The Long and Short of Mayan Calendars

December 8, 2011 Red Hunt 1 Comment

Have you heard that the world is going to end on December 12, 2012? According to some that is what the Mayans predict – well, what their calendar predicts.

I’ve enjoyed plenty of time travelling through Mayan areas in modern day Mexico and Guatemala and have to admit I’d be kind of bummed out if the world ended in 2012. So I did a little digging and am happy to say, with confidence, that the world will not end in December 2012.

You see, this ‘end of the world’ concept is an improper interpretation of the Mayan calendar. What is even more interesting is that the Mayans had many calendars, all with different purposes.

Tikal, Guatemala — Jungle scenery at the Mayan Ruins of Tikal in Guatemala

The Mayan Long Count Calendar

This is the one that is associated with all the doom and gloom. The cycle of the long count calendar is soon coming to an end. But it has come to an end before, this is not the first time! In reality, when December 2012 arrives it will be a time of celebration as the Mayan people would be celebrating a change – a transition – of one world to another. The sun will still rise and set as it always has, as according to the long count calendar we will enter a new cycle of creation called the golden age. Sounds much better than end of the world doesn’t it?

The complexity of Mayan calendars comes in the fact that they do not just measure time, they’re more dynamically linked to civilization. A mix of daily life, understanding the cosmos and natural life cycles is what makes them somewhat mystical, giving Mayan calendars a more prophetic interpretation than our common Gregorian calendar.

The Mayan Tzolk’in Calendar

This is the most ancient of all Mayan calendar systems. It uses a 260-day cycle and began more than 2600 years ago. Most people believe the length of the calendar is linked to the 9-month time frame of a human pregnancy. The Mayans hold this calendar in highest regard, with it still being use today by Maya people in Mexico and Guatemala. (Yes, it is true there are still descendants of the Maya living today!)

Tulum, Mexico - Mayan Ruins — Mayan Ruins in Tulum, Mexico

The calendar is an interesting combination of days and day names. The day names come from the Mayan belief that the days of their calendar are living entities, more powerful than ourselves. Call it creepy or call it cool, it sure makes our standard calendar seem pretty lame.

The Haab Calendar

This is the 365-day Mayan calendar that focuses on planetary and cosmic events similar to the Gregorian calendar many of us follow today. Pretty simple to understand. But…that’s not the end of it.

This calendar, combined with the Tzolk’in calendar, create the Calendar Round, a 52-year cycle! These round calendars are now popularized as souvenirs for tourists, but they once played a huge role in the building of Mayan pyramids at sites like Chichen Itza.

What it all boils down to is that the Maya had a complex set of calendars linked to the important events in their lives. None of them predict the end of the world, but being cyclical in nature some of them do come to an end and need to start over.

So don’t worry, you’ll still be around in 2013, as will the descendants of the Maya!

Beer

Fantastic Five from Innis & Gunn

December 2, 2011 Red Hunt Leave a comment

This past Monday was better than most as the fun people from Innis & Gunn in Scotland held a special beer dinner at Fynn’s Temple Bar in Toronto.

Innis & Gunn - Oak Aged Beer from Scotland

I had the event on my radar for some time but had totally forgotten about it until Nic Rennie, the rep for Innis & Gunn Canada sent a tweet that reminded me. There were two things I was looking forward to about the event – first was trying five different beers of theirs and second was trying Innis & Gunn on tap for the first time (they’ve only begun setting up bars with kegs of their beers the last couple of months).

Having been to a beer event at Fynn’s in the past I also knew that chef Patrick Narain would deliver some tasty creations to match the beers.

If you haven’t had any Innis & Gunn beers yet, they’re known for a sweet, buttery flavour profile which comes from maturing the beers in oak barrels. At first it might sound somewhat one-dimensional, but after sampling five different beers of theirs on Monday I can say each one had its own characteristics to make it stand out from the others.

Innis & Gunn Original Oak Aged Beer (pint)

This beer is so smooth it is dangerous, yet it isn’t a light weight beer at 6.6%. The sweetness of this golden-glow beer is more subdued on tap, with a less caramel-y taste. It is a fun mix of toffee sweetness, vanilla and slight whisky hints. You do have to be in the right mood for a beer that has such a sweet profile, but on tap it is wonderful and I can see this becoming a common sight at more bars in the near future. It was so good, I had to order an extra pint before the actual event started.

