Journey to the summit of Volcan San Pedro
by Derek Parent

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The local Maya of San Pedro practice a kind of bottom up ecotourism. If you ask a village inhabitant if the term "ecotourism" means anyting to them - they simply reply "nada."

The beautiful and picturesque Lake Atitlˆn has always been a prime destination for for all manner of tourists - from the hippies in the 60s to the four star camera-toting european and north american throngs of the 90s.

It's hard for me to imagine the Stories of near legendary proportions percolate back along the "gringo trail" around the guerillieros holed up in the scattered patches of green foliage, precariously clinging to the near-verticle mountain sides ringing the lake - and about the "explosions" in the mountains heard at night. Perhaps there may be a grain of truth in these rumors but in all my accumulated months of living around the lake, I have yet to meet a guerilla or band of - and would attribute the explosions to religious ceremonies. Concussive fireworks are shot into the air from the steps of churches throughout the day and night marking various rituals.

I was anticipating my arrival at Lake Atitlˆn and was mentally conceiving the ways it may have changed since my last visit. In addition to my aforesaid reason for visiting this place, I was looking forward to meeting old friends and climbing the 3055 meter cloudforest- capped Volcan San Pedro.

After the long winding descent by bus to the energetic and lively tourist mecca of Panajachel, I hastily beat a path to the "Chuasinai", a metal hulled boat owned by the Batz family of San Pedro La Laguna. The two hour cruise to San Pedro La Laguna revealed several startling changes to the landscape: new clearcut tracts high up on the mountain slopes and what looked like an accellerated burning of forests turning the tropical verdure into charcoal. Thick plumes of smoke rising from several sites indicated that deforestation was in full swing.

I remembered what two volunteer Swiss tree planters working in San Marcos La Laguna had told me ten months ago, 'local campesinos were clearing out trees to plant cash crops like coffee' and that 'it was difficult to keep up with the deforestation, even planting thousands of trees a month.'

Arriving in the Village of San Pedro La Laguna, at the base of the volcano of the same name - I tracked down my old friend and guide, a Tzitujil Maya nicknamed Antonio Caballo. At close to 70 years old he had the strength and stamina of a north american youth. We agreed to climb Volcan San Pedro starting before sunrise the next morning.

By 7 in the morning, we had reached the petroglyphs I had stumbled upon on a previous expedition. Antonio informed me that 64 Tzutujil volunteer laborers from San Pedro were engaged in constructing a road to Santiago Atitlˆn on the lake side of Volcan San Pedro. He was worried that 'a road to San Pedro would disturb the isolated Maya culture and bring about irreversible changes as what hapened in Panajachel.'

Climbing the dusty switchback path through the milpas (corn fields) and coffee bushes one notices the denuded mountainside rudely colliding with the forest-capped cone. On entering the dense forest the gentle perfumed scent of eucalyptus and cyprus commingled with volcanic loam was spirituous.

Near-transparent butterflies darted and slipped around tangles of hundred foot long vines. Enormous trees gripped this dormant volcano's soil sloping away at a precarious 50 degree angle and strange foot long black and yellow snails crawled along huge fallen rotting logs.

The faint wisper of wind brought whisps of clouds through the trees depositing tiny droplets of moisture on the mosses, epiphytes and branches. Nearing the summit we spotted perhaps a dozen or more endangered red horned guan - some sitting on branches and others curiously challenging us on the ground. These mysterious birds can only be found above 7,000 feet.

The local Maya of San Pedro practice a kind of bottom up ecotourism. If you ask a village inhabitant if the term "ecotourism" means anyting to them - they simply reply "nada." San Pedranos run and control their own hospedajes, guided volcano climbs and cayuco (dugout canoe) rentals. They produce and sell their own arts, crafts and colorful weaving. The Tzutujil speaking Maya of San Pedro are and have always been fiercly independent - effectively locking out the federal police, army and outside business people from their village.

Song of San Pedro sung by Tzutujil Maya children

Parvi julþ jayu k'o junn tishtenn
tiblo'k to ni nen'a ruk' inn al' nak'
noc para choch a nin shin vij' tre
K' etˆ
Porque j ara nin shalal' nat nu me'l
pann tinamit.

Spanish translation

Ariba de unas montanas hay una nina
bonita, cuando llego con ella
rapido entra en su casa. Yo le dije asi
ni¿a nunca hagas eso porque yo
te tengo que llevar a mi pueblo.

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