Mostly Maya is dedicated to understanding the culture and archaeology of the Maya.  In it I also work on finding ways to help make budget travel in the Maya areas in Mesoamerica simpler, better and less harmful to the environment.  I look for links and other  information that will be relevant to planning an inexpensive trip via the Internet, though this is best done using the additional advice of a good guide book, such as Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. I also look for better ways to get to some of the more difficult locations by  actually going to them and trying to see what works best. The site is a hobby and it takes no ads; it is my excuse for traveling in Maya areas annually.  I note mostly local sources, with a preference for inexpensive hotels, local tours and other local services that look especially useful to low budget travelers.

        I find it better to deal directly with locally owned agencies and businesses where possible, because they are more likely to keep both income and profits within the local economies. I also plug places or services I like while traveling in Maya areas.  You will also find pages or info that I add for commercial and non-commercial places that seem worthwhile, but which have no website.

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I make no implied claims for any business listed anywhere in this website.  I try to list local and less expensive places, but that is not always possible or feasible, such as with so many good Spanish Schools. Many businesses are listed here,  because they are on the Internet, are mostly local and can facilitate travel.  Use normal caution when dealing with any of them. If you run across one that is listed that gave you a bad deal, please let me know by e-mail at: web_ahau (at) mostlymaya.com.

During our trip in our other 4WD truck, Mike Reed  talked that driver into stopping in at  at a lumber camp in the Petén jungle that we were going past, so he could buy a bottle of chicha, 2 liters of which cost him 5 Quetzals. With barely an afterthought, the group of seven travelers, and four able others, our guide, drivers and assistant,  easily drank it up that evening. I then decided that  I wanted to try it myself later.  I had been kind of bummed out by not getting to the main and original goal of the whole trip, so it was only when I finally got to writing about the trip that I began to remember many good things that took place and also remembered my decision to make chicha. I often think of a saying by a Persian philosopher,  "Accursèd is the man whose words exceed his deeds," so I started right away.

       Pineapple chicha by itself would ferment out to around 5% alcohol, so I juiced up the five gallons I was making a bit to 7% with a few pounds of sugar. I selected a yeast that reliable sources recommend for pineapple. That batch bubbled like I had never seen with other wines or any beers, to the point that it was coming up through the airlock. At first, I was alarmed, but the optimist in me soon decided that it looked promising.

       Later, following my mandatory taste test, I determined that the chicha was very good. Then I bottled 2 liters of the more traditional milky form to take to the June Pre-Columbian Society meeting, and I put in a heated gelatin mix and stirred it to clarify the rest. Several days later, I can honestly say that I have never seen chicha so clarified as in that remaining batch, although it is not up there with commercial wines. I do think it is tastier than the version we tasted in Guatemala.

Although I am so far not done with my trip report, here it is. There will be more photos and a continuation to Guate, but it is a bit delayed.

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