Coban--Proyecto Ecological del Quetzal

Hi Chrissy!

I was really taken in by your entry here---I looked the project up on the internet- is this what you were looking for?

http://www.ecoquetzal.org/ecotour.php<BR><BR>I would love to hear more about your recommendation- this seems like something we might really like---

We are a family of 4 with kids aged 12 and 14- we are leaving Israel for Guatemala on July 2nd, spending time studying Spanish in Antigua and then will be traveling natural sites around Guatemala for 12 days (ending up in Atitlan). The idea of getting off the beaten track, having the family experience life of the simple Mayan villager and the rainforest is something that very much appeals to me. We were set to travel from Coban Lanquin/Semuc Champey over the mountains to Nebaj for a few days of that there...but in reading your entry I am suddenly of the feeling that this might be easier on the travel aspect and no less enriching....what can you suggest here? I would love to pursue this option- many thanks!

Ronnie

Check out their website: www.ecoquetzal.org<BR>I have been E-mailing them about our upcoming trip and they have been very responsive.
Their staff seems most comfortable communicating in Spanish.
I'd love to hear more about your experience. Did you stay two nights? How hard was the hike? Did you see any quetzal birds?
Thanks!

HI eresconquienandas-

I just sent them off a detailed e mail of interest....what kind of good information have they shared with you thus far? I would like to look into this very quickly and change around some plans if this is as cool as I think it is...When are you planning to go?

Thanks a bunch-

Ronnie

So great to hear from someone who has been there! I have designs on an adventure with them when my family heads back to Guatemala a year from now. Please give us more details!

We will be there at the end of June.
Here's what I learned from E-mailing:
Guided tour to Chicacnab 2 days 1 night 300Q pp, 3 days 2 nights 380Q pp
They will rent blankets (15Q) or sleeping bags (30Q)
They can keep your extra gear at their office while you visit Chicacnab
Can't leave or return on Sunday since there is no transportation
Confirm trip day before at their office at show up next dat at 8:30 am to begin trip
Here's to a fun adventure!

Re: Proyecto Ecological del Quetzal

Sounds great- are the prices for the guided tour per person (which I hope not) or can be a guide for the whole family (which makes sense)- I wonder...did you express an interest in the other tour they have in the rainforest area- Rokja Pomtila? That one sounds quite ambitious, water, canoes, caves and ropes- but it also seems to have danger of malaria...

I did the trip to Chicanab through Proyecto Ecoquetzal in January.

The whole project is set up so that local Kaqchikel families in Chicabnab can benefit directly from the tourist industry and have a source of income other than slash and burn agriculture in the cloud forest. Most of the money you pay goes directly to the family with whom you stay.

From Coban your guide takes on a chicken bus to San Pedro Carcha (not very far), and then from there on a minibus for 2 hours or so along dirt roads winding through the mountains. From the end of the minibus line it's about a 2 hour uphill walk to Chicabnab. The walk isn't too taxing for anyone of moderate fitness, but the track was very muddy, so be prepared...

Chicabnab was very isolated, and felt very isolated. Even though, as the crow flies, it is probably only about 40km from Coban, it is a 2 hour walk to the nearest road, and then more than 2 hours on winding, poor quality roads to Coban.

It is a quite beautiful area, particularly first thing in the morning as the sun rose above the mountains and illuminated the mist hanging in the valleys below. The whole area is a mixture of cleared fields and cloud forest. It's not really a village as such, but rather a string of separate houses stretched over the ridgetops for a few km - settlement might be a better word than village.

Be prepared to leave any sense of creature comforts behind. There is no electricity, no running water, the houses have dirt floors, pit toilets outside somewhere, etc. But that is part of what makes the trip so rewarding - it is the closest you will probably get to experiencing how the vast bulk of the indigenous peasants live.

You stay in the house of your guide, and the Proyecto alternates visitors from family to family - we were told that on average each family has someone staying with them once every 3 or 4 months. We found that the children spoke good Spanish, the young adults spoke reasonable conversational Spanish, but the older generations usually spoke only Kaqchikel and no Spanish at all. During the day most of the young adults were out working, so we basically could communicate only with or through the children.

The family we stayed with kept plying us with food, obviously in order to be hospitable, but it was almost embarrassing how much food we had to leave behind at each meal. Grandma kept coming out with more and more tortillas and more and more servings of beans, enough to feed a whole family, just for the two of us. The food was very simple, obviously - tortillas, beans, eggs, potatoes, and more beans, more tortillas, more potatoes, and so on. The rhythms of life were also very different - everyone was up and about at dawn, but because there was no electricity we all went to bed straight after dinner, usually about 7pm or so.

During the day we did a number of walks through the cloud forest. I was largely looking for birds - not just quetzals, but quetzals would have been nice. Apparently quetzals are relatively easy to see during the breeding season (March-May) but are quite difficult to find outside of this period - unfortunately we didn't see any, as January was definitely the wrong time of the year for them. But that wasn't really why we were there.

Overall it was one of the most rewarding things I did in Guatemala. But be warned, it's not something that will appeal to everyone - anyone who can't cope with the idea of no electricity, no running water, dirt floors and thin mattresses will probably have a difficult time of it.

Awesome - thanks for sharing!

Fabulous! I am so grateful for your description and for reading Chrissy's entry to begin with--- I just sort of "found it" and did not expect it. I had this thing in mind about 10 months ago when I first initiated this kind of trip for my family,and did not quite know how to find it- it is my son's Bar-Mitzvah year, which in Judaism means a boy "becomes a man". I think that experiencing and living for even the shortest while with people who live very, very simply, "away from it all", who struggle and live without all our gadgets is truly an educational experience in its purest sense...so thanks so much for sharing and opening up this door! I am going to make a major change in our plans to get into this program...

If there are any further tips on this for us, a family of 4, please do feel free!

Most grateful!

Ronnie Dunetz