The Mountainous Side of Suchitepequez: Santa Barbara and Los Andes Reserve

This is the municipality of Santa Barbara and I don't exaggerate when I say that what we are going to discover today is a hidden treasure.

Los Andes, a Private Nature Reserve, located on the western chain of Guatemala’s volcanoes, is among the first cloud forests dedicated to the protection of the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), whose courtship and nesting activities attract birdwatchers from around the world to the Reserve.

Los Andes is also home to the rare cabanis tanager (Tangara cabanisi). This small, blue, exquisite bird’s habitat is shared by hundreds of local and migrating species, including a host of hummingbirds, orioles, flycatchers, trogons and motmots.

The Reserve works closely with the residents to promote self sufficiency, health and education and the most important accomplishment is that they are being successful with a method that goes from the traditional education of repetition to an education of understanding, which is clearly reflected in the school’s slogan “Learn, achieve and share”.

The unique biodiversity of the Reserve, including wildlife, has tremendous potential for Eco-tourism and local residents are being trained as guides to provide them with an alternate source of income, and that is why at Los Andes we can enjoy a variety of activities including bird-watching, explorations through the coffee and tea certified sustainable plantations, the botanical garden, and through the cloud forest to admire more than 50 species of exquisite orchids. For the adventurous, Los Andes Reserve also offers a river adventure and hikes to the top of the beautiful Volcano Atitlan.

The core of Los Andes, of course, is The Quetzal Project, an initiative started by Dr. Anne LaBastille back in 1968, when she first visited Los Andes and worked on a Quetzal research project. The result of this was an article published in the January 1969 edition of National Geographic. She also created, in 1972, the first Association in Guatemala dedicated to the conservation of this magnificent bird, making Los Andes the first protected area officially declared in Guatemala for the protection of the Quetzal.
Artificial nest boxes were designed by Dr. LaBastille in an attempt to reduce the mortality of nesting quetzals, whose nest trees and stumps often fall down. The boxes were placed in the cloud forest in safe locations and eventually were accepted and used by a few birds,  a method that is still in use today! This elusive bird can be better observed during  two distinctive seasons,  from November to January and from April to June, which is the nesting season.
Los Andes Nature Reserve certainly is an area in which agricultural production, human development and environmental conservation are carried out in a harmonious and sustainable manner, for the well being of present and future generations.

Recommended Reading:

Assignment: Wildlife 

A detail of Dr. LaBastille work in Guatemala and other parts of Central and South America.

Reserva Patrocinio: Let's Enjoy a Great One Day Tour!

Last week I was so anxious to restart the blog after our short break, that I skip the usual introduction to a new department. Well, after one week of traveling through Reu, which by the way is how locals call Retalhuleu, I am sure you might have an idea about this region, so I am just going to mention some details.

The name Retalhuleu comes from the K'iche voices Retal (sign), Hul (hole), and Uleu (earth), which translates as Sign on the Earth. The department is divided into 9 municipalities, and we already visited an area of Champerico when we went to the Manchon Guamuchal biological preserve, and San Francisco Zapotitlan, the municipality where the IRTRA parks and hotels complex is located.

Today, I want to guide you through Reserva Patrocinio, which even though it belongs to the department of Quetzaltenango, is easily accessible from Reu; actually from where we are right now, is only about 20 minutes. So please, join us today to discover another jewel of Guatemala's nature paradises.

This reserve covers an area of approximately 140 ha with a mosaic of different habitats, ranging in elevation from 750 to 850 meters above sea level. It is dedicated to the conservation of fragments of old growth broad-leaf forest, and to the restoration of the local natural habitat.

The conservation efforts as well as the school and medical clinic are sustained by the economical income generated by the agricultural crops (mainly coffee, cacao, rambutan, macadamia, and pacaya) and the tourism program.
Until now, 10 families live in the reserve whose members are involved not just in the tourism program as guides, room attendants, cooks and waiters, but also in the different tasks required for the agricultural project.