Innis & Gunn Rum Cask Oak Aged Beer

I’ve had this beer before and expected to favour it over the original, but when sampling one after the other, I still preferred the original. This is a darker beer with a slightly rum-raisin taste to it. Still fairly sweet with the characteristically butter finish that the original has.

Very nice beer that was served with a tasty mulligatawny soup to start the dinner part of the night.

Innis & Gunn Spiced Rum Finish

A new beer from the Scottish brewery and probably the most unique flavour profile. A dark amber colour, it had plenty of vanilla and toffee taste, but the spiciness cut through quick enough so that you weren’t left with a lingering sweetness. The dark chocolate chicken wings that it came with had a great taste and complemented the sweet and spicy beer profile.

Innis & Gunn Original and Rum Cask Oak Aged Beers (sorry, iPhone photo!)

Mind you, by this time our table had a few extra glasses of Innis & Gunn beers floating around so the ‘which beer goes with which food’ concept began to deteriorate.

Innis & Gunn Highland Cask

While it may not be the popular choice, the Highland Cask remains my personal favourite Innis & Gunn brew. It is a dark amber beer that has a whisky vanilla taste to it. At over 7% it drinks way to easy for a beer of it’s strength! I thought it had a sweeter profile than the spiced rum, yet the alcohol was enough to punch through any potential caramel sweet overdose. I really enjoyed the finish of this beer, not too sweet with some surprising bitterness.

This beer came with a tasty lamb and vegetable stew, which was well received by everyone at our table.

Innis & Gunn Winter Beer 2011

Another new brew that I hadn’t had previously. There was a good amount of oak and alcohol in this one, perhaps the oakiest of their beers. I felt it was a bolder beer than the rest of the offerings and I caught some hints of fruit and earthiness in this one to go along with the usual Innis & Gunn profile.

Meal-wise we finished things off with a cranberry bread pudding, which was fantastic.

I went into this event looking forward to some sweet and oak-y beers and that is what I got. I’ve been a fan of the Innis & Gunn beers for some time now and featured their special Canada Day beer during the 95 Beers of Summer Series. Unlike many brewers who try to create a beer to fit every taste, Innis & Gunn has found a niche that works well for them. Sure, the joke is that they stumbled upon their butter beer style by accident…but it works. While they are all different, there is a definite commonality between all the Innis & Gunn beers, which means if you like one of them, you’ll likely enjoy them all.

If you live in Ontario, look for a great Innis & Gunn holiday gift pack at the LCBO so you can sample a few of their beers yourself. They’ve recently announced they are brewing a stout too, which I am really looking forward to! From what Nic Rennie said we should expect it here in February. Can’t wait.

Travel Photos

Wildlife Photo: Sri Lankan Sloth Bear

November 30, 2011 Red Hunt 2 Comments

When it comes to wildlife photography, a long lens is your best friend, but then every so often you get surprised and find yourself almost too close!

That is what happened to me in Sri Lanka. I was looking for leopards in Ruhuna National Park. We had spotted one far away in the distance in a tree, but still only a speck with my longest zoom lens. Then only minutes later as our 4WD vehicle turned a corner, this mother Sri Lankan Sloth Bear appeared and crossed our path.

She was so close that with my long lens I only managed to snap a few quick photos before she meandered away, into some dense shrubs. I’ve seen Grizzly and Black bears in North America, but the Sloth bears I saw in Sri Lanka remain my favourite.

A Sri Lankan Sloth Bear in Yala National Park

Travel Photos

Wildlife Photos: Maasai Giraffe

November 23, 2011 Red Hunt 2 Comments

Watching giraffes walk is one of the simple pleasures I enjoyed on safari in Africa.

These great animals quickly became one of my favourite animals, especially the Maasai Giraffe. Also called the Masai or Kilimanjaro Giraffe, this is the tallest land animal and largest of all giraffe species.

