Amazing Quest: Stories from Guatemala | Somewhere on Earth: Guatemala | Free Documentary

[Music] [Music] [Music] guatemala is one of latin america's loveliest countries a colorful land rich in history where half the population is of maya origin that enlightened and mysterious pre-columbian civilization disappeared during the first millennium a.d but even to this day the secrets of the mayas continue to intrigue the whole world the laguna deltigre is a last frontier the realm of monkeys crocodiles and snakes with its rich diversity of climate and landscapes guatemala is also known as the land of eternal spring [Music] beyond the volcanoes in the heart of the tropical forests are on one of the world's most stunning lakes guatemala everywhere offers the promise of encounters and a journey that opens the doors to a fascinating world [Music] challenge [Music] [Applause] the first time i came to guatemala i was working for an agency a photo agency in new york it really touched me it moved me so one month later i took time and i came back by myself this changed me deeply my perspective on everything what am i doing just rush push shoot rush push shoot pay go up down i'm missing everything in life i said i'm moving to guatemala and everyone said you're crazy and i thought yeah probably but i like being crazy [Music] lake atitlan is one of joanne tremper garucho's favorite spots she's an american photographer who moved to guatemala 12 years ago and everyone calls her gigi her camera is her traveling companion and her catalyst for meeting people it's her way of exploring the universe of the maya as a photographer what i get here from the people is authentic where everyone i think that sees a picture recognized a part of themself in this it's real it's something that people are missing in the western world so if i can capture this little piece and remind people who they are and we're all one people we're all the same and it's not a watch or the chinese shoes or the clothes or the expensive hair and it's uh it's living and they give me life and i like to share that with whoever gets to see it hopefully some people get to see it oh lucky what's that it's a carpet for frying yes breaded yes with garlic or plain as you i can i don't shoot people that i don't know but at the same time it gives me a tremendous opportunity to meet people there should always be some sort of exchange so you know they're giving to me open-heartedly and when when the pictures sell not all of them sell sometimes they do sometimes it takes five years but no matter how long or where i always go back to the people there should always be an exchange in life reciprocity you know giving and taking [Music] gigi still has a lot of exploring to do in her adopted country from lake atitlan the maya's sacred lake to the range of volcanoes from the tropical forest to the caribbean and pacific coasts guatemala is a land of one thousand facets and a gateway to mystery [Music] today gigi is on ernesto's land in the heart of the altiplano the highlands she hasn't come to take photos here at more than one thousand meters altitude is where they grow what the maya call the food of the gods this is what gigi has come for the cocoa pods are ripe the pot is very [Music] this is what the squirrels eat i'm the squirrel this is the only cocoa i want no other it's heavenly when you taste it you have the true flavor of real chocolate this chocolate tastes like fruit something tropical all it's wonderful because you're eating all this nature a taste of the earth ernesto's family has been running this finca for five generations the 350 hectare farm produces cocoa coffee milk bananas and firewood they've been using the same farm machines here for decades [Music] [Music] gigi is not only a photographer recently she started making chocolate from ernesto's cocoa beans wow [Music] gigi has put down roots in antigua the former capital of guatemala born in new york of an american father and a spanish mother she was raised in mexico then brazil her multicultural childhood is a good basis for her life in several worlds this photographer has already lived many lives and there are more to come gigi was 20 when she moved back to the united states she studied photography and settled in los angeles where she became a dancer 10 years in show business rubbing shoulders with american pop stars a bohemian life of fiestas and follies life in the fast lane with all its risks then one fine day she turned the page on la went back to new york and photography until her momentous encounter with guatemala new harvest for the next batch this is my house this is my chocolate shop this is my physical food this is my spiritual food and this is my rest and where i work where i create so it's small but it all works together one piece gigi makes premium quality chocolate that she sells in the u.s it's a craft industry but it rounds off her income from photography she makes her chocolate in the purest maya tradition when i make my chocolate from the beginning to the end i ask uh for permission first i ask for balance from from the four cardinal points from the four directions and i make it according to the mayan calendar day chocolate is magic it's always with magic and it's