Tropical Christmas

We wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays!!!

Part 1 of our Most Excellent Adventure- Welcome to the Jungle!!

Salutations everyone! We wanted to give a brief update on our activities. We are currently in Palenque at an internet cafe in the city. We got here on Friday with a tour that took us from San Cristobal to the cascading waterfalls of Agua Azul, it was beautiful and you could hike along the stream and see multiple cascades coming out of the jungle. The water is turquoise in color and appears to be super clean. As we stepped out of our tour van we could already sense the difference in climate. We have been used to cold mornings with crisp air and the need to wear jackets. Here with all the lush vegetation, hanging vines, and howler monkeys you need to rock sandals and a t-shirt all day long. Our clothes started to stick to us because of the humidity here, but it is well worth it. Even the air here has some sort of electric quality that draws you into intrigue.

After Agua Azul we were packed back into the tour van and headed to Misol Ha, which is a solo waterfall that must have a drop of over 75 feet into a pool of water. We were able to walk behind the waterfall and cling to a rock path to see the beautiful, backside of water!!! Then there was a cave with a waterfall inside of it, we splashed around using my handy dandy waterproof cellphone with a light (thanks dad!) and were able to see the hidden rock waterfall, it was all very Goonies.

So, our day was not over yet, we now loaded up together and were taken to the gates of the Palenque ruins. Once there we found a tour guide that gave tours in English. We split a 600 peso tour with an Englishman from Cheshire, and two couples from Israel. And we were off! We climbed stairs, went into dark tombs, noticed hieroglyphs, learned about Lord Pakal and the Red Queen. It was fascinating, but something even more fascinating was the argument that much of the history told here is untrue. Our guide seemed to make it his quest to disprove the commonly held theories of who the rulers were, how their family structures were set up, etc. He was quite the interesting man- he loved pointing out elements to the ruins that he has deciphered to reflect ancient cultures such as Chinese, Egyptian, Indian, and Middle Eastern. All in all it was a fun experience even if we weren't shown the information that is most commonly believed.

So, there we were. We had spent all day hiking, rock scrambling, caving, posing for pictures and now we just wanted to relax, but have I told you about El Panchan? You don't go to El Panchan to relax, you go to El Panchan for the experience! We paid for our private room and were shown to our quarters. It was down a small path through the jungle, we passed the main restaurant and small structures along the way tucked away in thick parts of the jungle. Our home for the last few days is a majestic mushroom shaped building. It is cylindrical and as you open the front door there is a spiral staircase with a round hole cut out of the floor of the second level. The bathroom is downstairs which consists of a toilet room, and a shower room. Upstairs has a bed, a desk, an area for clothes and the sink with a mirror. There are no shades in this place, the windows arent glass, they are all screens. The roof of our hut away from home is thatched paja giving our home a bowl-cut type hairdoo. It really reminds us of the McDonalds playgrounds from our childhood that had the hamburger jail. We have over a 180 degree panoramic view of the jungle from our second story bungalow. It definitely adds to the magic you can feel here.

I was lucky enough to have visited El Panchan last year with my dad, it was a great bonding experience and I just had to share it with Faith. We had dinner at their largest restaurant, Don Muchos, where from 8:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. they have live music. After 11:00 there is a fire dancing and drum show. El Panchan is a very unique place full of very unique individuals. People who could be classified as Hippies, sell their handmade jewelry and are some of the fire dancers. The makeup of the crowd here varies greatly from couples and solo people in their twenties sightseeing Latin America to lifetime hippies, to later in life adventurers. I might even be sitting across from anthropologists who I have read articles by, its amazing to say the least. We are making friends here and enjoying trying to understand how this place functions, because we still can't fully explain it and don't think we ever will be able to. You'll just have to enjoy the pictures and try and make your way down here sometime in your life. I promise you that if you ever do, it will change you.

