Saving the Mirador Basin

Archaeologists discovered what appears to be a royal burial at Tintal. These vessels were among the grave goods that were associated with the burial.

“Snake.” We freeze, abruptly focusing our flashlights on the dense jungle vegetation. Hansen doesn’t see it, but he hears it, hears its soft slither. I’m ready to bolt, but Hansen stares at the vegetation, carefully prodding it with a stick, seemingly more curious than concerned. Richard Hansen’s had a few close calls with poisonous snakes during the 27 years he’s worked in northern Guatemala’s remote 600,000-acre Mirador Basin, and that’s taught him to listen as well as watch when he makes his way through the jungle.

This prompts him to explain his approach to snakes, how he respects rather than fears them. None of his workers have been bitten because he’s trained them to respect snakes as well. Though he was born in Idaho, Hansen seems at home in the Mirador Basin jungle. “I love it,” he says. He’s also fascinated by it. “I have a botanist who is taking a complete floral inventory of the entire basin,” he explains, adding that the botanist has been at it for two and a half years. “For the first time we’re getting a handle on the flora and fauna.”

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