always been special when she's not up to her elbows and chocolate gigi spends her time on maya culture one of america's richest and most enlightened but this photographer doesn't merely observe history and the ruins of long-forgotten pre-columbian cities she works on material that is much more alive gigi has been initiated as a priestess she received instruction from maya spiritual guides who passed on to her the secrets of their rituals today gigi is preparing several ceremonies with her friend felipe a reputed spiritual guide like shamans the maya priests are called upon to purify the sick and to officiate at life's important rites of passage [Music] fire is quite simply our connection with our ancestors we don't consider those who passed away as dead we say that they're in another dimension a parallel in prehistoric times all the humans would gather around the fire they'd share their moments of joy and sadness their projects and everything that could be done collectively this fire symbolizes and reflects the ancestral part that is within all of us all civilizations always keep the fire burning no matter what because it's a vital part of our daily life gigi and felipe are on their way to a sacred spot above lake atitlan [Music] this cave in the mountainside has been the site of maya ceremonies for centuries in guatemala the maya the indigenous people make up over half the population five percent of them practice these rituals when i came here i was decided that i was going to document the maya and i was rejected for years no cameras no cameras no cameras and and it took quite a long time and i realized that what i was experiencing and learning was more important than the photographs and so i dedicated myself to learning uh and then one day again someone said did you bring your camera can you take pictures and i thought yeah when i'm doing a ceremony my focus is on the ceremony in the beginning it was very difficult to juggle the picture or the ceremony but then it became a very fluid process where there would be a moment where it would yell or it would scream take a picture and so i just quickly take a picture and then go back to the ceremony and i think the ceremony is more important than the photographs gigi is one of the rare westerners allowed to photograph these secret religious ceremonies since the fall of their civilization around 850 a.d the maya have been victims of persecution the most recent wave took place in the 1980s in the thick of a civil war the country was ravaged by 30 years of guerrilla warfare until the peace agreements of 1996. the war in guatemala resulted in over 200 thousand deaths and thousands missing during those terrible years ceremonies like these were prohibited and the priests risked their lives before the peace accord this type of practice was quite stigmatized people would perform them at night here in this spot they wouldn't make the huge fires that they do now they would use only candles for their prayers ultimately the practice of the maya ceremonies has endured [Music] the mysteries of the maya civilization continue to fascinate the whole world how did they manage to build city-states in the middle of the jungle and organize life for thousands of people how could these societies so enlightened with their knowledge of art mathematics and astronomy have collapsed there is to this day continued speculation as to the causes of the downfall of the maya cities invasions a degradation of the environment internacine warfare famine exhibits her photos in new york and in guatemala's museums thousands of black and white prints that bear witness to the richness of an eternal culture [Music] sometimes i'll wait one year and it could be even more i just found one last week i was going back over old pictures and i was i said wow how come i didn't see this but now my perspective has changed and i have no attachment anymore to the pictures so i look at it and and it becomes something new again my best picture of all time is always the last picture i took today gigi is shooting a private family ceremony taking place up in the highlands in the flickering fire and candlelight everyone is paying homage to mashimon a rather strange personage [Music] a man with white skin and many faces his mustache is a reference to the spanish conquistador the oppressor at the same time he is a maya divinity half god half saint he is also called san simon [Music] embodies might and authority good and evil he watches over everyone they talk to him they touch him they invite him to dance the venerated mashimum is also a bon vival who enjoys flowers alcohol money and cigarettes they have to light for him [Music] for 12 years now gigi has been photographing the soul of the maya i don't know how the people they they see me i mean the people that um that i'm with and that i take pictures with uh we're friends you know i make a lot of friends i travel around the country a lot we share a lot of different things they respect me and i respect them and and that's huge it's wonderful it's it's really a big deal you know the amount of respect that's that's exchanged i don't know how they see me by involving herself in the men and women of guatemala gigi is in her own way highlighting