We have arrived at a very special time too. Tonight at 1:30 a.m. ET there will be a full lunar eclipse that will continue until 5:00 a.m. ET. It is unusually important because tomorrow is also the Winter Solstice. These two occurrences on the same day hasn't happened in over 600 years. It is very exciting to be in a place that pays so much attention to these natural phenomenons throughout time. The Mayans followed the celestial processions of the stars and planets and for us to be able to experience such a significant celestial occurrence in a region where people were aware of universal mechanics without the aid of modern technology will be humbling.

December in Chiapas

It feels like we haven't written in a while. Maybe we have been too busy eating green mangoes sold street-side covered in lime, salt, and chili powder. Or possibly it could have been all the festivities running rampant through town this last week. Let's catch you up on the happenings.

Since we last wrote we hiked a local mountain named Huitepec. Huitepec comes from the Nahuatl language and means "land of the hummingbirds". Huitepec has two other peaks it shares the skyline with which the local Tzotziles have called Oxyoquet for generations. Oxyoquet is the name they give to the three stone fire pit they have customarily cooked over. Also when the sun sets it descends behind these three peaks and the sky ignites into beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows giving the metaphor a visible quality.

The hike was steep with wood steps placed into the damp fertile soil. The mountain is classified as a cloud forest environment and everything in our vicinity was slightly damp. We walked past green moss covered rocks and oak trees that supported orchids in their branches far above our heads. Like little bushes these epiphytes rely on the oak, which is why orchids and other similar plants are another addition to the harm caused by deforestation. We spent a few hours alone on this beautiful mountain and highly recommend it to anyone who would like to get a feel for the surrounding flora.
We have also been lucky enough to witness the preparation for one of Latin America's most important holidays. Two blocks from our apartment is the Temple of Guadalupe. Our faithful fans will remember us mentioning the importance of this church, but we will reiterate for anyone who might have forgotten. The story of Latin America's virgin queen begins with an indigenous man named Juan Diego who had a vision of a woman much like the Virgin Mary of Catholic belief, but this vision was of an indigenous woman who shared all the traits of the Virgin Mary. Juan Diego became the first indigenous person of the New World to become a saint. Guadalupe is now the iconic image for most Catholic believers and temples/churches erected in her honor are sites for pilgrimages. Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th, the believed day of the original sighting by Saint Juan Diego. Nearby communities prepare for their celebrations for months and fund raise in many ways- one we encountered was a group of small children holding up a rope on a main road in and out of town. They stop passing cars and hold out a collection plate with hopes to earn extra money to contribute to their festivities. We also were approached through our window at our last apartment in October. The week prior to December 12th vendors began assembling their shops in rows up and down the street on the way to the Guadalupe Temple. Candy, fruit, empanadas, taquitos, trinkets, and ice cream are some of the products offered. Carnival games such as target shooting, marble rolling, ring toss, peso toss and others add to the excitement. Carnival rides and large stages were built to entertain the families and guests. Almost every day for a week before December 12th fireworks could be heard all day and night, even at 5:00 a.m. Not just a few firecrackers either, we're talking about jumbo sized bottle rockets with about a 3 foot stick that helps guide the rocket into the air about 200 feet. We don't know how well the fund raising for this celebration has gone, but the amount of fireworks it seems they earned a pretty peso. Cloudless mid afternoons cracked and crashed as loud as thunderstorms for extended periods of time. It was alarming at first, but we kind of miss it now that it's over. People's devotion to Guadalupe was shown on a daily basis in the form of parades. Every day there seemed to be a different group showing reverence to Guadalupe, our favorite had to have been the "taxistas" which were all the taxi drivers with balloons tied to their cars, pictures of Guadalupe mounted on their hoods, honking all the way past our apartment to the Temple of Guadalupe.

There are also groups of individuals of all ages called Antorchas that travel from far away villages, even as far as the neighboring state of Oaxaca, on foot to the Temple of Guadalupe. Some of the travelers are barefoot and their clothing has been tattered from the journey. They carry with them a burning torch and call out sayings giving respect to Guadalupe. We witnessed a group of Antorchas entering the Temple of Guadalupe on their knees and proceeded to make their way to the altar in that fashion.

