We arrive at Guatemala’s largest Pacific Ocean port right on time around 8:00am. Even on the way in, we can see the reason that almost all of the previously scheduled excursions in this country were canceled: 12,000-foot high Volcan de Fuego (a picture of what we see begins this post). It began its latest eruption on June 5thand has killed 114 people. In the interest of guest safety, any tour that comes within thirty miles of the volcano have been canceled.
There are thirty-seven volcanoes in Guatemala, and three of them including Fuego are active. There are three tectonic plates in the country: North American, Caribbean and Cocos. Hence the volcanic activity, as well as occasional earthquakes.
We have put in at the industrial port in Puerto Quetzal because another cruise ship damaged the cruise ship terminal dock. We are the last cruise ship of the season, and that distinction has held for several other ports recently. Summer is not the time to cruise Central America, but the weather today is beautiful.
Our excursion is Autosafari Chapin, an open-air zoo that opened in 1980. There are two full-size buses heading to this park. We board around 8:45am and are greeted by our guide Julio. The park is located about fifty miles from the port, so we will have an opportunity to see some of the Guatemalan countryside as well as the park.
I did not take a whole lot of notes, but here is some of the information that Julio provided as we rolled along route CA-2:
- 19 million people live in the country, and 60% of them have some Mayan heritage. There are 22 different Mayan ethnic groups in the country.
- Guatemala means “place of many trees” in one of the Mayan languages.
- The three biggest crops grown here are 1) bananas, 2) sugar and 3) coffee in that order.
- 485,000 people are employed in the sugar industry, and there are eleven sugar mills in the Puerto Quetzal area. You see trucks by the hundreds carrying the stuff.
- Palm oil is becoming a big crop here as well since around the year 2000.
- Unfortunately, education is one of the country’s biggest challenges. 40% of the population is illiterate. The government does run free schools for everyone through the 12thgrade, but education is not compulsory.
- The biodiversity of the country (and all of Central America for that matter) is astounding.For instance, there are 9,000 species of birds alone.
The countryside is beautiful. The road we are on could use some work, and there is plenty of evidence of rural poverty out here. Guatemala is not a prosperous place. They are making progress, however, but it is still largely an agrarian economy. It takes an hour or so to reach the park, so we are there around 10:30. On the way, we see some of the volcanoes in the distance, as well as sugar cane fields and palm groves.
As the name implies, this is an auto tour we take through the park. The animals are all in their natural habitats, with fencing between groups so that the lions, for instance, don’t go feasting on the emu. We actually stay in our big bus with closed windows, so you will see that some of the photos we are putting into this post aren’t quite as clear as I might wish. The road through the park is narrow, and the bus barely squeezes through the gates. We are truly impressed with our driver’s skills at maneuvering this huge machine through the park.
The rest of the story can pretty much be told in pictures. The animals look very well cared for, contented and well fed. It was very noticeable with the lions. The animals here are fed, and the last time we saw lions was at Amboselli in Kenya, where they hunt for themselves and were a bit leaner. Their habitat is clean and natural, despite the fact that buses and cars are traveling through there all day long. The animals appear to be absolutely at home with all the traffic. Now of course some of the pictures end up showing nothing but the posteriors as the herd animals especially walk briskly away from the bus as it comes along, but for the most part we are ignored. That’s a good thing.
Two of many Macaws in the park
One of several zebras we saw
Water Buffalo
Two young male deer in a rivalry
Three Hippos
A herd of goats
An adorable baby goat
Two ostriches
Giraffes
A sleeping coyote
Two very healthy lions
This little grass house has a gatekeeper to operate a gate separating the lions from the other animals
A dingo (native to Australia)
There are several herds of whitetail deer
An iguana (probably not brought into the park but one that lives in the area)
There are many very young deer
A Score of Boars
Pelicans
Our drive through the park takes almost an hour. After that part of the excursion, we have an opportunity for a snack, which Julio described as “juice and potatoes” and turned out to be a cup of fruit juice and a cup of French fries. Yummy! Then another opportunity to do an unescorted walking tour through another part of the park. It was very peaceful and quiet and had lots of nice flowers, trees and shrubs. There was a lake with a small island in the middle of it that had a family of monkeys playing in the branches.
A baby jaguar
White-headed Capuchin
The person holding the macaw is named Simone. She works on the ship in Destination Services and is one of our favorite staff people. She is from Brazil.
We board the bus for the trip back home around 1:00pm. This has been a really interesting and enjoyable experience being around so many species of animals. As I said above, the pictures really tell the story.
The return trip is uneventful. Our guide mentions that many people do whatever they can to earn extra money. Some open small convenience stores called Tiendas for that purpose.
The one thing Steve notices more than anything is, of course, the trucks. He now knows where Class 8 tractors go when they are retired – Guatemala. They look to be in good shape except perhaps for the paint jobs. All of them are from the United States, and many of them are huge sleeper cabs.
We are back in the busy, bustling port around 2:15pm. There are trucks lined up all over the place. It takes us a few minutes to get through the gate because of all the activity, but we are back to the ship just in time for Steve to go to the Insignia Lounge to watch a 47-minute documentary about the enlarging of the Panama Canal that was completed in 2016.
We are due to leave at 5:00pm for the 473 nautical mile trip to Costa Rica, but we hear that two people are late and the ship waits for them. We found this to be pretty unusual until we find out later that they were at the hospital. Now we understand why the captain didn’t shove off until they were aboard.
We enjoy dinner in the Grand Dining Room. Should we stay up and, for once, go to see the evening’s entertainment offering? Naaaah.
