Gringos Viene!
Gringos are coming! The shout came from an adorable 5 year old girl named Andrea as she saw us walk down the road with our backpacks on. We had arrived at Ranchito Del Quetzal, a small hotel located at the entrance to Biotopo Del Quetzal, in Altaverpaz, Guatemala. We had only been there for about 10 minutes when Andrea came running up to our room yelling, "un quetzal, un quetzal!" and pointing at the tree above the hotel. Sure enough there was the amazing national bird of Guatemala, complete with 2 foot long tail feathers.
We were able to watch the bird for about an hour. It was especially amazing as it darted off the branch to snatch bugs from the air. It looked like a dancer trailing ribbons through the trees. Our photos didn´t turn out so good but after seeing other peoples attempts at photographing quetzals we dont feel quite so bad.
We went on a hike behind the hotel in the evening and were excited to see a giant weasel! It was about 4 feet long and looked like a black river otter with a white head. We saw it twice as it foraged through the cloud forest.
We also woke at 1:30 in the morning to the chittering of ring-tailed cats climbing in the trees above our room.
The next day we awoke to sunshine and spent the day in the reserve. Cloud forest in Guatemala is rapidly disappearly, mainly due to demand from the floral industry. All of those ferns that you get when you buy a boquet of flowers are grown here on land that used to be cloud forest! Who would have guessed...it is sad to see the barren hillsides with tiny islands of forest left.
The forest cover was so thick that it was challenging to see birds (or other creatures) hiding in the trees. We constantly thought we saw tails of quetzals, but they were usually leaves drifting down or branches waggling in the wind.
One of the coolest things around are tree ferns. These are ferns that stand upto about 40 feet tall. They even have fiddle heads coming out the top! Apparently they are one of the oldest plants around with fossils dating back to the time of the dinosaurs.
posted by Chrissy and Kevin @ 11:18 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Beautiful imagery. :)
hi chrissy and kevin... so fun to finally see all of your photos.. and i've been super curious to your whereabouts... but some how had managed to lose track of your blog site.... so... i googled it this evening and of course came up with an all spanish site.. and then finally within that a very cute picture of the two of you all tan and adorable and happy looking. so ... so great to cyber visit you this evening.. love it.
it looks as if it's wonderful... verdad... no.... i imagine that it is. i miss you both lots.. will be thrilled for photos and commentaries.
it was soooo weird to be home for some short stints.. prior to here and not have you around.. hmmm.... don't get too used to life on the road... or at least... i'll have to come track you down if it becomes habitual.
south america.... may have to be next on your list.. muy muy amable.. que bonita... me gusta mucho.... i just had two weeks... off,... traveling... some with friends in argentina... bariloche.. a beautious mountain town... and some.... on my own in mendoza... northern, warm, wonderful.... and valpariso, chile.. port town... home to pablo neruda's house... the houses alll crammed and tres artistic... on the very steep hillsides... again.. warm.... a welcome change from the southern latitudes... where the scenery is screaming, ridiculous, beautifulll... but... along with it is some alaska like weather... although nothing like courtenay told me tacoma got 7 inches of snow today... can you believe??
and.... i started work again today.. so i have 3 days of prep.. then off again to paddle south, through a national park, in the windiest and in many ways most technical course area i've worked in. beautious.
my spanish is slowly getting better... travelling is quite a help, si?? travelling alone, was quite, underline, an adjustment... although... i really grew to appreciate it as an amazing gift... although,,, at first,,, i really didn't like it, and i'd choosen (wrongly) to go to really remote places and camp... i resurveyed, and headed to warm cities... smart choice.
my course finishes up in early february... and unfortunately, immediately, i head back to work goddard... yikes... oh well.
fortunately.. i get to head back home to my fam... port townsend, and yep, still excited about tom... so we shall see. i believe you'll approve.
perhaps.. these blog comments everyone can read... this is a first.. so i suppose i'll keep it g rated... well... which my life has been viajando.. soltera... at least for the most part.
so... so much love, i'm looking forward to seeing you both soon. it was so fun to think of you at rio dulce and copan ruinas.... are you going to Semuc Champey.. que bonita... although definetly some tourists...
lots of love,xoxox kelley. be well que te vaya bien... buen viajes.. xox
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