It’s 2012, so we had to make a visit to Tikal, perhaps the best preserved Maya site in the world. Much like Machu Picchu, the complex was overgrown and hidden by jungle until its discovery to Western expeditions in the 1850s. Tikal itself was abandoned during the Maya collapse where in a scenario that would make Malthus proud, the empire could not sustain its own exploding population. In the past century, UPenn (alumni pride for Susan)...

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And on to Central America! Our first stop was in Antigua, Guatemala to spend a couple nights with our friends Josh and Susan who are working as missionaries for Kids Alive International. Antigua itself is a cobblestone charmer with a rich colonial history preserved in many of the buildings. Antigua derives its name from being the old capitol, which moved after repeated earthquakes. As you can see below, many of the churches reveal the...

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