The beauty of this holiday is that is not restricted to unfettered reverence to their virgin queen, but it is a great time to meet with friends, listen to music, dance, and have fun. We rode carnival rides, played carnival games, watched live bands, street marimba players, and filled ourselves with empanadas, churros, and taquitos having a great time. We also noticed that all the children were dressed as miniature representatives for each region's indigenous culture. Little girls held their mother's hands as they strolled while wearing brightly colored floral patterns with colors of green, blue, and purple from Zinacantan. Little boys were dressed in other typical male garb of local groups and most even had a moustache painted on their face. It was a very lively time and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Since then we have still been involved with the local organizations working on projects involving permaculture. We have also been enjoying the city more and more. We are making good friends around town and Faith is always commenting on her new experience. For instance, the other night around midnight she said, "Shh! Can't you hear that? There's two roosters out there cock-a-doodle-doo-ing each other." Good times.

We are also preparing for our epic adventure that will take us from our base here in San Cristobal to the ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilan, Bonampak and into the Lacandon Jungle where we will be staying in the Lacanja village. We will then be crossing into Guatemala and Honduras, expect some great entries if we find internet cafes along the way.

Why build latrines?

While we've been here in Chiapas for the last sixty or so days it seems we have developed a hobby of latrine building. We are in the midst of a project we have created at Orquideas Moxviquil to build two types of latrines on their land. We've been asked by friends and family about our project and the reasons why we are doing it.

We came to San Cristobal to see what we can learn, do, and experience. We didn't want to limit ourselves to one or two things and have tried to get involved with as many worthwhile activities as we can. The main focus behind our interests and activities is to be able to develop skills and knowledge that can benefit ourselves and others to find a logical balance between nature and man.

We have since realized a major problem that has an easy solution. Waste management is an issue not discussed often and it's this lack of discussion that perpetuates the problem. When it comes to animal excrement, such as cow or chicken manure, there is value placed to the waste produced by these animals - to be used in agriculture. With proper care, which is minimal, this waste becomes something that produces.

Humans have handled their own excrement in very interesting and peculiar ways over time. At one point in time the western world believed dumping their feces and urine out onto their sidewalks would keep the flies out of their kitchens. This was obviously a mistake, and led to much illness. For centuries countries in Asia have collected the excrement produced by humans to be used in agriculture. This practice is still being done and goes by the name of "night soil". The main issue is that the pure and fresh feces is applied directly to the plants and can result in contamination.

What is being realized is that we, being animals, much like the chickens and cows produce manure and with the proper care the use of this material can become beneficial and not be seen as merely waste. Our planet is mostly water, but most of that water is salted. We have developed a system to rid ourselves of a valuable resource while flushing it down drains in water that is suitable for drinking. This water is then sent to be filtered and processed - usually treated with chemicals like chlorine. Not only human waste is placed in sewer systems, but medical waste and street drains add to the mixture. This creates hazardous material that must be removed and typically ends up in a land fill. We poop in our drinking water, mix it with hazardous material, then bury it - some landfills are lined to keep from contaminating the surrounding area, but many are not. So, this brings us to what we can do.

Composting is the allowing of microorganisms to break down organic material. These microorganisms are present in nature and don't need any coercing or purchasing. The only requirement is to have the proper environment to allow for them to flourish. This can be achieved by simply applying the proper balance of dry and wet material to a free standing pile where you can add organic material- fruits, vegetables, meats, coffee grounds, eggshells, dead pets, and even human excrement. Given enough time (a year is sufficient) the material produced is a nutrient rich soil that can be used for growing any sort of plant life. This is where the latrines come in.

Human excrement, when shed of it's taboo, can be a valuable resource to anyone who is concerned with how we can ensure that there will be a livelihood available for our children and our children's children. Latrines in the past have been similar to outhouses, a hole in the ground that eventually fills up, then it is covered over. This pollutes and wastes the manure that can be used. With technological advancement combined with cost-effectiveness composting latrines have been developed.