The Reserva Patrocinio is also a good site for easy bird watching. A network of trails and hanging bridges gives access to the forests and different plantations, where skilled birders can see more than 100 species on a good day during the migration season.
There is also an observation tower and feeding stations for fruit-eaters and hummingbirds, all of these are excellent spots to watch the birds. The list of recorded species in this place includes 185 species.

About 150 years ago, this area was covered with humid broad-leaf forest; unfortunately, human activity has shrunk the forest to fragments without biological corridors and that is why Scarlet Macaws and Red-throated Caracara, once common, are today extinct on the Guatemalan Pacific Slope.
Although these species did loose their appropriate habitat, the remaining forest fragments are important refuges for many other species.

This, among some others, is one of the reasons why I am convinced that the tourism industry and particularly sustainable tourism, may play a valuable role not just in the development of even the remotest communities, but also in the preservation of our natural richness.

To complement the wonderful nature experience, Reserva Patrocinio also offers wide trails for mountain biking and 4 cables for zip-lining where you can literally fly across the valley, over tropical vegetation and a coffee plantation.

And if all of the above is not enough, from the cafeteria at Reserva Patrocinio, which is only 9 kilometers away from the Santiaguito Volcano, we can admire impressive views of this amazing volcano. 
Did you enjoy our tour today?

The Totonicapan Forests: a Birdwatchers Paradise

More than 720 bird species live in Guatemala. Of the bird species breeding in the highlands, about 10% are endemic to the North Central American Highland. The range of some species is even restricted to Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico.

The municipality of San Miguel Totonicapan, at an elevation of 2500m in the western Guatemalan highlands has not yet been discovered by international tourists. Birding near Totonicapan and around the town is extraordinary.

The whole area offers an impressive array of landscapes, from corn fields, to quaint villages and conifer forests with different pine species (Pinus spp.), cypress (Cupressus lucitanicus) and Guatemalan fir (Abies guatemalensis). 

In humid valleys the forest is mixed with broad-leaf trees (oak, alder). The area is home to several bird species endemic to the northern Central American highlands.

Soon after entering the forest the distinct "ch-lip" call reveals the presence of Pink-headed Warbler, an endemic of the highlands of Guatemala.

Even without being familiar with the calls, birders can detect this beautiful warbler quite easily, because it moves not just in the canopy, but also in the forest understory. 

The bird is locally quite common in the Guatemalan highlands and there is no need to climb steep volcanoes to observe this species.

In each mixed foraging flock one to three individuals moved together with Townsend's, Hermit, Wilson's, Olive, Golden-browed, and Crescent-chested Warblers, Hutton's Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, and Spot-crowned Woodcreeper.

In addition to Pink-headed Warblers, there are several other endemic birds of the northern Central American highlands that can be watched in the Totonicapan conifer forest: Rufous-browed Wren, Rufous-collared Robin, Black-capped Swallow, and Ocellated Quail.

In the forest understory several Chestnut-capped Brushfinches, Yellow-eyed (Guatemalan) Juncos, Spotted Towhees, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrushes and Singing Quail can be detected. 

Most common hummers in the area are Amethyst-throated and White-eared Hummingbird.

The Totonicapan forest covers an area of more than 16,000ha and is one of the largest tracts of high-elevation conifer forest in Guatemala. The main part of the forest is communal, and some adjacent sections are privately owned. For Birders, the best part is that the forest can be birded year round.

For a real birdwatching exploration I would highly recommend to hire at least the services of a certified local guide, keeping in mind that since Totonicapan is not a touristic place yet, accommodations can be quite rustic.

By visiting the forest of Totonicapan we can help to its conservation by establishing a sustainable forest use, an alternative to the extraction of timber and firewood.

If you want to learn about birds of Guatemala, let me recommend  this book, which is the most authoritative, detailed, and updated checklist of the 725 bird species recorded in Guatemala. 

Also includes information about status, habitats and endemic species, along with detailed distribution maps, information on species to watch for and species of special concern: 

Lista Comentada De Las Aves De Guatemala / Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Guatemala (English and Spanish Edition) by Knut Eisermann and Claudia Avendano.