Some embedded sculptures from the base of a temple entrance in the ruins of Copan, Honduras. Copan was probably the most intricate and beautiful of all the Mayan sites we visited – the sculptures were rendered in incredible detail and exquisite. Epitaphs of the Mayan’s doom though (much like this one) seemed intrinsically and mysteriously encoded in everything…
Sitting above the clouds atop the Volcano Santa Maria, we watched 3 or 4 different volcano’s erupt into the atmosphere over the course of a couple of hours. This one was several hundreds of kilometres away, but still proved more photogenic than the one right below us.
A few of the fascinating creatures that rule the jungle’s around the Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala. Macau’s, Pheasants, Long nosed bears, Spider & Howler Monkeys, Squirrels and Tarantula’s all calmly get about doing their thing pretty much oblivious to the human intrusion – its a veritable zoo. Oh and the ruins were fantastic too!
The great Mayan / Aztecan Pyramid of Chichin Itza, voted one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. This photo is remarkable simply because we pulled off a shot without any other tourists in the picture. That aside, it is still impressive and a lot of fun trying to visual all those sacrificial heads rolling down the staircase. During the equinox the sun keeps one side of the pyramid staircase in perfect shade, yet reveals sunlit triangles in perfect symmetry down that same side in the shape of a Serpent, (using a different serpent for each equinox) – incredible design. We settled for a shot with one side in shade and without people – equally clever in my opinion!
A sculptured profile of the great Jaguar King, found on a limestone stella in the middle of the ancient Mayan city of Yaxchilan in Southern Mexico. Covered in jungle, eerily surrounded by the screaming calls of the howler monkeys, while cayman crocodiles patrol the river banks – this fantastic mayan city was previously only accessible by airplane. As it was it took a 2 hour bus ride to the Guatemalan border and an hour boat ride up the river. A lot less tourists though, stunning atmosphere, sculptures & well worth the adventure!
“El Dia de Muertos” (the Day of the Dead), is where the living remember the dead in Mexico and a huge deal. Skulls and skeletons in all manifestations and art forms cover the town and everyone dresses up in ghostly costumes as graveyard festivals consume the populous. This segment of skeleton art we found decorating the street outside a church in Oaxaca.
The Baja Californian peninsula is adorned with stunning beaches, killer surf, whales, dolphins, turtles and little pockets of paradise. Unfortunately its also rife with American tourists and spring break binges!
Mexico is the land of the cactus. Giant cactii, fat ones, skinny ones, all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes and designs litter the horizon in all directions.
A view of some of the stunning buttes in Monument Valley. In the heart of Navajo nation, shamanically significant to the native american and set of numerous western movies, the place resonates with a powerful ‘nature’ energy!
A tiny sliver of one of the countless stunning canyons that cacoon the mighty Colarado river as it winds its way through various states and National Parks in the Mid-West