Ocelots, Monkeys, Kinajoos, and Getty Funky in Guatemala.

Well I am in a mood today, so perhaps I will play on my mood and write you a story.

Eyes opened and her face was still clear in my mind. The smile beckoning for more adventure as the forgotten altitudes trailed beneath her feet. There were times I wondered if she could ever go high enough. She conceded that she was scared, although it never showed. She walked onto the plane seemingly as soon as she had walked off. The time had gone to fast and I had hoped for rewind. The world awaits, no time to get lost within a single thought.

I left Mexico City by plane towards Chetumal. The bus was $96 us and the plane was only $77. I enjoy booking my flights on a Mexican airline. The cheap $9 flight that had awaited my eager button push turned to something much more hideous without a moments notice. Thank you Aviasca. I decided to wait, maybe I could go and get a student discount. Although I had been riding the Mexico subway for a weeks worth of time I still would forget that It made life seem longer, and in that dark depressing speedy piece of metal I no longer wished to live forever. Outside the window lights would flash by and wires were never ending, a darkness took everything but the faces around and they wanted nothing to do with my glances. True tunnel vision.

The bus station was a large circular hall with a food court in the center, colorful as it may have been I doubt it was the same as staring into a painting with acidic bliss. It was dirty, dank, and smelled of uncooked meat. The people were nice enough they just looked like uncooked meat. The lady at the counter was helpful and after she had finished laughing she went about telling me in spanish....well I have no idea what she was telling my I dont speak spanish. I do however speak well in the arts of body language and she was practically screaming at how ridiculous it was to ask such a question. After trying every booth I found the discount was just not going to happen and I would have to pay the $77 US for a plane ticket. Getting home was much of the same, the unpleasentness of the city mixed with people who have not yet been beaten by it. As I walked through the hostel door they gave me the look of a zombie who had eaten his way through the gate, perhaps it was better just to sleep. My ticket in the morning had risen to $91 I was still able to convince myself of its necessity and so soon I was in the air.

Jump ahead. Belize was raining. So I left. Its not a very long story. Does it need to be? Are you at all curious? I hope not because now the story is in Guatemala where I now sit.

I decided that to take my mind a bit off of the face that I was still seeing in every window and glittering back at me from the lake. I needed to work, I needed to get my hands dirty and to get some pain back into my much to relaxed body. I volunteered. On the boat ride toward the ARCAS Conservation center I was not sure what to expect. The cool breeze of lake Peten Itza was refreshing and the water seemed eeirly calm. As I would find my stay would be anything but calm. I was put to work right away, everyone spoke english except for one of the workers so it didnt seem as though I would have any problem figuring out what to do. Just lots of questions asked that make me feel dumb but smarter at the same time, its a wonderful circle. My new boss whos name I am about to butcher, Alejandro, told me to go work with the birds. The only person in the cages who didnt speak any english, it was a great start. I remembered the body movements of the lady at the bus station well, I was seeing them again the face had changed and as he pointed in the direction of things I had done wrong I was amazed that this language worked with everyone.

We had to feed the animals at 7am,11am and 2pm. This time was called "the feed" as was coincidentally the eating of the volunteers. We were fed by one lady who had an enormous workload of food and cooked wonderfully. I watched as we all dug deep into our plates, atleast I dont have to feed this group of monkeys. The week went well, I learned the language a bit and got yelled at even less. I played with scorpions, Tarantulas, and fed all the animals. I would write more but I am about to go watch a movie in a little cafe in Flores, Guatemala. Life is weird sometimes. I could come back and wrote more in this later...but one never can tell.

Heres the pictures. A sunset over Lake Peten Itzn.


Sanda looking into the Tarantulas hole.


This Toucan kept trying to jump on me and tried to bite me a few times. How fun! Hehe it was really pretty though.


Aww what a cute little Jaguar.


He let me get really close before he threatened my face.


This is the sink we washed all our stuff in, for some reason nobody told me about the crocodiles in it.


So friendly for a carnivore!


This guy looks nice...nevermind that they always tried to bite you and seemed to escape a lot!


Quite the cutest animals on the face of the planet! Baby Spider Monkeys.



Trying to look like godzilla just dosent work for a 1 lb little spider monkey.


You could feel their fingers reaching for help. Wonderful.


This is one of my favorite shots. They are soooo amazing.


They are so cute...they fit in the palm of your hand.


A kinkajoo!


Another of the Toucan


This was outside the room. Ooooo


So I played with it for a while and then let it go in the forest.


This guy came out of his home long enough for for me take a picture. I was really happy about it.


Cleaning this guys cage was real fun.


Until I touched his tail...then he got upset..


Thats it for now. I got some more that I will put up when I can. I hope everyone got the enjoyment of some pictures and a moment of a story. Seya again sooN!

Kelsey