June 1999
Las Hoyas, Sierra de Manantlan Biosphere Reserve
Yvette, Rosa, Maria, Linda, Chefe, Mike, Mario, Rodrigo, and I entering
the cabin where we slept most of the time at Las Hoyas.
This cabin only had electicity.
Another cabin had running water and electricity and this is where we had
our meals and meetings.
There were two outhouses, caballleros y caballeras, and one outdoor shower
with a wood stove to warm the water.
The summer time is the rainy season and I hadn't seen and heard so much
rain and thunder since I visited Utah in the summer of 1985. It rained
almost every single day. We were on the windward side of a mountain.
We had a small group of ravens that were frequently attracted to the compost
pile about 75 meters from our cabin. The cooks would dump
leftovers here.
Another cabin on top of a hill overlooking Las Hoyas, on four-by-fours,
had a phone (that often didn't function properly) and served as the
visitor center for Las Hoyas.
Another cabin on the premises housed some game warden armed with machine
guns. At times, during meals, it felt strange to dine next to a
man with loaded machine gun on his lap. However, if at night you
had to go to outhouse or the shower it felt good knowing that a bunch of
guys with machine guns
would come scrambling out if you were to yell.