Five hundred years ago the first contact between the great civilizations of Mesoamerica and Europe was just beginning. But it did not begin with Cortes’ landing in Mexico in 1519. Eight years earlier, a small lifeboat from a shipwrecked Spanish vessel drifted ashore on the southern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The local Maya did not...Read More
The Toltecs are the most mysterious and controversial group from ancient Mesoamerica. The interpretation of their importance to the greater cultural traditions of the region have ranged from seeing them as the “mother culture” from which all others sprang, to a group that didn’t even exist historically and were nothing but a figment of the Aztec...Read More
On Far Horizons’ Easter Island Tour Including Tapati Festival, you can experience a truly unique history and culture. Learn more about the Tapati Festival.Read More
The Omo Valley of southern Ethiopia is one of the last undiscovered places in the world. Three of Ethiopia’s eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites are found here and more than 200,000 people representing many different ethnic groups call the area home. Here you will meet people from local tribes, including the Dorze, Mursi and Hamer. The...Read More
Ethiopia, formerly called Abyssinia, is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world. Perched atop Africa’s highest plateau, the country is protected by forbidding deserts and tropical lowlands. Despite its apparent mountainous isolation, Ethiopia has long been a crossroads for Africa, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean, and a site of dynamic interaction...Read More
As the August moon waxes in the Buddhist month of Esala, the most flamboyant of festivals takes over the medieval royal city of Kandy in Sri Lanka. The procession includes fire jugglers swinging flaming torches, lively acrobats, a cacophony of percussionists pounding traditional drums, almost 5,000 dancers clanging finger cymbals, musicians, whip crackers, torch bearers,...Read More
By Malcolm David Eckel For a traveler in Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand, there is no more satisfying experience than to step out of the noise and commotion of the city into the quiet space of a Buddhist temple. Monks in saffron robes move lightly through the courtyards, men and women make offerings or sit quietly...Read More
Long the bastion of all that is good and true in British culture, the pub occupies the place today that it has held for many centuries, as the spot where society is daily glued together through the medium of beer. As we journey from Newcastle in the northeast to Stonehenge and Salisbury in the southwest,...Read More
As I unpack my suitcase, the scent of India permeates my room. All it takes is a momentary glimpse of a sparkling blue sari – an impulse buy in Tanjore – peaking out from under the pile of clothes and I am suddenly back to that place of vibrant colors, exotic spices and mystifying sounds…...Read More
by Cathy Scofield Cathy traveled with us on our new Crusades trip in October 2010. Read on to hear her experience on the trip! Study Leader: John France Tour Manager: Mary Dell Lucas A Brief History of the Crusades Historically, the Crusades were a Western European Catholic 200-year long series of quests to ‘rescue’ Jerusalem...Read More
