Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Hiking in Basuralandia (Garbageland)




One of the least pleasant aspects of Guatemalan culture is the tendency to throw trash everywhere except in waste bins, which are almost non-existent.


This was especially troublesome when I took one of the hyped hikes to a huge waterfall just outside Nebaj. Athough the falls were very nice, you had to walk through a trail of garbage to get to them. There were signs warning of a fine for throwing garbage, but these were obviously completely ignored.


The river feeding the waterfall runs through the town and is more of an open sewer.


Nonetheless, once past the garbage, the walk was pleasant and the falls were nice.


Just too bad that environmental consciousness is slow to catch on.









No comments: