GUATEMALA PEOPLE POPULATION Guatemala is the most populous country in all of Central America, with a population of around 17.6 million, despite a large number of diaspora all over the world. The majority of the populations consists of Ladino people; a mix of Mestizos and Hispanic people, with some 41% being Mayans of which the K’iche’ and Q’eqchi and Kaqchikel […]
GUATEMALA – LAND
GUATEMALA LAND GEOGRAPHY Guatemala is bordered by Mexico on the north and west, by Belize and the Caribbean on the north-east, by Honduras on the east, by El Salvador on the south-east, and, finally, by the Pacific on the south. The country is divided into three major regions by two mountain ranges crossing the country from west to east, giving […]
GUATEMALA – HISTORY
GUATEMALA HISTORY PRE-COLUMBIAN Whilst the first evidence of human settlement dates back to some 12,000BC, the main players in the country’s Pre-Columbian history were the Mayans, with the height of their power here being between 300 and 900AD, with most of their cities being abandoned by the end of the same period. POST-CONQUEST By the time Spanish conquerors arrived in […]
GUATEMALA – COUNTRY
GUATEMALA COUNTRY NAME The name Guatemala is believed to be derived from Cuauhtēmallān; a Nahuatl word that translates to “a place of many trees”, referring to the abundance of kidneywood trees found in the area when discovered during the Spanish Conquest. Another possible explanation for the name would be the Mayan word ‘Guhatezmalh’ which means “mountain that vomits water” in […]
0.II – Go
0.II – GO I finally got to start this adventure… One I had been planning for years. First it was med school, then it was COVID, then it was work. But finally, I managed to make it happen. And finally, that day had arrived – the 3rd of August 2022. The day I’d finally get to go on a plane […]
0.I – Get Set
0.I – GET SET Seven years ago, at the unripe and non-tender age of nineteen, I left my country, Malta for the very first time. It was a five-day trip to Barcelona. I still remember every single detail, exactly like it were yesterday. My friend, a traveller by all accounts, thought it was absurd how someone like me; adventurous, spontaneous, […]
FOREWORD
FOREWORD Welcome to my travel journal you crazy, beautiful people. This is Marius Brown, your average run-of-the-mill idiot who’s writing about his adventures all over the world during a gap year taken during his medical residency over 2022 and 2023. Okay, here it goes… I am entirely conscious of the fact that in all likelihood, no one but me will […]