs) to the border (Pacaraima) with Venezuela. We attend to crossing procedure and hire a waiting taxi Venezuela-side to arrive at Santa Elena. Little movement here, few travelers, no other option - everything pricey.
photo credit: Vanessa mora mejias

photo credit: Paolo Costa Baldi

But you arrive at one of the most beautiful places on Earth! Gateway to waterfalls and tepuis (pictured above). Wishing you the best crossing here. And a fabulous on-going journey. Almabrazo!

Oaxaca city - Tapachula - Guatemala

Skip the fancy Galgos Bus or polished Ticabus Line and take a shuttle from the Tapachula, Chiapas MX bus station to the international border with Guatemala near the Pacific Ocean.

Once your papers are stamped and you cross, there are several school-bus type buses leaving for Guatemala City. Who needs reclining seats when you can ride with live poultry and natives? Seriously, its well worth walking across that border. Interesting bit of North American geo-political struggle there. Many people heading north seeking the future (and ability to send remittances home). As you walk the bridge, take note of the people crossing the river and the sad-eyed folks incarcerated in the cramped adobe jail. And be thankful you hit the lottery of life. Born in the developed world; you have an education, ability to read, a passport and money enough to travel...

One bit of advice which applies everywhere: Be polite, show respect and do your best to speak the language and you’ll be treated with kindness and mutual respect (and keep in mind Spanish is their second language, too).

Photo credit: Ekem

Jump Out of your Skin - And reveal yourself!

Starting in the early 1950s, portrait photographer Philippe Halsman took a series of "Jump" pictures of celebrities in mid-air including Audrey Hepburn (pictured above), Marilyn Monroe, Robert Oppenheimer, John Steinbeck, Aldous Huxley, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Brigitte Bardot, and Groucho Marx. He published Philippe Halsman's Jump Book in 1959, which contained a tongue-in-cheek discussion of jumpology and 178 photographs of celebrity jumpers. Halsman’s Jump Book has recently been republished by Damiani. 

Amazingly adorable, perfectly revealing and well worth a peak!