the spiritual riches of a very mysterious world as if to keep it from slipping into oblivion [Music] in the center of guatemala the country's natural treasures have changed the destiny of another woman as well [Laughter] here at more than one thousand five hundred meters altitude the tropical jungle is shrouded in mist and mystery the biotopo is a region of cloud forest that looks like the dawning of the world edna alvarez is an amateur ornithologist she runs the ranchito del quezada a natural reserve a sanctuary for wildlife she manages 30 hectares of forest an ecological treasure an island of nature in an environment threatened by deforestation over 120 bird species have been identified in her reserve including the most famous bird a legend of guatemala the keith sal one of the world's loveliest birds [Music] in the mayan language quetzal means bird [Music] furtive and shy the quetzal lives in the canopy of the cloud forests every time i spot a kid's cell i'm just so moved i want to cry i feel like the luckiest person on earth i think my job is one of a kind i don't think there are many on this planet who drink their morning coffee gazing out on a kitten guatemala's catesines are in danger of extinction the spread of farmland is threatening the primary forests and the habitat of all birds aetna is a professional architect this young woman grew up in guatemala city the capital and lived for a time in europe with her husband but one day her destiny caught up with her the sudden death of her father turned her life upside down that day she decided to take over the reserve it was her father a trailblazer in wildlife protection who had founded this sanctuary 12 years before [Music] i feel a very strong connection with my father here since he died i feel his presence every time i think about quetzals i feel that only in this spot when i'm out walking i think he could have been here with me and that his spirit is with him from where he is now in another dimension i feel that in a way he's still by my side [Music] the quetzals come down from the neighboring peaks in search of food before the rainy season baldo one of edna's reserve guides is trying to locate the fruit trees where the quetzals feed it's the beginning of the mating season baldo knows the language of the couple's courting in the forest when the male calls the female he goes [Music] sometimes he'll do this then he goes that's what the male does when the female calls to him and the female answers [Music] i think [Music] the quetzal is part of the country's history this mythical bird of guatemala is the emblem of the nation it is present in everyone's mind yet most guatemalans have never in fact seen this legendary animal in all the marketplaces of guatemala the quetzal is passed from hand to hand for it's the name of the national currency the country's lovely bird is printed on all the banknotes and is ever present in the daily life of the guatemalans [Music] edna collects everything she can find about the quetzal in the local culture the bird of the cloud forest stirs the imagination of the maya its long feathers were once used to decorate the king's headdress and they're still embroidered into the traditional garments i like this one yes and this one [Music] this doesn't this one has capsules [Music] it's a little there's a legend about a battle between a spaniard and a kiche prince the prince was assassinated by the conquistador when the prince dropped to the ground a bird with long feathers a lit on his chest and covered itself with the indian's blood and took it and our struggle to defend our lands the future of the country's legendary bird lies in the hands of edna she's cultivating a miniature forest of guadumo trees whose fruit is the quetzal's favorite food [Music] edna's getting ready for a special day she's heading for alta vera paz to the property of an ngo the conservation cloud forest [Applause] in both reserves we grow the fruit that the quetzals usually eat it's important for us to have a good variety of trees for reforestation the advantage of these plants is that they produce fruit for human consumption as well we have several objectives to feed the quetzals and other birds to replant these trees in a sustainable way and to produce fruit for us as well the children of the altavera pass communities are following an educational program set up by the conservation cloud forest these are guar seeds each seed it'll grow and become a huge tree to the delight of the quetzals by planting trees these children are ensuring the future of their forest and the survival of its inhabitants [Music] hedna is taking a little group out bird watching they're hoping to spot a quetzalo humans have always tried to capture this bird but no quetzal has ever survived in captivity because it lets itself die of hunger and thirst that's why it's the symbol of [Music] [Music] he flew off every year after nesting the quetzal sacrifices its beauty by shedding its feathers in order to protect its young from predators you look over there on that little branch [Music] there he is you see [Music] so but i never felt that i could give the best of myself when i'd come here this personal enrichment has allowed me to contribute something