Montericco

This weekend we headed for Montericco, a black (volcanic sand) beach on the Pacific Coast, only about two hours from Antigua. Back at home at Villanova it was Homecoming weekend which obviously was sad to miss, but the beach almost made up for not getting to see everyone.

Montericco is most famous for its nature preserves and especially an endangered species of turtles (tortugas) who lay their eggs on shore. An interesting conflict exists between the locals who poach the eggs from the beach to either feed their families or sell to make a living. The environmental advocates are obviously opposed to this, but because many of the poachers are very poor and count on these eggs for their survival, it really is an ethical dilemma. They've solved it by setting up the conservatory, and allowing the poachers to keep half of the eggs they get as long as they donate half to the conservatory, who then hatches them in a protected environment before releasing them into the ocean every night. Tourists can also pay to "sponsor" a turtle and release it into the ocean, and that money goes towards buying some of the turtle eggs on the market. The conservatory also has a collection of Kaimens and iguanas as well.




Of course, being the tourists we are, James and I "liberated" two little hour-old baby turtles. In fact, there was even a race among the tourist liberators to see whose turtle got to the water first. Guatemalans really really really have the tourist thing down. If only the country were a tad more safe, they would really have a booming business. As it was, we spent a very comfortable weekend in a cabana steps away from the beach, hanging out with friends at a local hostel/restaurant, and of course, "hammocking". Another cool thing was getting up this morning for a 5:30 AM canoe-ride through the presevatory's swamp glades. Great views of the volcanoes and we saw some pretty cool birds as well. Afterwards I went back to sleep on a hammock on the beach for a few hours. Man, life is rough.



One thing that does break your heart though, and you would never see at say, Ocean City New Jersey, is the impoverished campesinos trying to sell their wares on the beach. They literally have these huge packs on their backs of hammocks, wicker products, or food, and walk all day bent over on the (very hot) black sand. I don't know how they do it, but anyone who dares to call the poor lazy would definitely think twice if they saw these people. And meanwhile since Montericco is also the nicest beach is Guatemala, lots of the majorly rich folk from the city come to spend the weekends, and drive their 4-Wheelers up and down the shore at breakneck speed. Although the gulf between the rich and the poor in America is bad, in Guatemala its sometimes shocking in its blatentness and the proximity in which the two classes coexist.