Guatemala Day 2

The expansive Peten Rainforest

After a fairly short travel, I have just arrived in Peten, the rainforest basin region in northern Guatemala. Right as I entered into the region, I soon saw myself surrounded by vast amounts of green vegetation as well as animal life in the rainforest. Through my connections with National Geographic, I was able to find a Mayan village where I could explore and visit for a little while. Right when I entered into the village, the Mayans greeted my arrival very warmly and quickly started to prepare a meal for me. While I was waiting on my meal, I looked around the village. In the village, there were many simple, small houses that were made from mostly thatch and wood. Also, there was a ton of plants everywhere both in the rainforest that surrounded the village and in the farms that were seemingly located next to every house. I also noticed that were some Ancient Mayan ruins out in distance. Soon, the villagers presented me my meal of beans and corn, which are two common crops that I noticed were being grown in the villagers farms, and pork and water, which are two resources that are very valuable and rare for the Mayans, were also served. I soon finished my meal and bid the villagers farewell.

Part of the Mayan village where I visited

After I left the village I decided that I would spend the rest of my day exploring the region. As I walked through the rainforest, I soon noticed that much of it had been deforested just like the nearby Amazon Rainforest. As I was walking through the rainforest I noticed that much of the area was being deforested so petroleum could mined. Because petroleum is such a valuable resource, I assumed it was being mined to create a boost to the economy and standard of living if this resource was able to be sold. However, there were still many beautiful parts of the forests that contained all kinds of gigantic rainforest trees and different animals life, like birds and insects, that had not been interfered with. The day soon began to end, so I got aboard a bus to the near airport, so that I could board my plane and begin travel to Jamaica, the last country on my list.

The Peten region being deforested.