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Posted (July 25, 2013)

It's not quite like climbing Victoria Peak, but when you go into the Chiquibul, all the way to the Western Border, half the story is just getting there! Tonight Daniel Ortiz dedicates a whole story to that. As we showed you last night, he and camera-man Codie Norales went there, and it's important to note because it sort of explains why the place is so abstract, because it's so darn far! Here's his story-

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The environment inside the Chiquibul knows no sense of urgency, it is lost in time, immune to everyday exigencies; in fact, time is just a means of measurement which the guides use to estimate how far they've travelled, and how much further they have to go. For us in the media, time is always of the essence, and being sucked into the tangle of green on a deadline day, was, at first disorienting.

But, in place of time's dictates, we had another kind of pressure: an early morning ride through the Chiquibul on this John Deer tractor – or jumping viper – which the FCD rangers use as the main means of transportation.

And on every move they make in the forest, they are joined by BDF Soldiers and police officers.

Being so close to so many firearms, trigger fingers at the ready in case of any armed threat, is enough to unsettle anyone, but this has become the reality of the men who work inside the national park.

So, on this day, we accompanied them on one of their patrols to a part of the forest inundated by increasing Guatemalan incursions. Our journey was 11 Kilometers – or 6.8 miles – the first part being deceptively simple, resembling passengers hitching a ride in the back of a pickup.

But as soon as we hit off-road, on a far less travelled path, the real situation started to unfold. Yes, and as our camera witnessed, branches from all sides of the tightly wound, and resilient jungle came flying out at the passengers, leaving behind pain, a sense of embarrassment and souvenirs such as prickles, needles, small critters or dust and debris – sometimes even a combination.

We adapted quickly to those nuisances, and while being thrown around in the trailer was tough – it was inevitable – as the tractor plowed through the muddy terrain sinking as much as a foot into the earth at times.

All around, the canopy shielded us from the sun further separating us from the passage of time, increasing the disconnection the deeper we got into the remote location.

And while we felt out of place, the rangers and the BDF, seemed to be enjoying it – just another day at the office, even if it is a 400 thousand acre office.

And then, after an hour and half on the tractor –we had to hike the final 2 kilometers. The rangers and the BDF led the way, with us in the middle, and soldiers bringing up the rear, guns at the ready.

Getting to that final location was no easy task, fraught with steep uphill climbs, uneven terrain, dangerous plants, and unsteady foot paths likely to trip up the most experienced hikers. And the unwanted Guatemalan visitors weren't making it easy either, it wasn't uncommon to find trees cut down specifically to block the path.

The deeper we travelled, the more signs we saw of illegal activities inside the Chiquibul, like this tree which was cut down, and the timber harvested.

But by this time, I was exhausted, and grateful for a bite of a fruit, a little quick boost of energy and chance to rest. We also started recognizing the huge gap in fitness levels between ourselves and our escorts.

My camera man and I were slowing down the hiking party forcing them to stop more often than they needed to, and we got left behind a few times. We could barely catch our breaths after trudging up steep hills, but everyone else seem relaxed, just a stroll through the park – in this case the Chiquibul National Park.

And then, they broke the news to us, we weren't even half way to our location. And from then on, it became a matter of just putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to be discouraged by how far yet we had to go, and ignoring the pain.

An hour and a half later, after running on E, willpower alone fueling us, our escorts told us they heard gunshots from a hunting rifle, and to avoid confronting anyone armed, they told us to back track – in this case up a hill we had just walked down. 20 minutes after that, after being covered for so long by the forest, the vast change in environment surprised us.

We arrived at the first of 2 milpa farms in the Chiquibul, and the devastation to the forest was immediately clear.

Jose Sierra – Ranger, FCD
"About 400 meters or less than that while we were coming we heard a gunshot south from us so that shows us that someone is in the area - however, we have not seen anybody since we're here. Approximately traveled 11km to right where we are right now."

After that difficult but productive hike, it was time to backtrack through the difficult terrain to the jumping viper.

We'll have one more story on our Chiquibul trip in tomorrow's newscast…