Interestingly, giraffes can sleep standing up, or lying down and only sleep for 4-5 hours a day. They’re about 6 feet tall at birth and once fully grown they have no predators to fear as their speed and kicking power can either outrun or kill animals such as lions. Their only moment of weakness is when they are clumsily bent over trying to drink.

Maasai Giraffe, Tanzania — Maasai Giraffe - Distinguished by the colour and shape of their markings

A Maasai Giraffe eating in the Serengeti — The tallest land animal on Earth - Maasai Giraffe

A Thirsty Giraffe in the Serengeti — A Maasai Giraffe drinking in the Serengeti

Travel Articles

The Wild West of Madagascar

November 21, 2011 Red Hunt Leave a comment

I had been in Madagascar a couple of weeks already, doing plenty of Lemur-spotting, canoeing, hiking and sitting in a really hot, uncomfortable truck for hours at a time.

After exploring some of the more remote parks, it was time to head to one of the most accessible and most popular areas of Madagascar – Isalo National Park. The route there was mostly flat, dry grasslands with the occasional red dirt village here and there. Getting closer we reached Ilakaka, the Wild West town of Madagascar. Back in 1998 sapphires were first discovered here, causing somewhat of a mining rush for the Malagasy people.

Isalo National Park in the distance — View of Canyon des Makis and Canyon des Rats, Isalo National Park, Madagascar

With such possible rewards came plenty of risks, as violence in the area had also seen a sharp increase. That first sapphire discovery had been years earlier but the lure of sapphires remained in the area. I didn’t see any sapphires as we drove through Ilakaka to Isalo but there was a certain vibe of uneasy excitement to the area.

At dinner just outside of Isalo a few of us met our local guide for the next day. He’d be taking us on a morning hike then a afternoon hike to a natural swimming pool in Isalo. Sounded like great fun as he also guaranteed some Lemurs.

The next morning comes and the small group of us were enjoying breakfast. Typical fare in Madagascar – eggs, dry toast, bananas and tea. Oddly our driver / guide, Claude, was missing from the morning meal. We figure he slept in since the local guide would be picking us up soon for our hike. But after 20 minutes, half an hour, we began to wonder. The town seemed eerily quiet too, not a lot of commotion going on in the streets.

Elephant Foot Plant, Isalo National Park — An Elephant Foot Plant at Isalo National Park

Finally after almost an hour of waiting Claude appeared but he seemed shaken up a bit. After a bit of back and forth we figure out that our local guide – Jacques – will be along shortly. When asked why he is late, the answer wasn’t clear, Claude didn’t want to tell us something. Finally we find out – one of Jacques’ brother had been beheaded by bandits the night before!

What the??

Out here, not far from the Wild West sapphire city of Madagascar, violence had reared it’s ugly head. As Jacques’ brother was on his way home the night before he was approached by two men. These men demanded he give them his Zebus (local humped cows). Since he used these Zebus for farming his fields, they were his only source of income. It is how he supported himself and his family. So he refused. They used a machete to chop off his head.

Jacques and many villagers had been at the funeral that morning. But he was adamant about taking us on our hikes that day, apologizing for being late. We wanted to give him time to himself, however it was also clear that the few dollars we’d provide him for his services were too valuable for him to give up.

It was a pretty sombre start to the day. One of those events that helps put everything into perspective and helps you realize how privileged ‘we’ are as travellers. We learned a lot from Jacques, who had a huge passion for the park and natural environment in which he lived. He was an enthusiastic guide even during such a time of grieving. We managed to get some smiles out of him and a few laughs. As hard as it was, it was nice to see that life goes on.

Rest stop after hiking in Isalo National Park — Sitting with Jacques - Taking a Rest after Hiking in Isalo

The next day, it was time to move on from Isalo. As we left, we found out that for some Malagasy tribes, in particular the Bara people, stealing Zebus is a rite of passage. For a young man to become an adult they must steal Zebus from someone else. It seemed more like a case of greed here, as such violent acts were not the norm. Perhaps it was an overflow of the nearby sapphire city and wild west atmosphere that had cost the life of an innocent farmer.

I never did find out if they had caught the people who beheaded Jacques’ brother or what would happen to them if they did.

Red Hunt Travel