30th November 2017 Guatemala City
My time as British Ambassador to Guatemala has come to an end. After slightly more than two years representing the UK in this fascinating country, I am changing my role to become British Ambassador to Honduras. One thing I can say about Guatemala is that I have never been bored here. I arrived in mid-August […]
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21st March 2017 Guatemala City
The next morning we were woken before dawn by the roaring of Howler Monkeys in the trees. We set out early for La Danta. Passing various excavations on the way, at one point our guide removed a tarpaulin to show us something of archaeological interest but all we could see were squirming snakes, tarantulas and […]
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14th March 2017 Guatemala City
Three years ago, when I first heard I was being posted to Guatemala, I spotted in the guide books a mention of a ruined Mayan city deep in the jungle which was only accessible by walking for five days there and back. I instantly decided I had to go there. And finally, last month, I […]
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8th March 2017 Guatemala City
Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragette who led the fight – and it really was a fight – for women’s right to vote in the UK at the turn of the 20th century, is Manchester’s most famous daughter. I feel a particular affinity to her, not only because Manchester is my home town, but also because her […]
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6th February 2017 Guatemala City
It is always an enormous pleasure to go to Antigua. It’s only an hour (in reasonable traffic, that is!) from Guatemala City, but it is like being in a different world, with its beautiful colonial buildings, churches and cobbled streets, its bars, restaurants and language schools, and its relaxed pace of life. A couple of […]