MFIL: Welcome
back Jim, what are your plans during this second stay at
Hacienda Chichen?I will be more in contact with the
guests of the hotel, offering free Nature Guided Tours daily
and Nature Talks in the afternoon at my Maya Hut, where
guests can enjoy a fresh organic tea just picked up from my
own backyard. Those that wish to recive my
e-newsletter can join by
MFIL: Where
were you born and raised?
I was born in Madisonville, Kentucky and raised on a tobacco
farm in western Kentucky, about 100 miles directly north of
Nashville, Tennessee.
MFIL: Share a memory of your growing up that
inclined you to be who you are today?
At first I had no special feelings for Nature. When I was
around 10, however, for some reason I began feeling sorry
for the animals we slaughtered to eat, and in a few years
that led to my vegetarianism. At about age 15 I
found myself sitting at the kitchen table copying the life
histories of animals from books; so, I suppose that my
"chronicling Nature" urge started then.
MFIL: What did you study at the University?
I received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Geology,
then my Master of Science in Botany from the University of
Kentucky. At first I wanted to major in Zoology but when
they refused to let me draw insects for Entomology instead
of kill and collect them, I changed to Botany.
MFIL: Which former job or work gave you great
satisfaction and influence you to commit to what you do
today?
After graduate school for three years I worked at the
Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, Missouri. They sent
me to collect plants for taxonomic research in several
tropical countries. When I saw with my own eyes the vast
destruction of the Earth's biosphere, I felt that I needed
to be more actively engaged in trying to protect it. I was
naive enough to think that if I could tell people about the
destruction, things would happen to stop it. So I quit my
job as a botanist and became a freelance writer, which has
been my main job throughout my adult life.
MFIL: When did you first begin thinking about being a
free-lance Naturalist?
While working as a botanist I realized that I wasn't the
type to prosper in an institutional or organizational
setting. If I was going to do anything I regarded as
important, I needed to do it on my own to "freelance."
MFIL: What factors influenced you most in deciding the
life-style you are so committed to live today?
I seem to have come into being with some very strong
feelings about things. I feel strong empathy with animals,
so I became a vegetarian. I can't stand spending my
time doing things I don't think of as important, so I work
at what I believe in, which means that I seldom get paid for
it, and that leads to a low-income life. I don't like
clutter, confusion and distractions, so my life style turns
out to be very simple. I believe that if one is to get
things done, a good body is needed, so I pay a lot of
attention to nutrition, exercise and the like. When you
practice your
beliefs, the lifestyle you end up with comes automatically,
as a byproduct.
MFIL: What qualities do you think distinguish Naturalists
from Scientists and other professional environmentalist
people?
I think of all scientists as naturalists because they are
all exploring the nature of Nature, be they biologists,
physicists or mathematicians. I don't know that many
professional environmentalists. I've met a few during
plant-collecting expeditions I've been on, especially in
Madagascar, and they were more like administrators. Most
sincere environmentalists I know are private people in many
walks of life, who, like myself, just found themselves with
intense feelings that had to be dealt with.
MFIL: What attracted you to the Maya Foundation Volunteer
Program?
First of all, it was allow me to stay in a new place
Hacienda Chichen with a mix of plants and animals
different from what I'd seen before, and thus with plenty of
material for me to write about, especially in my weekly
Naturalist Newsletter (www.backyardnature.net/n/).
Also I produce a "Plants & Animals of the Yucatan" website (www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/)
and a "Plants & Animals of the Mexico" site (www.backyardnature.net/mexnat/)
so being here enables me to enlarge these, making them more
informative and useful to visitors. Finally, as both
botanist and freelance writer I've worked in about 40
countries, and I've never met people more pleasant and
friendly than the Yucatan's Maya. Knowing that I could be
among the Maya whatever volunteer I did for the MFIL was an
important attraction.
MFIL: Briefly describe your volunteer work and
daily volunteer activities?
Mainly I remain flexible and help when help seems to be
needed. If the person at the desk is having a quiet day, I
may ask if he wants to learn some computer tricks, or how to
use PhotoShop. When other
volunteers
are not here teaching English, I give classes whenever the
employees have time and are interested. When the dry season
came and foliage dried up and fell off revealing trash along
the trails, I picked up many wheelbarrows of trash along
trails near the hacienda. I've potted palm seedlings for
future sales. In the forest if I find a bromeliad or orchid
fallen from a tree, I bring it back and mount it at
the Hacienda Chichen Green Resort where visitors can
appreciate it. For the local bird guide I developed an
announcement for him to place in town, advertising his
services. Sometimes special visitors want some kind of
special English-based attention and I may provide that,
usually by showing them around, but also I can give
extemporaneous presentations on
local plants,
animals
and ecology. By giving Internet exposure to a local paper
maker, sales of his traditional product to customers in the
US were facilitated. Currently I'm engaged in developing an
organic garden. This is a real hodgepodge of activities, the
emphasis varying from week to week, but in the end it feels
as if I'm contributing to the Hacienda Chichen's ongoing
sustainable development.
MFIL: How you spend your day as a MFIL volunteer
at the Hacienda Chichen's Maya Nature Reserve and the social
work you do?
My nature work is continual, never ending. Much of my time
is spent at the Hacienda Chichen's vast property observing
nature and developing my weekly
Naturalist Newsletter which is read by thousands. I feel
that that exposure in itself must be beneficial to the MFIL
and Hacienda Chichen sustainable eco-cultural activities. My
MFIL social work has supported many people, for example, I
helped a rural Mayan man sell his hand-made traditional
paper, in order to do that, for several days a lot of my time was required
gathering pictures, information to create an article about
Hand-Crafted Paper that I presented on the Internet.
