I went to Guratemala

[cally]

and had a great trip. Thanks to all of you who basically told me I was an idiot to be so fearful about going. ;-) Most hotels, banks, and many tourist areas have armed guards and we were warned to not go hiking on our own. As long as we were cautious, I felt safe. See this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=1286736

Guatemala is beautiful. We went hiking and walked on bridges above the canopy. We saw many monkeys, birds, butterflies, and a few large rodents that I don't know the name of. A guide explained the uses of various plants and how the shamans still use them to treat malaria and other diseases.

Thanks all for your help.

[SoCalDem]

1. Capybara ..large rodents :)...here's a "pretty" one

"ordinary" one

[blindpig]

2. your large rodent

was almost surely an agouti. Kind of long legs, about the size of a grounghog. Unless you were lucky enough to see a paca, which has stripes.
Been there once, on a side trip from Belize to see Tikal. I was creeped out by the heavy security I saw, particularly dudes with M-16's overseeing agricultural workers and the generally depressed appearance of the populace in the town I stayed in. My feelings of guilt for what that monster Raygun did to those people surely conditioned my impressions.

[cally]

4. Yep, it was an agouti

The M-16s freaked me out. I don't feel comfortable walking by teens with automatic weapons. Tourism is up and the folks I met were doing better than in years previously. The Mayans in the Yucatan seemed much much worse off.

[southpaw]

3. George Carlin's joke about something his 6th grade teacher used to say...

"You show me a tropical fruit and I'll show you a cock-sucker from Guatemala... No I think that might have been an old army buddy, come to think of it."


On edit: no offense intended, but every time I hear "Guatemala", that joke plays in my mind.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

5. Welcome back Cally

Great to see you :hi: Glad you had a good time and my regards and best wishes to your family:)