A food and features journalist, Rachel Forrest has interviewed and written about hundreds of luminaries, including John Updike, Ken Burns and Darryl Hall, and is a co-author of "Maine Classics: 150 Delicious Recipes from Downeast" with James Beard Award-winning chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier. She now lives in the jungle near the Yucatec Maya village of Oxmul Kah, aka San Antonio, in the Cayo District of Belize with her husband and eight rescue dogs, all scooped up from local streets.
During her seven years as an immigrant in this beautiful Central American and Caribbean country with its delightfully diverse cultures, she has navigated unfamiliar social norms and embraced the new, experiencing daily life with all its quirks, adventures, and surprising encounters. Each day reveals something important and enlightening about what it means to be part of a new community. She spends her days exploring Maya foodways and working with local organizations including ABDISA, working to preserve Maya traditions, and a sustainable tourism project. She is the President of Cayo Animal Welfare Society, which helps stray and neglected dogs.
Her current writing projects include an online magazine covering the region and a series of novels set in Cayo.
Rachel Forrest
