Tuxtla Zoo

After our adventure in Palenque Nitivia and I caught a bus to Tuxtla (Tooxla) Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico to visit the zoo. We had heard about the zoo while staying in Antigua from a guy named Bill who ran a book store and we decided, hey we don't have anything else to do so lets go to Tuxtla and visit the zoo.

Tuxtla itself is the capital of Chiapas and isn't a tourist destination by any stretch of the imagination. We intended to splurge on a hotel with a pool so we could spend a day relaxing by the water only to find the owners of the Tuxtla Best Western (the highest rated hotel in Tuxtla) used every camera trick in the world to turn their wading pool into an olympic tree lined resort destination...

Misadventures with the hotel aside the zoo in Tuxtla is well worth a detour from whatever route you have planned for a visit. Composed of only indigenous Chiapas animals the zoo is EXTENSIVE. We actually got to the point where we didn't want to see any more animals, just leave. While wandering around the paths you actually felt like you were walking through the jungle and peeking into small clearings that just happened to have animals lounging around. Possibly the best part is you see some animals lounging in an enclosure then you start walking and see more of them running around on the path!

Anyway on with the pictures!

I have never had so much trouble trying to explain how to look through a hole and click a button to someone before...

White tail deer. I find it pretty amazing that the most common type of deer in north Idaho is also the most common type of deer in Chiapas, Mexico

Quetzal. The national bird of Guatemala. Supposedly if you put one in a cage it will die, which is why it is a symbol of freedom. Clearly this superstition isn't true but when has that stopped someone from believing in superstition?

More of the Quetzal. This is what Nitivia is going to get a tattoo of to represent her time in Guatemala.

Dragonfly!

I don't remember what this little bastard is called but he stank!

One thing I love about Mexico is that you need to have self control. I totally could have just stuck my hand in there if I wanted to.

There were at least a zillion turtles in this zoo.

This bird had no fear. I almost stepped on it like 5 times while walking around the aviary.

The most active animal I have ever observed in a zoo before (Vested Anteater).

Macaw's. They are loud and colorful. I don't know why anyone would want to keep a bird as a pet but these are almost extinct because people steal their eggs to sell as exotic pets.

 GIFS!

 

The Vested Anteater was just running around eating stuff and being adorable.

We saw some people eating fresh coconut so we asked for one and we got one! It was delicious to suck fresh, luke warm, syrupy, white goo from something...

King Vulture! It was hard to get a good photo of this guy but he was huge! I wouldn't want to mess with one.

Palenque

One of the most influential Mayan ruins sites is in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. Apparently, it's very important as it was one of the centers of the Mayan culture and where they did all their astronomical calculations. Although most of the site isn't revealed yet it offers you a nice way to see a jungle then ruins.

If/when you go see Palenque there are some things to be aware of. One, it is a big tourist location so people will try and rip you off. We were lead astray by the woman at our hotel into buying a "package" to tour the ruins only to find it was basically just a chauffeur service. You can get a shuttle from Palenque City to the ruins for a couple of peso's then get a tour guide at the entrance (highly recommended, our tour guide was awesome and we learned a lot).

Anyway on with the photos!

Once we made it to Palenque we started off with about an hour long tour on the jungle region around the ruins.

The jungle is absolutely gorgeous. We didn't even run into any mosquitoes!

The ficus here actually starts in the canopy and drops down the tree to the ground completely encasing the tree as it goes.

Red means delicious not poisonous.

Nitivia giving us her best Jane of the Jungle impression.

These little bastards actually have little hairs that drive the thorns deeper into your skin and help the plant resist being removed.

After we got through the jungle we made it to the Mayan ruins.

The first glimpse of the ruins as we leave the jungle.

The hill in the background isn't actually a hill but a ruin that has yet to be excavated.

Someone couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to sleep.

From the top of one of the ruins.

Hold my purse, I have to drop a deuce.

All the hallways in the ruins have windows at each side and the hallway is coated in a white plaster that reflects light so you can have a well lit living area all day long without electricity.

The highest point!

After leaving the ruins you aren't done yet! There is still a really awesome museum that showcases the artifacts removed from the tombs and some of the stonework removed from the sides of the ruins.

The tomb of the really important Mayan guy.

It was massive!

 On the way back down to the parking lot there are some really pretty waterfalls and wildlife.
 

Leafcutter ants being bitching awesome.

Look at us being all pretty together.

Lake Atitlan

Our room in the woods!

The view out our front window.

Nitivia and I got to stay at a sweet cabin in the woods at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala where we rested, relaxed, got drunk, and slept under a mosquito net!

The bed (above the previous image)

It was a nice experience overall staying out in the woods. Probably the best part was the bathroom overlooking the valley.

The Bathroom.

Everything the light touches, you can stare at while you poop.

