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!

This is a deliciously exotic and original punch I helped make with a Mexican family I stayed within the beautiful quaint town of Guanjuato (it´s about a two hour drive north of Mexico City and absolutely worth the trek out there). New mum Nayeli explained to me the finer points of making this traditional punch. Mexican´s many make this for Christmas or Posada which is a time of celebration and many parties are thrown the week before Christmas. Nayeli says that if you smell it in the streets you know that Christmas is just around the corner. But it's a wonderful drink in any season. 

To make roughly 6-8 litres of punch combine in one or two large pots (terracotta Mexican bowls are preferable of course but you´ll achieve the same flavour with the trusty ol European variety):

2 sliced apples
2 oranges segmented
20 whole pitted prunes
6 small quartered guavas
half a pineapple cut into 2cm cubes
an 80cm length of sugar cane cut into 1cm x 20cm strips
a handful of dried Jamaican flower petals (you can find these in specialty health food shops)
4 large peels pods of fresh tamarind
10 fresh halved tejocote (a native Mexican fruit similar to quince, which you can use instead)
A handful of sultanas
2 handfuls of sugar
1 stick of cinnamon
4 litres of water

Head for about 1 hour then taste to see if all the fruit flavours have combines and the sugar has dissolved. Pour into small terracotta cups and add the sugar cane sticks so that they stick out of the cup (a little like you’d pop a stick of celery in a Bloody Mary).

Though pregnant with her second child and the fact that she has a generally displeased taste for alcohol (how very “un-Mexican” she says), Nayeli suggests adding rum for an even more warming effect on those cold winter days (it is the festive season after all!). You can also add pecan for a more nutty flavour.

This is a great alternative to mulled wine though the flavour is very different you will certainly impress your winter party guests.

Recently I heard two very different birthing stories about two very different cultures which I thought may be of interest to all those new Mum’s to be that are interested in bringing their newborns into the World as naturally and safely as possible.

The first was from a 35 year old Mexican woman, 2 months pregnant with her second child. Over guava, banana, papaya and pear salad with homemade strawberry yoghurt, Isabella told us of the ´maternity ward reality´ of Mexican hospitals. Apparently the general consensus amongst doctors here is that it is better for the baby to be born at the 8th month mark instead of allowing them to grow to full term. 

The second shocking fact (which holds true in the good hospitals as well as the poor) is that doctors actually encourage women to have caesareans, often after confirming both mother and unborn child have perfect health throughout the pregnancy only to make up a health problem or complication right before the birth time. This is so common that it is considered normal practice.

Isabella also told us of how she was laughed at by a doctor when she demanded to breastfeed her first child whilst still in the hospital. They wanted her to use the milk formulation the hospital supplied. It is as if the health professionals of this health system have been trained to take the natural out of the most natural process that occurs in life. This kind of story is not restricted to one small Central American country.

Women in the UK have spoken of similar experiences where control of their labour has been stripped from them at a time when they are somewhat powerless amongst the popular opinions of the professionals. Gas or epidurals being given without consent or conversely withheld when demanded, are quite common. It is when I hear these stories that I think of how important it is for women to share their positive stories of natural births in order to pass on their knowledge and the knowledge they’ve learnt from their elders.

Two stories come to mind. One is about a friend of mine, Sarah who recently had a homebirth. She convinced herself that she would have a painless, easy and quick labour… and guess what? She did.  It took one and half hours to push wee Amelie out. Could it be the power of positive thinking or a natural fluke?

The aboriginal culture of Australia may agree with Sarah that preparing for yourself birth– mind, body and physical space – goes a long way to making labour a beautiful rather than painful experience. To prepare or and give birth to their children the aborigine women who still follow their old cultural customs go off on their own into the bush to give birth. They dig a pit then line it with Boab flowers, crouching in the hole to allow the baby to come out as easy and painlessly as the body will allow. The reason they us the Boab flower is because it supposedly contains energetic qualities that help the new child cut any genetic characteristics that are not useful or relinquish past life issues that are not serving to their spirit in this life.

If you have any positive, natural labour stories you’d like to pass on to other women please send them to us and we’ll help to share them.

… 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!