Chiapas Birding Adventures

Chiapas_LB_Win23.pdf

Big day for the Birds!

I have a DREAM. I have been trying for almost 2 years now to deliver the donation of over 1000 books to the young people of Frontera Corozal, a Chol-Maya community of less than 6000 inhabitants, situated in the state of Chiapas on the Usumacinta River. The books are the donation of the private library of 2 language professors, a man and wife, who died within 3 months of each other, after 38 and 31 years of giving their knowledge of the Spanish language to the young people at the University of Texas/San Antonio (Texas). Their dying wish was to donate their private library to the community of Frontera Corozal. Though packed and ready, I have so far been unable to deliver the wishes of these 2 generous professors.
In November, we are hoping to celebrate the beautiful 306 page book written and designed by Carolyn Tate - "YAXCHILAN, THE DESIGN OF A MAYA CEREMONIAL CITY." We will be at the SITE. I am hoping to enlist the help of the Mexican Navy to deliver this library, by the Usumacinta River, to the community where they were destined to be, blessed by the Jesuit priests of Georgetown University. The youths of Frontera will be constructing the building, unique architecturally, as the resting place for the education to be imparted to the open minds and open hearts of the living.

Saludos, Brock Huffman
Chiapas Birding Adventures

Everyone who has visited Mexico always has a story to tell.
Let's make it a chain letter.

I was traveling on Interjet Air on Dec 9,2019, from San Antonio to Tuxtla Gutierrez by way of Mexico City, in order to get to San Cristobal De Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Upon landing in Mexico City I reached into the overhead bin for my mochilla and then took a nosedive to the airplane floor, where I began my 5 day 5 night coma. I was carried by ambulance to the hospital. a city hospital where they had no idea who I was, whether I had insurance, etc. etc. The doctor at the hospital picked up my cell phone and called the last person I had spoken with (my family and friends always explained to me that I was not turning off my cell phone).The doctor told the "last person" that I needed help at his hospital. My friend. Bruce Hathway's daughter gave him the information on my two sons, Bart and Burdette. My sons then immediately flew to Mexico City and found me at the hospital, on my back, unconscious, with about 8 people surrounding me, beating on my chest to keep me alive. I was operated on and had a pacemaker put in place on my chest and was flown with my sons to a "heart hospital" in Houston, Texas. My doctors didn't know what had happened to me - I don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't use illegal drugs, and don't have diabetes. So what caused my heart to beat 20 beats per minute, down to 12 beats at one point, causing the doctors to say I shouldn't even be alive, and they finally decided it must have been caused by the stress of my representation in federal courts in Texas.
Called "lover lost," in medical Jargon. I have had full recovery after 3 weeks in the hospital but most importantly not one thing was missing from my personal billfold, my backpack, personal credit cards and cash, passport of USA, immigration card, cellphone, and 2 suitcases full of gifts, Let me say again -my wife took everything to our home in San Cristobal 2 days after my event and not a thing was missing. Former President Donald Trump would have called this a Democratic HOAX since he only believes bad stories about the honesty of Mexican citizens. Saludos, Brock Huffman Almost every tourist has had a good experience like this. Let's hear yours

A long time investigator took this photo from his kitchen window in Texas.
He's coming to Chiapas Birding Adventures in january.

Cerrito de San Cristóbal, a good spot for birding.
Chiapas, México.

Beautiful place.
Palenque, Chiapas.

A relaxing way to watch birds.
Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico.
Welcome!

See you next year...

A rare visitor, mountain wetlands, San Cristóbal De las Casas, Chiapas.
Brown Pelican.

This is our map, whit the representative birds of Chiapas, Mexico.
Wellcome!

Different vision...

Mexico has 57 species of Hummingbirds; Chiapas has 52 spp.
Ts'unun is the common name of the Hummingbirds in tsotsil lenguaje.
The Hummingbirds representing the soul of the warriors death in the battle.
Art: Guillermo Mena.

XULEM: design embroied on the clothes of Tsotsil people of Chiapas. Representing the Black Vulture; "God of Dawn".

Hello.
The biggest bird of the world, the Oystrich.
1.7 / 2.8 m (adult).
Africa.

The bird most little of the world is the Bee Hummingbird (5-6.1 cm.). Native to the island of Cuba.

Hola, saludos desde Chiapas.
Esta es nuestra guía, publicada por Chiapas Birding Adventures.
Hi, greeting for Chiapas.
This is our Bird guide, published by Chiapas Birding Aventures.

It looks like Covid-19 is on the run although we still need to be careful. Our team has been vaccinated and you can also feel a little safer being OUTSIDE on our tours. See what the science experts say (attached Less than 10 %). We have tours this Fall as follows:

October 1 through 11; October 15 through 25; November 5 through 15; November 19 through 29; and December 3 through 13.

We are also booking tours for Winter and Spring of 2022. See our website @ www.chiapasbirdingadventures.com.

Chiapas Birding Adventures – Welcome Let us take you on a world class birding and archeological adventure in the beautiful state of Chiapas, Mexico. As one of the last wilderness areas of Mexico with unbelievable archeological Maya sites, we will explore the culture of this highly advanced civilization, as well as observe the amazing s...

Some time ago there was an article on the Mexican News that there had been a study of the young people of Mexico. The results of the study was that "Yes, we love our country and we do not want to leave our family, our homes, and our Mexican life to live in a country that is strange to us." Kamela Harris needs to find a way to educate the youth of Mexico - they are capable of great things. We can help them!!!!!