We are in the process of building two different types of composting latrines. The first is called a "tree bog" where a structure is built a meter above the ground, the area below is fenced in with chicken wire and hay. Urine and feces, along with the toilet paper, are deposited and collected below the structure. After every use a layer of sawdust is applied which soaks up moisture and prevents odor. Plants such as willows, and other plants with large appetites, are planted around the base. The sawdust allows for the composting process to take place, and the plants consume the waste directly with their root systems. This type of latrine requires no water, no pipes, no holes, and the waste never has to be dealt with. The surrounding plants should consume all the material deposited and typically never needs to be emptied.

The second type of composting latrine has a similar platform a meter high where the toilet is placed. Below the platform is two rectangular chambers. The toilet is placed over the first chamber where the fecal waste along with the toilet paper are deposited. The urine is caught in a separate area, there are ergonomic toilets with a partition, down into a tube that is either collected, or placed under the top layer of the surrounding dirt. Urine when diluted is also high in nutrients and can be used in agriculture. Sawdust is placed over each deposit and once the chamber fills it is sealed off and allowed to "rest" for a year to allow the composting process. During this time the second chamber is opened to be filled, essentially by the time the second chamber fills the first will be fully composted and can be removed for use in the garden. After a year the material that is removed doesn't even resemble human feces and is odorless. This type of latrine requires no water, no holes, and no pipes. There is maintenance required, but the resulting product is worth the minimal labor invested.

The purpose for these latrines at Orquideas Moxviquil is not only to function, but also to educate. These will be working demonstrations of alternative forms of waste management that can be useful to those who don't currently have plumbing, have inadequate waste management systems, or to anyone interested in reducing their impact on the planet's resources. We plan to have booklets, pamphlets, and brochures about these latrines to provide more information about them for anyone who is interested in possibly building these for themselves.

Combined with permaculture construction techniques, utilizing what's available, these latrines can be constructed for under $200 US. They are completely sanitary, odorless, don't attract flies, prevent animal life from intruding, and save a lot of water all while not creating waste to be buried and providing food for your plants which can turn back into food for you. Everything in nature runs in cycles and this way the cycle isn't being broken. We plan to bring this information with us home and put it to good use. It doesn't take a lot to make these or to find more information about it. YouTube has "how-to" videos about these and many other great things you can build within the same vein. The information is out there, you just have to look for it, educate yourself.

Remember, "We don't inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children" -Native American Proverb

Humanure Handbook- a guide to composting human waste.

Download it free at: http://humanurehandbook.com/contents.html

Gettin' Dirty

San Cristobal is a host to many active organizations and people. Yesterday we participated in a workshop put on by Jaguar de Madera, a local organization specializing in permaculture. Permaculture is a mentality of sorts based around the premise of observing nature and modifying your behavior and existence more along nature's patterns. What this means is to understand the relationship we as the human animal play on this planet. Respect must be given to all life forms great or small, and with the proper understanding these relationships can be harnessed and utilized for our benefit. The workshop focused on worms. Worms are our little unsung heroes of the dirt. Having virtually no defense mechanisms these creatures produce resources while consuming waste. Worms convert organic material into worm castings, basically its excretions, which is beneficial to plants, let alone they are useful when fed to animals such as fish and birds. Worms duplicate rapidly and only demand that the environment meets their needs. This is exactly what we learned about at Jaguar de Madera. Faith and I, along with a couple others, filled sacks with wood shavings for the frame of the worm bed we were building. We also added wood shavings to the floor of the bed with a slight incline. This is to soften the ground to not allow small rocks to poke through the plastic liner we added after and the incline is so that water can be drained. A PVC pipe is inserted at the base of the "bed frame" with a bucket on the other end to catch the valuable drippings. We then got fresh cow manure, how fresh you ask? So fresh the flies flew in our noses as we shoveled it, so fresh the top layer was cooler than the inner layers, so fresh.......enough? OK. Anyways, we shoveled, stacked, and wheelbarrowed loads of cow manure to create the bottom layer of the worm bed. Once fully spread around we added a layer of dirt, then another steaming layer of manure, and a last layer of dirt to top it off. The final part of our project was to add water to the worm bed to give it a thorough soaking. This process must be done for ten days to remove the harmful acidic material from the fresh cow manure. Once nicely rinsed the worms are introduced to their new home. Worms have the ability to double their population about every twenty days. In this perfect environment the worms will be consuming the cow manure and mixing the dirt creating nutrient rich soil. There are many different ways to work with worms and have a mutually beneficial relationship. At Jaguar de Madera there is an abundance of wood shavings so we utilized what was available. There are interesting videos on YouTube that show other neat ways you could incorporate worm composting into your house using easily accessible resources. Permaculture encourages the concept of turning waste into something useful, or finding multiple uses for what's available.

