Litter Bugs and Monkey Bites

We're in Ocosingo right now...a very unlikely place to find such an upscale internet cafe, not to mention the services of putting all my pictures onto CD's (which means I'll finally be able to upload them!). There happens to be a college here for computer science and engineering. Other than that, it seems a pretty sleepy town halfway between San Cristòbal and Palenque...for us it is the jumping off point of going deep into the jungle into the Biosphere Reserve of Montes Azules where we will stay in a jungle town called Zapata. Along the way we will pass other small towns that are Zapatista strongholds, and I'm told to have my documents in order and ready to present. We are hoping to stay up to two weeks in Zapata, which is close to the shores of Laguna Miramar, reportedly the most remote and pristine lake in Mexico. There is no development allowed within 1 km of the lake, and motorboats are prohibited. The town we are going to, Zapata, doesn't allow alcohol or drugs of any kind. To get to the lake, we'll have to go on horseback. There are no roads leading to Zapata, so we will ride in the back of a truck that will cut through the jungle. THIS is my type of adventure!! Sierra's too, because I found a way that we only had to go offroad for 2-3 hours, but she chose the road that is 7 hours!

Yesterday we went to the Cañon del Sumidero, an impressive jaunt by lancha (motorboat) through canyons that tower over 3,000 feet above. Along the way we saw cocodrillos (crocodiles), monos (monkeys) and other wildlife. There were these flourescent green birds flying in and out of the trees...they were so beautiful, but I don't know what they are called. There is one area where there is a smallish waterfall coming out about 1500 feet above the water, and as it comes down the cliff it has formed a series of algae that looks like a Christmas tree. It was really neat.

One very sad thing we saw was an area of the river that is badly polluted. This picture actually doesn't even show the worst part of it. People in Mexico don't have the sanitary disposal we have in the U.S. and therefore there are very few garbage cans. People seem to just throw stuff out the window or in the street. This particular area of the river must have some differing currents, because all the trash is in one area, but it is extensive. The boats have difficulty getting through it, and it is thick with diapers, plastic bottles, coconuts, tires...you name it. It was sobering and disgusting. The birds were sitting right on top of the garbage in the water and eating from it. I can't imagine the impact this must have on the fish, birds, crocs and water quality, but I'm sure it is extensive.

Along the way, about 40 minutes into the lancha ride through the canyon, there is an Eco-Park that is only accessible via the lancha. It is entirely too expensive, but we decided to go anyway! They dropped us off at the park, and we realized immediately that it is set into a steep hill, and you have to walk up, up, up in the hot and muggy jungle atmosphere. I was sweating like crazy! They have a lot of neat markers that explain different trees and birds and various other flora and fauna along the way, and there is an aviary and also two jaguars and a puma to see. For a fee you can rappel or go on the zip line or kayak around.

We went into the aviary and saw some toucans (the traditional ones you are familiar with that are black with colorful beaks as well as other types that are green), and some big bird that looks a little like a turkey but with little dreadlock looking things on it's head, and some parrots. We were also very excited to see some monkeys!

One of the monkeys was hanging on the cage looking at Sierra and we were putting our fingers in the cage and feeling it's foot and it's fur. We filled the cap of the water bottle with water and were letting it drink from it. Sierra put some on her finger and the monkey started to suck it off. She ended up doing this several times and it was soo cute...she wanted me to get a picture, so I was trying to and she put her finger in one more time and the monkey sucked on it, then bit her finger! The noise was this horrible crunching sound that made me shake in the pit of my stomach. I was sure it had bitten the top of her finger off! I was freaking out and there was blood everywhere and Sierra was saying "it's fine..it's not bad...it's fine"...I couldn't bring myself to look at it closely as I was sure I'd see only bone and meat. I was looking for something to apply pressure and stop the bleeding and Sierra started to get mad at me, telling me I was freaking her out because I was freaking out. We ended up using the rest of the water in the water bottle to wash it off, then put her skirt on it. We found a guy who worked there and I told him what happened...his first words (of course!) were..."don't touch the animals"...I guess we learned our lesson, huh? Anyway, he took us down, down, down the mountain (after all that work to get up!!!) and to the nurse's station. The guy looked at it and said it was not a bad bite, and just needed to be washed and bandaged. We were both relieved as the visions of going to a Mexican ER were erased from my mind. He washed it and disinfected it, then put on a bandage and we were good to go. Within minutes, Sierra had recovered and was even feeling a little proud of her "souvenier". We ended up going back UP the hill to see the jaguars and puma (nope...no feeding those guys!) and ultimately to the top so Sierra could take a 5 station zip line ride down to the bottom where the pool was. I ended up taking my time walking down and looking at all the butterflies and plants and things and then met Si down by the pool.

We weren't exactly sure how to get back to San Cristòbal from the canyon, and after waiting for a bus for about an hour, finally caught one back and ended up back in town about 10 pm. We both took some Tylenol and went to bed after our adventures of the day.