to the world and to evolve as a human being here i'm truly fulfilling myself thanks to the forest protecting the quetzal has given meaning to edna's life a day's drive through the primary forest heading for the mexican border brings us to the laguna del tigre it's the end of the earth the refuge of much more fearsome creatures [Music] the laguna deltigre is a distillation of planet earth where nature is lush and thriving [Music] roland griffin is an english biologist and herpetologist a snake specialist he has a particular fondness for crocodiles it's a sense of peace that i get when i'm in a place like this the things that really matter i come to the to the front and just to be surrounded by nature rather than being surrounded by buildings by by human constructs is just for me it's it's it's the best thing on earth rivers and forest the laguna deltigre is central america's largest wetland it's also guatemala's largest national park over 300 000 hectares of jungle and marsh an animal realm with parts that have yet to be explored [Music] roland lives in this exceptional wilderness six months a year his base camp is here on the banks of the san pedro river here we are coming into my my other home when i'm here in guatemala this is the estacion biological and it's where i base a lot of my work and my research from and i just love it it's one of the most tranquil places that i've ever been fortunate enough to visit it's just so peaceful and wonderful [Music] some people might say there's something wrong with me for for dedicating my life to two groups of animals that that for most people are things that they would try to stay clear of for me with snakes especially that's been a fascination that i've had since eight years old i can remember the day that that i got turned on to snakes i was eight years old at school and someone came in with some exotic animals fruit bats and i can't remember what else except for a 16-foot burmese python and for me that was it and it and it's always been there something that is very deep inside me and and for me there's nothing more exhilarating and satisfying than working with them [Music] before plunging into the jungle to track down snakes roland has an appointment to keep in paso caballos [Music] like something out of the old west this is the last village before entering the laguna deltiga roland is forever in search of the most beautiful reptile sometimes the most dangerous as well but he always has to be accompanied when he goes out snake hunting it's a question of life and death hola carlos hi carlos [Music] carlos lives on the outskirts of paso caballos he works at the biology station and knows the jungle like the back of his hand for roland carlos is the indispensable partner in his expeditions between 8 and 10 p.m is the best time to see snakes you can see them in the day too but it's not at all certain night time is when you see them [Music] there hasn't been a drop of rain in two weeks it's 40 degrees even the forest looks like it's suffering nature is holding its breath nobody at home today the snakes are hiding away keeping cool underground which doesn't make finding them any easier [Music] the ground here is really smooth in a long line all the way down into these caves is is likely to be a track of a snake that's what it looks like to me it's quite possible it's something like a bow constrictor which we know have found in this area but we're also close to a large cave just down the way here and bowers often eat bats things like that so it's possible that it's here for though for that reason to feed so far they haven't turned anything up roland and carlos push on into the forest [Music] they're now a three-hour hike from the biology station and heading for this high point a mound the vestiges of one of the waka temples a maya city totally overgrown by the jungle nature is fragile but it is strong there is a power there that we have no control over this was a large city there were many people living here during its heyday and just to imagine these structures clean painted red as all my instructors were for me to see that nature can come back is wonderful this is schmidt's black striped snake the scientific name is connie fenis schmittai i've recorded over 30 species of snake in in laguna del tigre and there are still more to find i'm sure we see the symbol of the snake on medical facilities on ambulances all over the world it's a symbol of health and vitality as well as death it's something that we have maybe forgotten about a little bit more even down to their physical shape so the physical shape is quite phallic it's very masculine but the movement of a snake is incredibly feminine it's smooth and and just really gentle movements so it they're they're an animal of paradox i guess the silence is broken only by the mournful cries of the howler monkeys waka is also the realm of the incredible treetop acrobat the spider monkey this city was discovered in 1970 but the archaeological excavation did not begin until years later in 2003 waka has since sunk back into oblivion [Music] roland just spotted a fair delance viper its bite means certain death this one's a juvenile only about 20 centimeters long but its venom is just as potent as