Maya Roads: One Woman's Journey Among the People of the Rainforest

by Mary Jo McConahay

Northern California Book Award Recipient 

In Maya Roads, McConahay draws upon her three decades of traveling and living in Central America's remote landscapes to create a fascinating chronicle of the people, politics, archaeology, and species of the Central American rainforest, the cradle of Maya civilization. Captivated by the magnificence and mystery of the jungle, the author brings to life the intense beauty, the fantastic locales, the ancient ruins, and the horrific violence. She witnesses archaeological discoveries, the transformation of the Lacandon people, the Zapatista indigenous uprising in Mexico, increased drug trafficking, and assists in the uncovering of a war crime. Over the decades, McConahay has witnessed great changes in the region, and this is a unique tale of a woman's adventure and the adaptation and resolve of a people.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Journalism

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Mary Jo McConahay is the author of the exciting new non-fiction book on World War II in Latin America, The Tango War, The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II, starred in reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Kirkus. She is author of Ricochet, Two Women War Reporters and a Friendship under Fire, and Maya Roads, One Woman's Journey among the People of the Rainforest. Maya Roads is a National Geographic Traveler Book of the Month, winner of the Northern California Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, three Independent Book Awards including best new nonfiction book, and named Best Travel Essay Book by the Independent Publishers Awards. McConahay has been named the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year, considered equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize in the genre. A journalist, Mary Jo is also a documentary filmmaker.

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacandon Rainforest (Guatemala/Mexico) --Latin America-- (1973-2010)

"You can never go back to a place and expect it to be the same. (185)"

Format: The chapters were pretty episodic, so there was always a catalyst to start and an "ending" to each. And the first and last chapters also take place in the same setting, thirty-seven years apart, to "close the circle". The middle chapters seem to vacillate between visiting a Mayan site and bringing someone's war story to light. The epilogue tacked onto the end is almost entirely devoted to blaming the US for the drug cartels (earning $40 billion a year) being able to afford to intimidate the government officals, ruin the rainforest, and force "young indigenous men emigrating to look for work in the United States" to end up working in gangs running drugs.

I was expecting it to be more of a travelogue (it won a couple awards related to traveling), but it definitely ended with more of a "save the rainforest and indigenous peoples" vibe. I enjoyed the parts where she explored the ancient sites and wondered what life was like for the ancient Mayans; and I learned a lot about the Mexican and Guatemalan "hidden war" (counterinsurgency) again the Indians.

So, it wasn't what I was expecting, but I did enjoy her writing. I wish she would have spent more time talking about the history of the Maya and their way of life, but it is apparent that she is more focused on the oppression/modernization of the currently living Mayan Indians.


--------------Quotes from the book ---------------

How remote from civilization these forest people lived! How entwined with the nature around them. They honored ancient gods, drank sacred substances to achieve heightened states of mind. Fewer than four hundred survived in remotes jungle. They were said to be the last of the Maya, whose ancestors had built the great Mesoamerican rainforest cities more than a thousand years ago. (4)

I knew Naha did not exist for my benefit, that lamenting change for others was romanticizing men and women, which takes their humanity away and can only lead to trouble. (185) [Although she does it frequently throughout the book]

Revolution in Mesoamerica was a wheel...In each place, suffering led to rebellion, which brought on counterinsurgency, including civilian massacres and [dislocated communities]. The US role in each conflict [was] aimed to repress genuine change, to maintain an antebellum status quo. (200)

[The Zapatistas] purpose was to draw attention to the death in the life of Maya, existing in worse conditions in the twentieth century than in the sixteenth. (200)

The United States had sent Mexico helicopters and other weapons for the "drug war." The Mexican army used them against Zapatista combatants and civilians. (221)

In the years I have been coming to Peten... I have watched the rainforest of Gran Peten reduced by half. At ancient Mayan sites, I no longer automatically expect to [be able to] return. (243)

Peasant farmers looking for land continue to arrive in the forest while Guatemala and Mexico lay out "development" plans. (245)

A government tourism and development project called Cuarto Balam...maintains Peten should be protected for its biodiversity yet must shoulder its weight in a poor country by producing revenue. (246)

[Jean Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

For starters, this is a most beautiful book--with its glorious cover photo and the illustrations of traditional Maya icons that preface each chapter. It's so rare to have pictures in adult books! But a book is the words, and how marvelously Mary Jo McConahay knits them together. Some of her images I will not forget--e.g. "at the nape of the neck, where the hair was gathered, each woman wore a clutch of dead birds. Those birds just hung there form the knots where the long, black hair had been pulled together, lushly colored dead birds that must have been somehow magically preserved, whose wearing marked the women as natural members of the forest, yet its conquerors, too, a race of queens."