A quick update on our project: We are still working with Orquideas Moxviquil with the goal of building two sustainable latrines there. We are in the process of clearing space for the two structures, we have been shoveling, picking, and carrying away wheelbarrows full of earth that we have been removing to make the area flatter. We are still networking to get more help on this, and have a few exciting things planned...

Orquideas Moxviquil

Today we revisited one of our favorite new places in San Cristobal, Orquideas Moxviquil. We were originally told about the orchid preserve by the professor I went on a field study with to Chiapas this past summer, Dr. Gasco. OM happens to be right around the corner from where we were staying at the Mayan Medicine Museum. As we walked onto the grounds of OM we were greeted by a woman who informed us the director would come meet us and show us around. A few minutes later a man came out by the name of Cisco. He explained to us the history of his project that is the nature preserve and all that he is involved with. There are fern gardens, a lake with an agave island, wetlands, sculpture garden, large greenhouse, and of course beautiful orchids and other epiphytes.



As we were being given a tour Cisco's knowledge and passion for what he is doing at Orquideas Moxviquil was obvious. He explained to us that his dream is to preserve beautiful pieces of Chiapas and the neighboring regions so that future generations can enjoy the natural wonders. Within one of his ponds he has a stock of a highly endangered fish species that he is hoping to help breed. He went on to tell us of the devastating deforestation being caused by mining and other destructive construction.

Orquideas Moxviquil specializes in plants, and has over 400 different species of orchid. While we were there we were informed that 30 different species were in bloom at that moment. Aside from the orchids, Cisco has created amazing symbiotic ecosystems with many different species of tree from oak to other endangered trees. Wildlife like dragonflies, hummingbirds, and bees seem to love what he has done with the place and can be seen throughout the area. The key to all this harmony must be the utilization of what is provided by nature. The pond is natural, no lining or chemicals. The water gets filtered by a special Brazilian water plant and the fish feed on the algae. The rainwater gets cleverly diverted through drainage's to be used by the plants at OM. Bridges along the trails throughout OM are made from wood provided by the 200+ acres of pristine forest.











Everything at OM has a lot of thought put into it, and everything looks like a work of art. There is an area dedicated to human art which has a unique sculpture of essentially a large block made up different material. The art is actually the way the block deteriorates over time, it is ever changing. There is a bright and colorful auditorium for presenting to school children, the trash cans resemble plants, and garbage is turned into art - such as the spark plug tire-wheel sculpture.



During our tour we learned about the projects Cisco has in mind for OM like more greenhouses dedicated to the different climate regions of Chiapas, so visitors can encounter plant life from all the regions in one place. We shared with him about our experience building the waterless eco-sustainable latrine, which he became very interested in. Turns out OM is need of some sort of public restroom and something so ecologically friendly would fit right in with his vision. There are several alternative forms to modern plumbing and Cisco is interested in exploring the options. He has told us about a latrine called a "willow bog" that is similar to our adobe brick based structure, but with straw for the outer casing of the waste material.

After today's visit Cisco extended the offer to allow us to build these type of latrines at Orquideas Moxviquil. He hopes to possibly have one of each type and use it for demonstration and for use. OM intends to educate their visitors by providing signs with information about what they are observing. The latrines would be no exception. The idea is to have pamphlets on the construction of these types of structures to provide information on alternative, and cost effective forms of turning waste into something useful.

