The Pyramid at Tres Garantias

There are still hundreds of Mayan pyramids hidden in the forests of Quintana Roo. One of these is located very close to where we banded some growth trees in Tres Garantias (see Selva Maya II and Selva Maya III). It's hard to capture this type of thing in a video, but look for the square cut stones, the arch, and the interior room. The seedlings shown at the end are, not surprisingly, Brosimum alicastrum (see The Curious Case of Brosimum alicastrum). [NOTE: Thanks to Luis Chai for showing this to us].

Sawmill at Tres Garantias

The ejido at Tres Garantias had just bought a portable sawmill, and I stopped by to watch them square-up some logs.  As shown in the image below, the sawyer is clearly having the time of his life. [NOTE: There are some glitches here. The sawmill they purchased was designed to be used with conifers, not tropical hardwoods, and several dozen bands, i.e. saw blades, have already snapped].

Lunch at Doña Olga's

We let her know a day in advance that we were coming to Tres Garantias and she prepared us a delicious spread of rice, beans, tortillas, and caldo de pollo.  Truly a great lunch. [NOTE: That's Doña Olga serving up the food. The sign on the refrigerator reads "This home is Catholic. We don't accept propaganda from Protestants or other sects. Viva Christ the King. Viva the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of God". We didn't talk about tree growth or religion during lunch].