Trail Building in Selempim, Guatemala
by Andrew Fleckner

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"The mystery of the monkey ladder," said Mateo and I knew we were finally onto something.

We were discussing our seventh stop on the new interpretive trail we had been working on for the past three days. Trying to make each stop "come alive" had proven to be more difficult than expected, right doing to naming the stops themselves. According to the experts, each interpretive stop should reflect the general theme presented at the trailhead, yet it should also stand on its own.

"The mystery of the monkey ladder" sounded more intriguing than "The monkey ladder vine" so we went with it. "On to stop 8," I muttered.

"Strangler fig; the deadly parachute? Or simply strangler fig; a tropical tree,?" asked Mateo.

I am a Peace Corps Volunteer working with a Guatemalan NGO, Defensores de la Naturaleza, on an ecotourism project. We are working with the Mayan village of Selempim whose 20 families live adjacent to a newly created wildlife refuge Bocas del Polochic, in the department of Izabal. Here, next to the village sits a biological station, used for environmental education workshops, Peace Corps trainings, university field classes, and research on turtles, birds, monkeys, and water quality.

About nine months ago we held a town meeting in Selempim to see if people would be interested in participating in ecotourism at the station. If so, what concerns would they have? We found out that many villagers had no idea what a tourist was. I remember one woman asked if the tourists would steal their babies. This seemed silly, but in the past decade rumors have spread throughout the country implicating foreigners in the kidnapping of Guatemalan children. To allay fears we explained that tourists would come to see the wetland, and the forest, and to learn about the Mayan-Q'eqchi' culture. Many villagers were also concerned that the area would turn into another "Rio Dulce," where marinas, vacation mansions, and hotels now compete for space in what was 20 yrs. ago sparsely inhabited domain of Maya fishermen. This also seemed ridiculous given that Defensores de la Naturaleza manages the wildlife refuge much like the U.S. Park Service. Yet how could these isolated Q'eqchi' differentiate between mass tourism and our goal of community based ecotourism.

Now, nine months after the village decided in favor of promoting ecotourism in Selempim, we've begun training the women to cook for tourists and planning a series of guide training workshops. Also, a group of Volunteers, their Guatemalan counterparts, two members of Selempim, and 4 members of Defensores de la Naturaleza attended a 5-day workshop which included the design and partial construction of a short interpretive trail near Selempim. First, we flagged a short loop trail through the forest following the natural contours of 2 limestone hills. While attempting to pass by interesting natural landmarks, we purposefully avoided steep gradients (where heavy tropical rains would soon erode the trail), poisonous plants, and animal dwellings. Second, we brainstormed for themes for the trail as a whole. In order to profit from the many ideas of our large group we broke into groups of 4, each one developing an interpretive text for 8 stops along the flagged route. Reconvening, we walked the trial reading aloud each group's interpretation, afterwards we voted on 8 stops, striving to incorporate the best ideas from each group. Finally, each of us grabbed shovel, pick, and rake, and headed into the steamy hot jungle.

Although it seemed like a lot accomplished there is still much work to be done. Presently my counterpart and I are finishing work on the interpretive guide for the trail. Soon villagers will be hired to finish constructing the trail; making waterbars, installing signs and interpretive posts. After working nine months with the villagers of Selempim, I've gained insight into the complexity of what we call "ecotourism" by seeing it from both sides of the equation. I wonder if the project will succeed? The trail has just begun.

Update

Andrew Fleckner is a Peace Corps Volunteer working on this ecotourism project in Guatemala. You can contact Andrew via his counterpart Sandra de Urioste; email) or through the Peace Corps - email.

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