Updates!

Nitivia and I are alive! I am currently updating the old posts with pictures then I will be working on writing up the stuff we have been seeing since last time.

Antigua

N and I have been super busy but we finally got a chance to take a little breather and stop by the Internet cafe and check on the digital life. I am still working on posting photos. We managed to get a USB cable from a guy on the street (you can buy anything you want from a guy on the street here) but it turns out buying a cable from some guy on the street doesn't guarantee the cable will work.

Antigua sure is an interesting place. It would take too long to describe everything so here are some highlights:

While waiting in line to go to the bathroom (baño, it´s important to learn these words) I got to chatting with a Guatemalan man. After about 5 minutes of waiting he says "come with me" and we wander outside. Then he gestures me near him beside a car and says "in Guatemala you pee on cars" and we bonded while peeing all over some car on the side of the road.

We met up with one of N's friends here a 72 year old masseuse, grandma, activist, sweet lady who isn't afraid to drop an F-bomb or 20. We had a great chat over food and a couple of beers then she took me to a big fancy hotel where we walked through the lobby and she told me the history of Guatemala using the paintings on the walls as reference. Then we went and saw a really beautiful view of the city from the top of a hotel/resturant near her house.

Nitivia, Deet, and Scott (in order from left to right)

That's us at her house for a late night cup of tea. She is pretty great and very crazy but then you would have to be a little crazy to be friends with us!

This pool was hot as hell then you got in the cold as shit tub.

N and I decided to splurge a little bit and thanks to N's cousins contribution to the honeymoon we went to a Spa outside of lake Amatitlan. I hadn't ever gone to a spa before but this was a pretty cool experience. We did a circuit of lava spring hot pools where you jump into a 105 degree tub, then a 70 degree tub, 98, 95, then alternate between the 105 and 70 tub a few times (10 minutes each). After the tub circuits we took a steam bath, got a massage, and went swimming for an hour. I don't know if that what spas are supposed to be like but it's fun to go (although I wouldn't say it´s worth going more than once every few years).

Looking all relaxed after falling asleep during her massage.

I was clearly born for  life of luxury but thanks to my parents I was forced to live without terrycloth robes and volcanically powered pools.

Harvest time!

Today we went on a tour of a coffee farm outside of town through a local NGO called "As Green As It Gets" which helps the local farmers combine their crops for easier exportation and sale in foreign countries. I had no idea it took so much work to grow coffee! It takes 3 years for a coffee bush to begin producing fruit and it won't hit it's prime until it's 10 years old! then the bush will begin to decrease production until it needs to be replace at between 15 and 25 years. Once a bush begins producing you have to harvest the berries by hand because the tree produces berries from the inside to the outside of the plant and the blossoms will fall off easily if disturbed so you can't use mechanical harvesting. Once the berries are harvested you have to strip off the fruit, ferment, wash, wash, de husk, dry, sort, and roast. It takes 10 lbs of berries to yield 1 lb of drinkable coffee. On the plus side at the end of the tour we got to roast, grind, and drink the coffee. You haven´t tasted good coffee until you have drank coffee that you roasted over a wood fire and ground (by hand on a giant stone called a Molina). After the tour we got to eat some really wonderful home made food (thank you Timeteo!) If you are ever in this area you HAVE to do this tour, it was beautiful, educational, interesting, delicious, fun, and a really wonderful way to hike around the jungles of Guatemala.

If you can't guess this is coffee you haven't been paying attention.

The last time I was doing this was when my Mom was forcing me to harvest huckleberries.

This machine lets you ride a bike to strip the outer berry from the bean. The berry goes into a heap to fertilize the coffee field while the bean progresses to the next stage.

The beans dump out into a sack all conveniently like it was intelligently designed.

Fermented, washed, and dried you can either ship these out or roast them.

Roasting the traditional Mayan way. Under that chunk of steel is a wood fire. That room was so hot and smokey but the result was sooo worth it.

Tossing the toasted beans to cool them.

This ancient form of torture is called a Molina and is used to remind you how lucky you are to have an electric grinder at home.

Enjoying the freshly roasted coffee. This was the best cup of coffee I may have ever had.

Timoteo! This guy was one of the highlights of the trip. I haven't had a better tour yet.

(Begin gross story about poop)
It´s inevitable while changing climates and foods to get a little ill and boy did I get a bit sick for a day. I woke up with a slight headache and a rumble in my belly. I thought, oh well just a little ill let´s go out and have some fun anyway! Well let me tell you a thing or two about having intense, black, stinky, bowl shattering diarrhea in a bathroom stall in the middle of a hostel where everyone can not only hear but smell you...

That thing is don't do it.

Seriously, you will get a really grossed out look from people.
(End gross story about poop)

Well there is a lot more and when I have time I will write more (and post photos, I swear!)