Saturday 11 April 2009

Give it a try

(Friday, 10 April 2009)

After Tikal I stay another day by the lake Petén Itza, but ow in Flores. I’m killing time to go for a few days’ juggle trekking. The idea is to go to El Mirador, a huge archaeological complex – even greater than Tikal – by the Mexican border which is quite inaccessible and still mostly covered in jungle.

Disappointment. A group of 4 people who wanted to go too changed their minds last minute and I’m alone. It’s 5 days trekking in the jungle (sleeping in hammocks, eating only what you carry – that kind of stuff) and you need guides to go with you (of course…), so it becomes too expensive if you're the only one. And there is a trip like that going there only once in a while, so it looks like a lost opportunity.

Then I hear of another group going to El Peru, another archaeological site in the jungle. It’s closer – a 3 days trip, with most of the distance covered on a speed boat – but seems nice: you spend most of the time walking around the natural park. And the prospect of seeing crocodiles is attractive. :-)

It’s a group of 19 people. Too big – for me, the fewer the merrier…. I try to know who the group is, but it’s too late in the day. But I decide to give it a try anyway – it could always be a trip of Scandinavian top models, right?

The next morning I almost have an heart attack when I get in the bus that will drive us to the speed boat. It’s a school trip from Houston, Texas. 15 students aged 10 to 16 years old, plus 4 teachers. All of them fully equipped with jungle trekking gear: water filters in their bottles, the complete Cornel Tapioca outfit – the all thing. I expect the worse. I think of giving up on the trip. But, again, I decide to give it a try.

It’s a 2h30 ride in a bumpy dusty road to the river. We stop 3 or 4 times along the way. First to get food for the kids. Then because everyone wants to pee at different times. Finally, one of them needs to do more than peeing. He comes back from the jungle with shit in his pants without noticing. All his colleagues laugh. One of the teachers patiently tries to clean the mess up.

I’m out of the bus. Thinking how long would it take me to walk my way back to Flores. Tough luck. Bad decision, I think.

But again, I decide to give it a try. Too late not to, anyway.

The rest of the trip goes more or less without incidents. Kids take ages to get ready to anything, and teachers need to call their attention all the time - they’re on a school trip after all, and the guides are generously providing a lot of interesting information about the forest. Like the fact that even if the Mayans were called the “corn people” they actually didn’t plant any corn until the Spanish arrival. They got something similar out of a jungle tree – the Ramón – which grows naturally and in harmony with the rest of the plants and trees. It was only after the European conquest that corn was introduced, and the practice of slash and burn that has devastated half the rain forest in Petén in the last couple of centuries started. “Thank you for the cultural exchange and technological advancement”, right?

But well, going back to the group of 19.

They were actually an interesting bunch. Two of the teachers, husband and wife, decided to create a different type of school almost 10 years ago. He loves the outdoors life and is a backpacking veteran – he did a trip with a similar itinerary to the one I’m thinking of doing now; 25 years ago, when it was still safe to cross the Panamá-Colombia border. He had interesting suggestions even if… hum… a bit outdated.

He was a public school teacher but gave up on it when felt too frustrated with the US education system. He wanted instead to create an opportunity to teach kids with more of a hand-on approach, with a lot of nature-oriented subjects and practical field-trips. So he created this NGO which, with the help of donors’ funds, provides the kids the opportunity to travel every year to a different country. Amongst other things.

The focus is developing countries with a lot of wild life, so that the youngsters can open up their minds to life outside the US. The school is small – only 15 students – and they all study in the same class, regardless of their year. Same subjects for everyone: they just go at different levels, with personalised help of teachers and tutors.

They spend the year studying the country they will visit later on during Easter. For instance, they were studying Mayan numbers in maths, and doing clay stellas and cooking tortillas for their arts & crafts subject.

All the kids know a lot about wild life. One of the reasons they join this school is that they get the opportunity to spend a lot of time outdoors, instead of in a class room. Some of them had learning problems and difficulty in concentrate before starting this school, but here seem to feel like fish in the water. And the school founder tries to get a balanced mix of kids, from different economic backgrounds, so that they don’t study in too much of a bubble. He pays the school for those who can’t pay it themselves, with the help of fund-raised scholarships.

So, at the end, I’m actually happy I came along with this group. Had to have a lot of patience – and find plenty of time to be on my own too… - but ended up learning from them. How to recognise poisonous snakes. How to catch scorpions. What crocodiles do to warm up their body. Interesting stuff…

And yes, one of them caught a baby crocodile. Only to put it back in water, fortunately. So, I could touch it, see it.


Thanks!

Next time I’m taken down by the first impression of someone, or the stereotype you might have of them, I’ll try to remember this one. Sometimes, it’s worth to give it a try…





The river by the camping site. I spent a lot of time seating on this tree, with quick swims once in a while. The guides said these crocodiles never attack humans, but hey: I don't want to be the first exception to the rule, right?


Baby crocodile. After we put it back in the water, we could se a grown up crocodile (2 or 3 meters long...) swiming in the river close to the camping site. Was it the mother, looking for her baby?




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