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-56272549

-Currently, some 200 migrant children cross the border every day and thousands of minors have been detained at the country's southwestern border in recent weeks and sent to detention centers.-

¿Qué ha cambiado realmente Biden en la frontera de Estados Unidos con México? - BBC News Mundo El presidente de EE.UU. prometió acabar con la "crueldad" de las políticas de inmigración de su predecesor Donald Trump. Pero ¿qué está haciendo distinto?

Chiapas Birding Adventures updated their address.

A week ago, the 21st of May, I attended, proudly, the Commencement Exercises of my granddaughter Chelsea Clo Huffman, with the class of 2021, of St.Mary's Hall, in San Antonio, Texas. Yes, whose Spanish Club had packed the books, WITH LOVE, for the Frontera Corozal community in Chiapas, Mexico. 89 graduates, all of whom have been accepted to universities, many with grants and aid.

I was inspired to look at them, sitting on the stage, and wondered how many of them would have been admitted to the universities, IF ALL THEY KNEW HOW TO SPEAK WOULD BE THE LANGUAGE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN SURELY PROUD LANGUAGES BUT NOT UNDERSTANDABLE IN THE SCHOOLS OF THE US TODAY. The 49 boxes of books need to be in the hands of the youth in this Chol/Maya community. The youth are wanting to learn quality Spanish so they can advance their knowledge, their leadership abilities and their "love of simple things." After 5 days and 5 nights when I was in a coma my 2 sons saved me from "Death" in November of 2019- they gave me the time and opportunity to continue doing projects to help "others in need." Please help me, and the 2 professors from UTSA, who have donated the library, and the students who packed the books.

Regards,
Brock

Hola Todos,

Continuing the previous letter were I'm trying to donate Spanish books and magazines to the inhabitants of Frontera Corozal...

The young people especially want to learn good Spanish and the books are those used by the 2 professors of UTSA in teaching the Spanish language to the university students. The best price I have been able to find is $5500 US from our border to Frontera Corozal plus $450 for a rental truck from San Antonio to the US-Mexico border. We do have a volunteer driver for the rental truck. THEN, because the Secretary of Turism for the state of Chiapas asked if there were enough books to share with the Ocote Biosphere Reserve, I asked Jose Raul Vargas, who coincidentally was born and raised in the Ocote community, and who happenstance would have it, is the lead guide for Chiapas Birding Adventures, LLC, to please take some photos of the Ocote community library. We were scheduled to meet with the Tourism Office in Tuxtla Gutierrez again the next morning, April 30, 2021. Later that evening he sent me photos of a commercial airplane, saying [here is the library. [My reply was -You are kidding me-]. But no, this is their library ' a little bit of Mexican ingenuity but no books, only a few laptops. THEY NEED HELP AS WELL. Back to the books donated to Frontera Corozal, $6000 US seems to me to be a lot of money. We could probably purchase a used van for these [library trips. Please If you could help us, send your contribution to:

Chiapas Birding Adventures, LLC, 999 East Basse Rd, Ste 180, PMB 466, San Antonio, Texas 78209. I will send a receipt to you with a status update.

To all my friends:

I am the founder and owner of Chiapas Birding Adventures. I have been doing birdwatching tours of Chiapas, Mexico for 10 years now. There is a small (5184 inhabitants) Ch'ol Maya community in the Lacandon on the Usumacinta River in Chiapas, which river forms the border between Mexico and Guatemala, situated in the Lacandon forest of the most southern state in Mexico. Our tours always overnight in this community, where we eat meals in the homes of the community as well as observe the wildlife (birds) in the archaeological sites of Yaxchilan, on the Usumacinta River, and Bonampak, an archaeological site famous for its murals 30 minutes drive from Frontera Corozal.

The community is very poor. The town library is a building about 30 feet by 65 feet and has almost no books. I have spoken with some of the teenagers in the community who told me the only things to read are government documents with maybe 15 fiction books and almost no research books. CBA Guide Daniel Soto and I have been inside this library - it would bring tears to your eyes.

I believe education is at the heart of success, whether in employment, social justice, or empathy. I graduated from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, DC. and the University of Texas Law School. I have 2 sons. My oldest son graduated from Princeton University and then the University of Texas Law School, my second son graduated from Tulane University and received his master's Degree from Rice University. I taught them the importance of reading at a very early age.

Professor emeritus Frank Pino Jr. died in October of 2019 after 38 years on the faculty of the University of Texas San Antonio, teaching Spanish language and literature and his wife, Barbara Gonzalez-Pino, died 3 months later, January 31, 2020, after 31 years as a professor also of foreign languages. The attorney for both Estates, William Christopher Denham, has donated their personal libraries to Chiapas Birding Adventures to be given to the community library of Frontera Corozal.

The Spanish Club of St Mary's Hall high school In San Antonio, Texas has packed 49 books in boxes 12.5 X 12.5 X16.5 inches WITH LOVE. These books are stacked up in the garage of my home in San Antonio, Texas, impatiently waiting to travel to Mexico to spin their magic.

We are having trouble getting the books to Frontera Corozal. I have volunteers who can transport the books from Mexico City to Frontera but we are having problems getting the books to CDMX. The Consulate General of Mexico - San Antonio, Dr. Ruben Minutti, has offered to help us with the papers we will need for the Aduana. I am hopeful that we will get some suggestions from those to whom I have addressed this letter. What a shame if the books continued to be shut up within the boxes, unused and unread instead of swirling around the young minds of the youth of Frontera Corozal.

regards,
Brock Huffman

King Vultures | National Geographic The colorful king vulture reigns over Mayan jungle ruins, where it's well-adapted to its scavenger lifestyle. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe Abou...

Una parejita de Trogón mexicano, "Mountain Trogon", nos veían con curiosidad desde los árboles, estos coquetos vecinos que tenemos en San Cristóbal como me gustan.
Photos by Daniel Soto