Guatemala

 October 20, 2022

I am like a drop of water on a rock. After drip, drip, dripping in the same place, I begin to leave a mark, and I leave my mark in many people's hearts.

~ Rigoberta Menchu, Guatemalan activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.

Guatemala is a new-to-us country and we know very little about it other than news reports of drug cartels, violence and many of its citizens making the long trek to our southern border, hoping to slip into the US for a better life. Our guide today, however, wanted to show us the beauty of her country and its people and reasons to stay. 

The coastal plains offer tropical beauty and rich, arable land, the not-so-distant mountains a reminder of the area's volcanic past.

We left the lowlands near Puerto Quetzal, and headed into the hills to a drive-through safari park. Years ago, when our children were young, we did something similar at the beautiful country estate of Longleat in England. (Think Downton Abbey with vast enclosures for monkeys, giraffes, gazelle, and zebra, and lions, leopards and tigers--in a completely separate area, of course.) Back then, we had a spot of trouble in the simian enclosure because the monkeys kept hopping up onto the hood of our rental car, trying to rip the rubber off our wiper blades! No worries this time. We were in a large coach.

The first section of the safari park was dedicated to African and, in the case of this emu, Australian wildlife. We saw them running wild outside of Esperanza in 2018 (See the DH's photo montage on that day's post!) The flock in Guatemala seemed just as at home here as those down under did.

The giraffe and its enclosure-mates showed no fear of the motorized traffic, or of the predators in the next enclosure. 

Fun fact: Even though a giraffe's neck can be up to 8 ft. long and weigh 600 hundred pounds, it still only has 7 vertebrae in its neck, the same as ours.

The lions were well-fed and definitely not interested in us or any of their furry neighbors.

To get from one enclosure to the next at Longleat, we passed through large heavily monitored doors, a la Jurassic Park. Here, the gate from one area to the next was controlled by a rope that was controlled by a guard perched in a tree stand. We had a little incident with the ropes because our coach was too tall to pass under them easily. An escape hatch on the roof caught on one of them and the hatch was ripped right off. Our clever driver hopped out, wild beasts and all, and shinnied up to gerry-rig it back on. 

Then we left the drive-through section of the park, left the bus, and hiked over to the section dedicated to animals indigenous to Guatemala. 

This snub-nosed cayman is much smaller than its crocodile and alligator cousins, but I still wouldn't want to swim with one!

Puma aren't as big as their African relatives, but can still weigh up to 260 lbs. I'm not about to say, "Here, kitty, kitty," to this one!

There were also smaller, and much louder, animals like this howler monkey. And a colorful macaw and this toucan who was playing peek-a-boo behind some leaves.

Lots of the smaller animals were curled up in the corners or covered portions of their cages because they are nocturnal, so not every enclosure revealed a new animal to us. 

It rained intermittently and we were walking over uneven terrain so sometimes, our views were downward. I enjoyed seeing the imprints of large leaves on the impressionable ground.

Our trip back to the ship was uneventful, save for the leak in the ceiling of the bus, which happened to be right above our seats. Our guide asked if we'd like to have them stop and call for another coach, but we told her we weren't made of sugar and wouldn't melt. Our driver raced the oncoming storm, and we arrived back at the Eurodam safely, albeit soggily.

I totally don't fault our guide or the tour company for the problem with the skylight. Guatemala hasn't had tourists for a long time and a few kinks need to be worked out yet. We were delighted to see more of the country, its animals, and most of all, its people. Everyone was very welcoming and the safari park was a family-friendly area. It was fun to see moms and dads taking their children around. 

Some travelers complain when they run into rain, but every inch of this earth needs it. I'm grateful for it at home so I need to be thankful for it when we travel as well.

Good-bye, Guatemala! We loved our time with you!