Basically, since I am always at the Hacienda Chichen, for a
social project to develop, the management first must bring
it to my attention, then we'll develop a strategy for
dealing with it, and do something about it.
MFIL: Who you teach and who you feel has taken more
interest in learning from you?
I have been here so long and am on such friendly basis with
the staff that they all feel free to ask me for help at any
time. Most frequently requests have come from the meal
servers, who ask such things as what a
Smoothie is -- something many North Americans ask for on
hot days. So far
Chef
Josué Cime has most aggressively sought my help, first
in special English lessons and now learning how to set up
his own webpages featuring recipes he offers at the
Hacienda.
MFIL: How satisfied are you as a MFIL volunteer ? If you
could, would you change or improve the way the MFIL handles
the volunteer program?
I am quite satisfied and feel that I have received much more
than I have given. Each volunteer is a special case
however, so I can't speak for others. Just that in my case I
feel quite fortunate, and grateful.
MFIL: What have the rural Mayan people you have
been in contact with taught you about their traditions while
volunteering now?
I have learned an enormous amount via osmosis. It has ranged
from José Tamay,
the Maya Shaman explaining to me in detail the
Maya calendar
system, to just seeing how the employees relate to one
another and do their work. The basic assumptions the Maya
have about life are in many ways very different from those
we have in the North. It enriches me to experience this
other way of thinking every day.
MFIL: Where is your volunteer work with the MFIL at
Hacienda Chichen's Nature Reserve heading? What plans you
have to improve the
Maya rural
people and children's awareness and understanding to
properly care for the environment,
flora
and fauna?
The Hacienda
Chichen's Nature Reserve is the large acreage accessible
by east-running and south running trails where I have continually gather
information and photographs on a variety of
flora and
fauna. All that
material has helped me write my Nature Weekly Newletters and
a lot of information about Yucatan's wildlife made available on the Internet in an
organized, easily accessible format. Part of the
hotel's Nature Reserve is the area where
Maya rituals are performed; my earlier efforts to make
the area more inviting to visitors who might like to go
there, sit and meditate or look around. Now that rains are returning, I'll return to
the Mayan Ceremonial Site to establish a defined
trail to the pool and well area, and plant ferns and other
pretty ornamentals I potted months ago for the project. Once
the area is presentable, I'll create a paper page with a map
to the area, a photo and text about what is so special about
the area, inviting visitors to come to it.
MFIL What sustainable green project you plan to implement
for the MFIL and this property?
At this moment there is renewed interest in developing a
planned organic garden. I have already planted seeds and
have seedlings ready for transplanting as soon as we define
exactly what we want. During upcoming months I may be
spending a good bit of time on this project. If we can
develop some organic infrastructure and gather a few people
who understand the basic principles and see what wonderful
things it can lead to, that single project is more than
enough to be involved in.
Some of Jim Conrad's own writing:
Dioon Cycads at
Hacienda Chichen's Entrance
Even before I'd introduced myself to the
Hacienda Chichen staff I got sidetracked at the office's entrance,
admiring the handsome plant (picture above) "What on Earth kind of
palm is that?" I heard myself almost say, before noticing the
21-inch-long (53 cm), pale-tan-colored item emerging among the
fronds at the trunk's top. In fact, there were two of them, and you
can see a close-up of the Dioon Cycads palm and cone fruits (main
photo)
Palms don't produce fruits like that. Typical palm fruits are like
small coconuts, for coconuts are indeed palm fruits. What's in the
picture is some kind of cone. A good field mark for cycads of the
genus Dioon is that the frond sections, or pinnae, bear several
parallel veins -- there's no outstanding mid-vein or reticulation.
Also, each pinna bears small, sharp, stiff "teeth" along its
margins.
When finally I'd noticed all this I realized I
had a cycad, one of those "living fossils" it's always nice to
encounter. Cycads are gymnosperms and thus most closely related to
plants such as ginkgos and yews, but really their closest relatives
went extinct millions of years ago, so now cycads as a group occupy
a rather isolated branch of the evolutionary Tree of Life.
Yucatan flora: Cycads at Hacienda
Chichen Eco-Spa Resort, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico:
Visit our recommended Chichen Services Mayan
Vacations Portal to enjoy Yucatan, Mexico:
www.yucatanadventure.com.mx
Yucatan Adventure Green
Travel Guide is a volunteer Sustainable Green Travel Guide designed
by the Maya Foundation In Laakeech A. C. a NGO sustainable civil
society founded by Hacienda Chichen Resort's owners and staff in
Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. Hacienda Chichen's
sustainable green vision and eco-cultural mission committed to
provide travelers a soulful Mayan cultural experience as well as a
Green Getaway to explore the eco-wonders and cultural traditions of
the Maya; as well as to support the welfare of
Mayan rural communities and to promote
Sustainable
Geo-Tourism. Visit Hacienda Chichen Resort and
Yaxkin Spa's website:
www.haciendachichen.com
Enjoy
Hacienda
Chichen Resort's Flora Guide and Botanical Gardens beauty and
serenity when visiting Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico.
Published Photos &
Information Courtesy of
Hacienda Chichen Resort and Mr. Jim Conrad
Maya Foundation In Laakeech A.C. Volunteer.
November 2009