Reading this travel memoir allowed me to enter strange places where I might not have the courage to go; it helped me to understand the politics that have made life so precarious for the Maya; it made me aware of the great beauty of creation. Pity and terror--that's what the ancients thought made for tragedy. There's plenty of both in this book. In these alluring and forbidding Maya Roads, McConahay is a trustworthy guide. And the book is "a page turner" to boot.

[Anne Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful travel memoir! Interesting narrative packed with Mayan history (in a very readable format).

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Jo is an accomplished journalist and filmmaker who was a witness to Central American civil wars during the seventies into the eighties. Maya Roads is a unique kind of memoir in which she tells us about maya culture, history, language and philosophy through her varied personal experiences in Guatemala and Mexico in Maya countryside. I love how she tells us those stories: she went first as a tourist, then as a participant in an archeological dig, and then a long period as a journalist, with a final role as tourist again, but with a purpose, still documenting and recording history. It has, in fact, been classified as a 'travel' book, for which she won the Best Creative Nonfiction Book of the Year -- 2012 Northern California Book Awards. To me this is only one facet of a well written book. What has happened to the land and the people with the drug cartels is truly tragic, in so many ways. I like that she does not impose her POV on the reader. We are left to think about and perhaps research further what she tell us. Kudos to Mary Jo! I understand she is hard at work on a new book, non-fiction, on a totally different subject. Am looking forward to it!

[Nita · Rating 2 out of 5]

After one hundred pages I quit reading Maya Roads. At my age I do not have time to spend on things that do not hold my attention.

[Tomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Jo McConahay brings a keen eye, sharp mind, and compassionate heart to her writing. Each chapter contains an exploration into the Maya world. To her credit, even when discussing the historical Maya, her writings are always contextualized in the modern. This is something that is often overlooked in discussing the Maya: they're still around today. She still has a tendency to romanticize some elements of traditional Maya culture, presenting issues as dualities even when she does provide fairly extensive background on the subjects she's discussing, but it was a fun, informative read.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 52 countries reading challenge is certainly the best thing that has been happening to my reading life in 2012: so many books or countries I would not have read about. With Maya Roads, I went to Guatemala, or I accompanied the author as she visited and revisited the country in the span of a few decades.

Maya Roads is a very enriching book, full of the passion of the author for the beauty of the landscape and the people, different and hospitable; and for its rich history and archeology. But it is also a very realistic book about what has happened to Guatemala in more recent years through...

to read my full review, please go to:
http://wordsandpeace.com/2012/05/08/2...

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

(kindle) A very interesting account of the authors travels throughout the jungle of both Southern Mexico and Northern Guatemala, over the last 30 yrs., starting with her fascination with the Lacandon Indians in Mexico, when she was in her 20's. Besides her trips to visit the amazing Mayan ruins throughout the area, she has given us an eyewitness descriptions of some of the most important happenings in the area including war and the aftermath of massacres, and today's drug lords. Her description of the area, the people, animals a feeling of the jungle really makes one feel as if they are riding along with her on those long bus rides.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could say I loved this book. I wanted to. The author is a professional journalist who documented Central and South American wars, etc. It kind of reads like a National Geographic article...and at times I found myself lost, wondering if she had explained something and I had missed it, or perhaps she just assumed I had a previous knowledge of all of the atrocities that occurred on Guatemalan soil. I certainly learned a lot, although it also brought up so many other questions that I felt were unanswered...so I will have to do some more reading to make sense of it all!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books that I read in 2012. Nonfiction but it's like reading an extremely well written adventure story which is true, poignant, sad, informative and up lifting. The subject matter is very dear to my heart since I was very involved with Guatemalan Maya refugees and Central America and visited some of the same places.

[Andy Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maya Roads is an engrossing book, one of the best works of travel journalism I have ever ready. The author spent 30 years living and working in Guatemala as a journalist and war correspondent. Her love for the land and for the people is evident in every page. Her passion for social justice infuses the entire book.

[Ida · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wandering travelogue over a period of 20 years. Some parts were engrossing, others not so much. The author seemed fearless travelling alone into untravelled and sometimes dangerous areas of Mexico and Guatemala.

[Val Wilkerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book written about a woman who did extensive traveling thru Mexico, Guatamala and Beliz over 30 years because of her interest in the Mayan People and history. This will make you want
to take a trip. Loved her vivid descriptions of the rain forests.

[Trish Remley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good information. Most upsetting - how US policies did not take into account the native people.

[Krysti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a great memoir but the presentation of historical facts is found more logically lain out elsewhere.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written book about the author's return to Mayan areas near Chiapas, Mexico and the Peten area in Guatemala that she had visited many years before. I learned a lot and loved her story.

[Terry Turrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting life story. This made me want to visit the Maya pyramids in southern Mexico this year.

[Vicky Whitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the journey of this lady as she traveled through this remote area.