First post from GUATEMALA!! After a long and rather complicated journey (the airline suddenly re-routed us from flying via Dallas to via Miami), we are here in Antigua, Guatemala! The adventures started almost immediately – we (ex-Royal Entomological Society librarian Jacqueline Ruffle and I) were picked up by my friend Luis Montes at 07.00 and driven all the way down to the tropical lowlands near the Salvadoran border to a finca where he is conducting experiments on Jatropha curcas bushes for biofuels. We enjoyed a fascinating tour of the experimental plots, which also provided an opportunity to get to grips with our first Guatemalan butterflies….but as many of them are fast-flying and rarely settle, a net was required for identification purposes. However, a catastrophe soon manifested itself: a vital part of my net, the brass tube that connects the net ring to the bamboo pole, had disappeared, possibly having fallen out of my rucksack in transit. This is a major blow, as butterfly nets are not easy to come by. Creative thinking will be required!! STOP PRESS!!! 17th August - NET PIECE FOUND!!!!!!! Worries over!!! After an hour or so in the field, the heat became too extreme and we were all forced to retreat to an air-conditioned restaurant to recover….a luxury that brought home to me just how lucky we are today compared to my great grandfather G C Champion, who travelled on muleback, which did not even offer the cooling breeze provided by the moving car, and he had no light, no fan, no chilled drinks, rarely the possibility to bathe, and even to retreat to the cool of the higher areas took several days. Up till today, I had always thought it strange that he complained so much in his letters home; now I fully understand why. He must have been a brave man, and his feats deserve considerable praise. We are now back in the beautiful town of Antigua, and have just witnessed the dramatic sight of lightning flashing through the clouds surrounding the peak of the Volcan Acatenango. Tomorrow holds the promise of a tour to many of the villages surrounding Antigua where GCC did so much of his collecting, followed by a proposed visit to the lake of Amatitlan…….
