Lake Atitlan is perhaps the most attractive tourist spot in the central American country of Guatemala. A major attraction because of its beauty, ecology, recreational activities and western accommodating facilities; nothing symbolizes luxury more for the weary traveller than a hot shower and clean sheets! Each town bordering the lake seems to cater to a different type of traveller or travelling objective. If you’re the kind of person who likes to experience the complete feel of a place, you best plan to stop off at each of them.

San Pedro is where the majority of tourists go and is a bit of a backpackers party town; San Marcos is the self-healing Mecca of the bunch with yoga and meditation retreats, reiki and the like to manifest a bit of peace within; and Xela (pronounce Sheelah) and San Juan are where the eco warriors descend with a number of community projects underway to help the local peoples and preserve the natural environment surrounding them.

Alas, it is the town of Xela and San Juan that are currently getting the best run for their money and time, in terms of looking after the beautiful Lake Atitlan. In the last month or so the water body has been taken over by unhealthy algae, which is producing bacteria that are suffocating everything that lives in the lake. The algae carpet has been fed by toxic pollutants such as chemical phosphates (like those found in unnatural laundry detergent) and synthetic compounds (like those found in sunscreens) as well as petrol residue from the motorised boats ferrying the thousands of tourists that visit the lake each year. The pollution has accumulated more rapidly in the last three decades due to the influx of tourists visiting and swimming in the lake. You see, it wasn’t until the 1980’s that locals started selling the land surrounding the lake to foreign visitors who swept in and built the infrastructure to attract travellers, like big hotels, restaurants, internet cafés etc, that are there today. If they could have predicted the impact this would have on their homes, perhaps the lake would not be in such trouble today? 

In the towns around the lake there is now a great divide between the indigenous Kechiquel people, who dwell higher up the hill, and those that live in the settlement and live clese to the lake shores within the ´tourist´ areas. The situation has become such that a Latvian woman I spoke to told me that the local indigenous people are embarrassed to spend time lower down in the township. A teacher at a local primary school, Yellanor had helped to organise a concert with the school to raise funds for the local community but the those that came down the hill stayed only a few minutes because they felt so uncomfortable: the divide between rich and poor was just to obvious.

It´s not just the beauty of Lake Atitlan the Kechiquel are worried about being destroyed, it´s also their livelihoods. Each part of the lakes ecosystem is affected. The people and the local wildlife have nothing to fish if all the underwater life is dying. They rely on this to not only feed themselves but to sell to the restaurants and surrounding towns demanding fresh fish. The lake is also currently un-swimmable which means that tourists may stop coming to the area and hiring boats for transportation to other towns around the lake and partaking in recreational activities based on the water – another means of income lost. The situation has become so bad that in 2009, Lake Atitlan was named Threatened Lake of the Year by the Global Nature Fund.

So, for the second time in the last 500 years the Kechiquel people of Guatemala are faced with a major threat to their culture as well as a devastating environmental collapse. It was not so long ago; in the 1500´s that the Conquistador (Spanish Conquerors) invaded the Mayan land with Catholicism here.  As a consequence most of the indigenous people here are Evangelists and have lost much of their Mayan beliefs and traditions in the black whole of forgotten time. The Mayans have no written language so this loss is even greater despite some of the revealing archaeological finds on the continent. As all is passed down orally, all most of these people know of their history is of the time since the church arrived. However, from another source I´ve heard that the ancient Mayan ways are still practiced with ceremonies and rituals carried out regularly and in private, albeit amongst a minority.

Now these ancient peoples face evolution of the ecological kind – a dark shade of eco green at that. The good new (finally!) is that there is help at hand. A group of expats are working at saving this beauty. A few individuals have come up with the beginning of a solution and have started to build a wetland to stop the eutrophication of the lake.
So far, this has involved a huge earthmover, a whole lot of Quetzals and the support of the community – from the rich foreign land owners to the poorest of the poor, the local areneros. Though the lake is no longer being polluted by waste pipes upstream there is still a long way to go. The project involves cleaning about 70 litres of water a minute by way of nutrient retention, evaporation and absorption. A proper drainage system needs to be installed and that’s going to take a lot of resources to get Lake Atitlan clean again,. As for the local indigenous people, beyond helping to clean up someone else’s mess they could do with getting some help to buy back the fertile land of the lake shore.

