Guatemala - Highlands and Mountain Peaks

HI!!! So semester has me really busy so far and therefore I have little time for posts! I will catch all ya'll up on my semester after I finish posts about Guatemala. So the middle days of my trip were spent in the highlands and mountain peaks at high elevation. When you think of Guatemala, how many of you think of nights that get down to the 30s and the high a mere 45? Yah, well, true story. It wasn't always that cold, but it was for one day when we were about 2800 metres above sea level :) Also, climbing at that elevation is a little difficult because of the lower oxygen levels. Anyways, we were all over the place from Salama to Huehuetenango to Queztal de Biotopo (a rainforest reserve). Yeah, it was beautiful. I'll give a short description of each day and photos to follow :)  Try not to be jealous - easier said than done right?

Day 4 - visited TAK, a fern production company. 100% of their products is exported to Europe for bouquets (which apparently are pretty popular). I was impressed that they had a program to screen for anthracnose (a very terrible plant disease). I was a little bummed that I didn't see disease, but I guess that's a good thing. I loved the fern production area; it smelt like soil after rain :) Also, later that night, many people played the guitar and we had a sing-a-long. You know, like little kids do.

The mountain peaks and the shade gardens where the ferns grow.

Just some epiphytes.

Here are the rows and rows and rows of monoculutre ferns.

Workers packaging the ferns and prepping for export to Europe.

Day 5 - Monsanto. Very touchy topic. My beliefs about genetic engineering and plant breeding were very challenged that day. I won't go into details but let's put it this way. It is a highly debatable topic and many people are very strongly opinionated about it. I will say that I enjoyed touring the place (EXTREMELY HIGH LEVELS OF PHYTO-SANITATION!) because I got to see a different perspective and see what they do. A few of the Guate boys talked to the manager about doing practice there after they graduated. It is somewhat equivalent to a capstone at UW-Madison except theirs is after graduation. Later this night, I hiked through the rainforest to a waterfall. I swam in it - very cold! It was beautiful and words cannot describe the feeling I had when I saw it. Absolutely breathtaking! If I close my eyes, I can picture it perfectly clear.

EarthGirl/PlantPath Girl just chilling in the forest

Cue drum roll! The beautiful waterfall! Photo couldn't capture the beauty!

A little cascade before the falls!

Cool little epiphyte. Couldn't resist taking a photo!

Day 6 - Today we hiked in the Quetzal de Biotopo. Apparently 2 hours was supposed to be enough for us to hike the 2 km loop. Umm...they must have forgot that we are botanists, phytopathologists, and ecologists. We love finding fungus and identifying tree species and seeing tiny ecosystems within the rainforest ecosystem. So...I made it a whooping 600 metres in 2 hours and was RUSHED through to the end. That did not make me a happy camper in the slightest. We had a talk about orchids and the rainforest preserve afterwards but I was still caught up in the beauty of the place I didn't really catch the whole presentation. Oh well. :)

Flower outside my hotel room

Guatemala's smallest orchid.

RUST! That is uredinia.

Couldn't resist this beautiful photo that I took :)

I like close-ups of flower stamens and carpels.

I like the shadow on this one

My friendship bracelet from Hugo!

PlantPath girl chilling by a waterfall

Day 7 - Today was the long day on the road. 10 hours on a bus. My butt hurt, my head hurt, my legs hurt, my arms hurt, my butt hurt, my butt hurt, my butt hurt, and my butt hurt. Anyways, the drive was chaotic. Some roads were nicely paved, some were dirt, some weren't exactly roads, some had a landslide a few years ago and never got fixed. The scenery was absolutely beautiful though! This is the night where it got super cold because we were so high above sea level. I had 5 blankets and I was barely warm enough with my layers and layers of clothing. But hey, I survived and I saw the most beautiful sunrise ever when I woke up. I didn't enjoy the potato tour because I was too cold to care (and tired and cranky from the bus ride). still beat a day in Wisco!

My boys at the beautiful lookout area on our way to the potato place!

Can you see that windy road. Well, our bus was on that for hours.

Hola sol! Why aren't you warming me up! No me gusta 40 degrees!

Mayan tour guide on the potato farm. That is a wooden marimba in the background.

Day 8 - After breakfast I hiked up a small mountain to get a view of the volcanoes. You know, nothing spectacular to start off my day. Afterwards, we drove to Pona by Lake Atitlan. Now that's a place to see. It's a tourist trap, but the volcanoes surrounding the crater lake was enough to lock your feet to where you were standing. It was a relaxed day just walking around and enjoying some free time. I had my friend barter for a painting for me (Mi habla un poquito Espanol). I love the painting - so cute! I finally had a HOT HOT HOT shower!!

Cool little flower.

PAVED windy roads. Luxury.

Hola from mountain peak to another

Sorry my finger is in the pic. Notice the farm plots on the slopes of the mountains. Crazy.

Panorama of the view from my hotel room on Lake Atitlan.

Three of the volcanoes that surround Lake Atitlan.

A rose that was too pretty not to photograph.

I'll finish the rest of my trip in another post because there is so much to talk about yet! I am still having a hard time with this stupidly cold weather. I want my 70s and low 80s back :(  And my Guate boys...they make everything better with their smiles and jokes in Spanish I don't understand! Miss you!!! 

Eduardo y Hugo y Jorge