an adult [Music] they can get really big the adults can reach two and a half meters those are quite difficult snakes to deal with the venom from this species is is highly toxic they it can cause a lot of tissue damage and necrosis lots of hemorrhaging lots of bleeding that often leads to amputation of a limb or something like that but when left alone they're not dangerous at all i'm quite safe here with with this animal right now and as long as i respect this animal and its space its boundaries and behave in an appropriate manner then i i will be safe yeah [Music] roland's dreams are inhabited by snakes but by other reptiles as well by nightfall the biologist is back on the san pedro river this is the ideal time to meet the jungle's great predators it's really amazing to be this close to a big adult male morlux crocodile it's very difficult to approach the population here and i think the reason for that is that especially the the big adults the older members of of the population here remember being hunted and so they still remember people in boats coming and hunting them and they're still very wary of that [Music] crocodiles one of the planet's 23 crocodile species are very rare animals they live only in certain parts of guatemala belize and mexico roland's work allows us to better know them and thus protect them [Music] have the the camera on a stick so that when we get close enough to to the crocodiles we can get video footage um of the head and neck region and the shape of the scales and the pattern on the scales is unique to each individual by getting that footage we can then tell where the individuals are moving on the river how big their territories are keep track of them over years and see how that moves around how that changes quite often populations can be quite dynamic so by collecting this data year after year we can really get a an idea of what's happening with the ecology of this species [Music] [Music] morelle's crocodiles are the monsters of the san pedro river they can grow up to three and a half meters long [Music] and so you see even when we do find them it's not always easy getting close enough to get the data that we need here far from his native england roland is living out his passion he publishes articles on his research and organizes scientific expeditions every year dozens of volunteers come to help them carry out a census of the crocodiles on the san pedro river the data collected will help protect this species that very nearly disappeared they are a big predator and anywhere where you have big predators and humans living together there's always some kind of conflict between the two thankfully here there's not too much of a of a conflict and it's usually usually accidental happenings um they have some kind of respect for the space that they're they're living in with with the crocodiles and for the most part there's harmony when when the children go down to the river they have to be careful not to bother the crocodiles otherwise they'll attack you have to leave them alone because they're in their natural habitat [Music] crocodiles have been living here at paso caballo since the dawn of time and the fishermen have learned how to live with this lord of the river carries out his senses day and night at night the crocodiles are more active and easier to spot in the light of the headlamps their eyes show up as two red dots on the surface of the water this is what roland and his crew are after [Music] yeah even though the crocodiles are the largest predators of the jungle they are still very timid creatures [Music] i've never seen one be so tolerant i have a huge amount of respect for for all all life um there's something very special about crocodiles they're super intelligent they're apex predators and for me it's an honor to share my time and this world with them it's an absolute honour i'm very excited yes yeah this is uh quite quite an experience and i i still can't believe that that she's still there on the bottom just biding her time very peacefully very calmly it's magnificent what a night [Music] adios hasta luego [Music] roland the english biologist has decided to move to guatemala for good he's planning to open a center for sea turtles on the pacific coast soon but above all he wants to continue to persuade people to look kindly on these two unappreciated animal species snakes and crocodiles they're animals that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and they're still here and i think for for anyone who who is into to reptiles or dinosaurs and pre-history being able to spend time with animals from that distant distant past that's really special is really incredible and there's only a few species left there's 23 species out of over 200 known species of crocodilians and many of them are endangered and are in need of conservation work and that for me is just wonderful to be a part of that and to contribute to that [Music] do [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 149,381

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), somewhere on earth, amazing stories, amazing stories from guatemala, amazing quest, guatemala

Id: 5yDY7qX_Ck8

Length: 52min 29sec (3149 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2023