We have a lot on our plates, but we are very optimistic and excited about this future project. We have already begun contacting the network we have formed here to get more people on board and will begin the planning of it all soon. Hopefully you will be reading about our progress very soon.

If you'd like more information on Orquideas Moxviquil, visit their website
www.orchidsmexico.com

Just this last week.....

This last week, like the elevator business, has had it's ups and downs. We visited a local nature preserve that specializes in orchids native to the area and other preservation efforts. We are looking into volunteering with them and will be visiting there again this week. We plan on writing an entry dedicated to the preserve. A little glimpse into our daily life here: we rely on our laptop and internet for some of our nightly entertainment. We have found websites that allow for international users to view American television programming and movies, we are very thankful for this might I just mention. So, as we get comfy and settled to watch some of our favorite shows we place our laptop on a chair or table at the foot of our bed. One serious leap in technology that is needed is to have wireless electricity because as I got up to get some candy for our movie the other night I clumsily tripped over the wires and sent our laptop crashing down onto our tile floor. Gravity has never been so cruel to me. Needless to say, our laptop seized to function and we lost a large portion of our progress in the college applications we have been slaving over.

Luckily everyone in this town knows each other and the workers at our apartment complex knew of a computer technician. Turns out we destroyed our hard drive and needed to replace it. So, after about three days of being looked at and 1,250 pesos (about 100 dollars) we had our laptop back with a pirated version of windows 7 all in Spanish. Not too bad of a deal considering the Geek Squad or whoever would have charged an arm and a leg. So, Faith and all her computer wizardry figured a way to turn the majority of the system into English. Faith's mom found my writing samples on a hard drive we left at home as backup because we all know I destroy things because I have these beautiful yet awkward feet (smart move to back that data up). So, now that we are back in action we are getting back into the swing of things and getting these applications going again. On the weekends we allow ourselves fun time - check out our weekend.

We wanted to do some good Eco-tourism and found an all day trip that goes from 9am to 9pm that visits a cave, waterfalls, and a group of lakes for about $20 US each. The first stop was the local cave, Rancho Nuevo Cave, where you are able to hike in and see a kilometer of the known 10 km of this enormous cave. Limestone stalactites and stalagmites can be seen and heard because of the dripping water which has been their source of creation for the past million or so years. The cave was so large and spacious it made you feel dwarfed within it. Next up was the Eco-park, El Chiflon where around eighty members of local communally run farms operate the park and maintain the river that flows over five majestic waterfalls. There is a walkway that places you parallel to the meandering river where you climb up stairs to the breathtaking views of each waterfall. The giant Blue Morpho butterflies along with other colorful butterflies guide you through their natural wonderland. The park's cleanliness is impressive, the pride they take in keeping it as pristine as possible is evident by all the signs in place promoting care and love for nature with proper instructions on where trash, camping, and picnicking is allowed.We made friends with an older couple from the neighboring town of Comitan who were there enjoying the natural beauty for their second time. At the end of the walkway is Bridal Veil Falls where you can get on a platform that is so close you get drenched by all the spray coming off the rocks from the 400 foot drop. We were wet the rest of the day, but it was well worth it.

The last stop of the day was the Lakes of Montebello - some fifty lakes that share the border of Mexico and Guatemala. We met some children who have cleverly come up with a way to entertain tourists - they recite poetry and incorporate your name into the rhymes. They definitely earned the candy we gave them as a prize.

The lakes we saw were beautiful and we were surprised by the amounts of vendors at each stop. While in Cancun on our honeymoon at each stop (Chichen Itza, Tulum, etc) we were swarmed by vendors with goods draped over their arms and on display for sale. Here the level of pressure by the few vendors was minimal and we didn't feel an obligation like other tours we have taken. The lakes had a "balsas" ride we turned down, which turned out to be a raft of wooden poles you paddle across the water. It looked like fun but not worth the 150 pesos each.