Nuevo Durango Research Site

Nuevo Durango is a traditional Mayan Village with a population of around 250 people. These people have strong ties to the land they are living on since generations of their ancestors have lived on it for thousands of years.

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Notes about the Mayan Village:

  • There were 6 palapas (traditional Mayan huts) that visitors can rent. They had running water and electricity but no air conditioning

  • HOT - The first night we recorded a temperature of 99 degrees F

  • Lots of stray dogs protect the village

  • TONS of butterflies everywhere!

  • Very friendly people who speak Mayan and Spanish and some English

  • Curious Kids

  • Roaming turkeys and chickens

  • Roosters crowed at 4am even though the sun doesn't come up until 6am

  • The cooked wonderful meals for us from ingredients that were all locally grown and raised.

  • Best Guacamole I've ever had!

  • There is a Cenote in town (see village pictures)

  • There is an Insect house with examples of all of the insects they have found around the village/local forest (see village pictures)

  • There is a cave (see village pictures)

Notes about our Tropical Forest Research Plot:

  • The forest tree height is limited by strong hurricane winds every hurricane season

  • The forest is not very old because the ancient Mayans cleared it for farming except for a few "favorite" trees and because the hurricanes can clear the forests

  • Our 20mx20m plot was about 30-40 years old, which you can tell by the types of trees there (some are only found in certain aged forests - this is called succession)

  • A plot just down the road is twice as old

  • There are a lot of potentially dangerous plants and animals in the forests. Some can cause rashes, burns, large cuts, stomach sickness, head aches and some more severe symptoms and possible death. But only a couple of us got rashes or bitten by ants.

  • All of us studied the tree species in our plot. We recorded their species, height, diameter (of the trunk), and canopy cover (leaves and branches blocking sunlight)

  • My small group studied insects in the forest by trapping them over night

Nuevo Durango Research Site