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| After Bruce returned from Africa, and Tass came back from South America, we met as ski bums in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Our first trip together is a six-month journey through Mexico and Guatemala. To see what we look like when we start this trip, along with our tipi in Jackson, click on About Bruce and Tass. We begin in the rainforests of Chiapas state in southern Mexico. Tass is an already an avid birder after traveling in South America. Now she teaches Bruce. We spend days hiking rainforest trails, watching birds, and studying our bird books. |
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We spend six weeks on Isla Mujeres, a small island off the Yucatan coast of Mexico. The second largest barrier reef system in the world begins here in Mexico and extends south past Belize to Honduras.
We snorkel constantly. Between dives we lay on the beach studying our ocean fieldguides, learning about the different varieties of colorful coral and beautiful tropical fish. We excitedly check off each new species, noting the date and location of every sighting. To see a school of tropical fish underwater, |
| Besides birding and learning about the ocean, we want to learn about the Mayan Indians.
The Mayans built huge cities and pyramids throughout Mexico and Central America. This pyramid in Chichen Itza is in the northern part of the Yucatan peninsula. The classic period of the Mayan civilization lasted from 250 AD to 900 AD Most of the ancient Mayan cities were abandoned over a thousand years ago. More information about the Maya will soon be on our Rainforests and Mayan Ruins pages. |
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We travel into the highlands of western Guatemala to visit the Maya of today.
Mayan women are famous for their beautiful weavings. The handmade blouses these women are wearing are called huipils (pronounced wa-peels). Many huipils are nearly as thick as a rug, and might take months to weave. |
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| We stay on the shores of Lake Atitlan, which are surrounded by mountains and volcanoes.
As the sun sets behind the mountains we plan which of the volcanoes we will climb first. |
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The base of the Atitlan volcano is covered with thick tropical rainforest. You can just see the top of the volcano between the trees on the left. |  |
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| After two days of climbing we arrive on top of Acatenango.
The view of Fuego is even better than we had hoped. We take off our backpacks and sit down to watch. About every twenty minutes the ground shakes and we see a huge puff of smoke rise out of the volcano. Only as the plume of ash begins to billow does the sound of the explosion reach us. |
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As the sun goes down we realize that each explosion is accompanied by a large shower of lava and hot rock that we could not see in the bright daylight.
We know we are in for a beautiful show during the night! |
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Fuego, which means fire in Spanish, continues to put on a dramatic show, erupting every twenty or thirty minutes all through the night.
We wrap our sleeping bags around us to stay warm, and sit up all night long, watching the volcano. |
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We climbed Acatenango with enough food for three days.
We are so excited watching Fuego that we stay on the volcano four days. The last day all we have to eat is one banana and one avocado. As we sit watching Fuego on our last night we wonder, where will we go next to see more of the worlds volcanoes? |
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and stories, coming soon! |
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