In this part of the world, it seems there’s always a project to start. If this is something you would be interested in doing, the following organisations may be able to help you out (of course you may have to visit this beautiful place to see what´s really needed... ho hum ;)

www.burnerswithoutborders.org/ www.downtoearth.org/ www.greennewworld.org/

There is a new natural sweetener on the loose in Europe. More than ever snack foods like muesli bars and health drinks found in health food shops are sweetened up with agave syrup. Now everything from blueberry daiquiris to chai maté tea and porridge are being made with the natural alternative to processed sugar cane (also see our raw chocolate recipe blog which uses agave). Now, if you travel to Mexico you will find that agave is used to tantalize your taste buds in a whole other way beyond the dessert variety. 

Mezcal, the main ingredient in Tequila is made from the green aloe vera look-a-like agave plant. It was in the 16th century that mescal originated in Mexico. Then it was called ´Vino Mezcal´, which means ´drink of the gods´. Greatly revered by the ancient ancestors of Mexico; the maguey plant, which is a type of agave, was seen as an extension of the goddess Mayahuel. The historical significance as well as the fact that it is widely grown throughout Mexico earned the country the prestigious ‘Designation of Origin’ award, a source of great pride for the country.

You can find some of the biggest Agave plants in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. Here lies one of the largest producers of Mezcal – ‘Real de Jalpa’- who create, through traditional natural processes, the best Mezcal in Mexico.

One place you´ll find a lot of Agave used is at the lively Mexican festivals. One of the biggest is the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) celebrations. This happens at the same time every year around Halloween and with a similar feel of skeleton, ghost and witchy decorations. This day is to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have passed on. Sweet treats sweetened with agave fill the streets with a sugary aroma, as does the agave based Tequila.

Other than tasty treats you can also use the agave plant to do as the natives do and make nails, pens and string to sew with. The leaf has medicinal properties; when taken orally as a tea it is a useful diuretic and can treat constipation. The root can be used to treat arthritic joints.  Be warned however, the juice from some species of agave can cause contact dermatitis including reddening and blistering so don´t be going and mixing it with any of your organic face creams!

… if only there were such a thing. One thing I’d heard plenty about before I arrived in this fascinating country (Sam for one was eager to discover what I’d find) was that in the city street there were abundant pockets of organic garden. It made sense being a communist country where international trade is restricted with its neighbouring nations (specifically the USA and Mexico) that the Cuban people would have a somewhat sustainable, localised food culture. The organic part made sense to due to the lack of funds to pay for anything (like pesticides) than what the earth naturally provides. 
The reality? The first part of my stay was in a small Casa Particulars (like a B&B but, like everything in Cuba, under strict guidelines provided by the government) in Central Habana. The streets here are narrow and grey and the buildings in much of the city are decrepit and falling down which is a real shame as their concrete shells show marks of once spectacular architecture. Even so, it would not be too hard to imagine some greenery around the place but all that could be found are a few small pot plants on the balconies of the odd home or a small 4 x 4 metre plant shop.
So arriving in the country´s tropical fruit off season might explain what it was near on impossible to buy fresh fruit and vegetables (of any kind) except for at a couple of the big hotels. A concierge informed me that he could not find fresh produce anywhere on the streets of Habana, and he was looking hard as his son was ill and needed naturally derived vitamins and minerals to avoid buying expensive medication the doctors told him he required.

The fresh salad at the hotel restaurants (consisting of a slice or two of tomato, a bit of cabbage or cucumber if you are lucky) is imported at a special price by the government as they seem to desperately be trying to attract tourists to the country. There are supermarkets but they are really only 3 x 3 metre shops with a few cans of soup, juice and if you’re lucky super sweet yoghurt. As you can imagine the word “organic” is pretty much unheard of to the majority of people here.

