April 5, 2007

Blogging from an elevation of 4,860 feet in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala. Weather here has been in the 70s and mostly cloudy. The clouds have almost completely obscured Agua, the 10,000-foot volcanic peak that looms over the town. We´re hoping to climb one of the other volcanoes nearby (with a guide) on Saturday. The main purpose of the visit, though, is to experience the lush colors of Semana Santa and to see the many 16th century sights here.

We came here from Panajachel, a community high in the mountains beside Lago de Atitlan. Three huge volcanoes surround the lake, which was formed 80,000 years ago in a cataclysmic eruption. Panajachel, though, largely is a tourist town, and our actual interaction with the natural world was limited. The scenic ride to and from Panajachel was along twisting mountain roads alongside pine forests and steep gorges.

A few leftovers from Tikal: we saw a fox one evening on the trail to the Gran Plaza. We also saw a tiny bird called a tody-flycatcher; it´s actually smaller than a hummingbird. There´s a species of rail in the Mayan reservoir there (gray-necked wood-rail) that is quite gregarious, unlike the rails in the United States (even accepting handouts). A pair of stunning massena (slaty-tailed) trogons capped another great day on Monday. They were perched on the back of the Siete Templos complex. This is as close as we´ll come to seeing a quetzal, the extremely rare bird that is Guatemala´s national emblem and a relative of trogons.

Hope to report more before we depart Sunday!