Posted November 15, 2019
Most biological and ecological research in Peten (Guatemala) is undertaken at Parque Nacional Tikal or at El Mirador to the north. Research is popular at Tikal since you can reach it on a paved highway; there are three hotels to chose from, and there are roads throughout the center of the park.
We (FLAAR Mesoamerica) also recognize the pleasant aspects of Tikal (I was a student volunteer here for 12 months back in 1965). But my heart and soul are in the Yaxha and Nakum area. And, courtesy of Archaeologist Vilma Fialko and Arquitecto Raul Norega, plus Horacio Palacios, another key person who has hiked through all the remote areas of the Naranjo sector of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo, I am now learning of the remarkable biodiversity of the ecosystems of the Naranjo sector of PNYNN.
Insects and arachnids and all their relatives are of definitely interest to me. We also seek, find, photograph, and document birds: park ranger Teco showed me king vultures soaring above the hills in the park. In 54 years in Mesoamerica I had never seen a king vulture in the wild (only in a zoo). But all the bird species have been carefully documented in Tikal area over recent half a century.
But Laguna Yaxha and Rio Ixtinto offer ecosystems not at Tikal, so this park (PNYNN) offers opportunities to find and photograph waterbirds (wading birds, shore birds, diving birds, and swimming birds) that have not yet been seen nor photographed with high-resolution digital cameras in adjacent Tikal.