The closest you´ll get to an organic Cuban experience is to stay in one of the Casa Particulars to get close to the people and their culture. The second casa I stayed in was just across the water of Central Habana in Gran Parque Morro and was called El Canonazo. Apart from the tasty food in their decent and clean restaurant (which does include some fresh fruit and vegetables by the way) there are chickens and ducks running freely around the garden. A little bit more professionally run than most casas which are literally family casas (homes) so if you´d prefer an even more organic stay go for one of these. Be warned however, the comforts of the big hotels don’t exist here and you generally pay for what you get.

Either way as soon as you step out onto the streets it’s impossible to miss what this country is all about – 52 Fords, Cuban cigars, rumba and salsa music and a people untouched by the temptations of the consumer-heavy west. You can´t get many places in the world these days that are more organic than that!

The home of Buena Vista Social Club, salsa, rumba and hot dancing (there's really no other way to describe it!), Cuba is one music-passionate place. Walking through the Old Town streets of Habana, it's all you'll hear amongst the low buzz of old 52 Ford taxi's and banana freight trucks. They play from their hearts, these Cubans, and it's a good thing too because their repressive government, led by Fidel Castro, gives them little else to get excited about.

A woman at our casa (home… like a B&B) told me she earned more at her current waiting tables (a job which tips she relies solely on to make a living) earns more now than when she taught English where she earned about 260 pesos (roughly 20 pounds). Despite having a business degree in Marketing she can do little with it as she there are no private businesses in Cuba nor is she allowed to leave the country… very few Cubans are.

You see, beyond the minority of the rich officials, it seems by most accounts that it is only the musicians who have a fair chance of earning an ok wage in Cuba. They also have a better chance of leaving their country… albeit temporarily. So brilliant at what they do it's easy to understand why. They play as if their instruments are an extension of their body. They move a lot as they play also, playing as if they were born music-makers… I guess they were.

This is organic, live music at its best. It is rare that they would have help to set up electronic instruments and are lucky to be attached to a sound system or have a sound engineer adjusting their instruments – nope, none of those behind the scenes gents you´d find anywhere else in the world helping the greats sound great.

If you ever make it to Habana, Cuba, the experience would not be complete without a visit to either the Jazz Café (for Saturday night jazz and delicious cocktails), Las Vegas (Friday night locals ramba), La Llovia De Oro (any night great salsa band) or Calle Jon De Hamel (a Sunday day jam in the colourful street filled with art and sculptures made by the locals).

If you can't make it to Cuba, So Organic have a range of Jazz and World Music by maestros from all over the world you can engross your ears with the tasty tuneful treats of international musicians.

Tourism is important to Native American Indians since they were introduced to the monetary trade ways of the west. It’s their bread and butter so to speak, despite having survived very well (not to mention more peacefully) without money just a few hundred years ago. Now many of the Hopi and Navajo peoples are confined to reservations, which having seen these desolate lands first hand, are far from the wild and lush lands of yesteryear.

What we can do to help when we’re buying the ´keepsakes´and treasures of the native peoples in any country we visit is to buy from authentic crafters and taking tours with people that respect the ways of the people that live on their sacred lands. In the south west of America there are shops everywhere selling American Indian art and collectables like dream catchers and turquoise jewellery. It’s a question of authenticity rather than availability. But there are organizations out there looking out for the authentic craftspeople. The not-for-profit Council for Indigenous Arts and Culture informs people where they can buy original indigenous arts and crafts.

I picked up one flyer that told me how you can tell the difference between an authentic piece and a copy; what material you should look for (ie a written disclosure on the raw component of the stones used should be included with the receipt); and the questions you should ask to ensure you’re getting what you really want (i.e. is it Handmade or Handcrafter – the latter requires less skill, the artists name and tribal affiliation and whether the stones used are natural, stabilized or imitations). They also provide a Shop with Confidence brochure that lists the businesses and sponsors who are committed to authenticity and the honest representation of Native American Indian arts and crafts. You can find these members of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association at www.atada.org

There are also laws such as the Indian Arts and Craft Act that protects indigenous arts and culture from misrepresentation. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your home work as there are still profiteers who are willing to sacrifice integrity for the sake of an easy tourist buck.

When planning a visit to this ancient land visit the Northern Arizona Native American Culture Trail. And also check out the visitor´s centre in Flagstaff, a great resource to help you discover more about the ways of the Native American culture.