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Watson Fellow Caitlin Jacobs '07 submitted the following comments as she reported on her last few stops of her trip. Jacobs studied the coexistence of big cats and humans in Belize, Spain, Namibia, Tibet.

Click on image to view photos from Watson Fellow Caitlin Jacobs '07. Photos and captions provided by Caitlin.

Belize

In Belize I worked in the Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the first and only jaguar preserve in the world. Here I assisted with a camera trapping study aimed at the five cat species in Belize (Margay, Ocelot, Jaguarundi, Puma, Jaguar) as well as a genetic study that used a scat detecting dog (whose name was Bruiser) to find scat samples. While I enjoyed the camera trapping study more because it basically involved a lot of hiking, it was amazing to go out with Bruiser and watch him work. He could find pieces of peccary (wild pig) hair that had at one time been a part of a full scat sample...it convinced me to never try and sneak anything past a dog at an airport.

After my first week in Belize I realized that I was in for the real tropical rainforest experience. I got a few botflies (which I guess makes me a real biologist according to some) and squeezing out the larvae was actually quite painful. The other bugs somehow managed to bite me even where I was covered, which was everywhere because I wore long pants and long sleeves for 'protection'. (In my sleep I would unconsciously scratch myself so much I would wake up with blood streaks coming from my bites, which was slightly disgusting). About a month in I started taking Benadryl every night so that I could actually get a good night of sleep. My friends claimed that I was addicted to it by the end....No comment. There were also tons of ticks and I pulled off at least 20 everyday. Some were the size of a very small freckle and as a result I came to know all of my real freckles very well. Along with the bugs came the humidity and by the end I could not decide which caused me more discomfort.

But even with the bugs and heat I did enjoy myself in Cockscomb. Because so many of the cameras were far out, we would go on week long backpacking trips. This was my favorite part. After the days work was done I would always take a bath in the river. While hummingbirds and kingfishers swooped from above, tiny little fish would nibble at my body from below (I would tell myself they were eating my ticks). Sleeping in tents was nice too because at night I could hear animals crunching by or rustling in the branches overhead. Many mornings I would wake up to the roaring of howler monkeys. It was much better than my beeping alarm clock. The crazy loud birds on the other hand were not better than my alarm clock.

One of my favorite parts of camping out was listening to the stories and superstitions that the Mayan rangers would tell us around the campfire. Their favorite topic was the Duende, who is a little man that wears a big sombrero, has no thumbs, and has backwards feet as well. Apparently if you see him in the forest you have to hide your thumbs because if he sees them he will become angry and jealous and will take your thumbs away. On the bright side, if he is in a good mood he will teach you how to become an expert at playing any musical instrument of your choice. Of course I wanted to meet him...it would have helped my banjo skills.

Guatemala

On the last month of my journey I decided to go take a trip to Guatemala, which was one of the best decisions I made all year. Guatemala is an incredibly beautiful country. From the volcanic mountains, to the cities, food and people, I loved every aspect of it. While there I visited some amazing sites...if you are interested you can skim down the list..

Tikal: The largest Mayan ruin in the world. The best part is that you can climb up most of the ruins and from the top of them you get amazing views of the surrounding jungle. (Important fact: a scene from Star Wars IV, A New Hope was filmed here)

Antigua: Little city nestled between volcanic mountains. I climbed up one of the active volcanoes (Pacaya) outside of the city, and when I reached the top I could see smoke drifting out of the holes between the volcanic rock as well as flowing lava! As you can probably guess, it was extremely hot right by the lava and some people's shoes were melting.

Lago de Atitlan: Picture a deep blue turquoise lake nestled in between steep mountains and 4 volcanoes. While here I stayed in a little town called San Pedro and got to do everything from taking a motorcycle ride around the lake and kayaking, to hiking the San Pedro volcano (3020m and inactive).

Xela (Quetzaltenango): Known as the Mayan capital of Guatemala, Xela was a great city because unlike Antigua it was not geared entirely towards tourists. Located in the highlands, Xela is surrounded by volcanoes and beautiful mountain hikes. I went on a two day hike up the Tajamulco volcano which at 4220 meters, is the highest point in Central America. We set up out tents at 4200m in the evening and then ascended the last section in the morning in order to catch the sunrise on top. The way down was interesting...I somehow managed to follow the one guide who had never climbed the volcano before. We ended up taking the wrong trail and soon found ourselves in the middle of a cow pasture with not a soul in sight. To make a long story short, we basically wandered around the mountainside for a couple hours until we finally followed a goat's path downhill to a little town where we hitched a ride on the back of a pickup truck to the nearest main road with busses.

While in Xela I also climbed up the Santa Maria volcano on a night hike. When we arrived at the top in the clear morning we could see the Pacific, and directly below us, Santiaguito (one of the most active volcanoes in the world) erupted every 45 minutes. The erupting volcano were unlike anything I had ever seen...my best description is that was a huge billow of smoke accompanied by an incredibly loud sound of rushing air it (it reminded me of the sound of an airplane). As we descended the mountain, the ash from the eruption fell on us like snow.

After a couple more excursions and sight seeing trips around Guatemala, I made my way back to Belize. Before heading the airport I visited some friends in Cockscomb and as an exciting side note, I saw a puma walking on the road as a friend of mine was driving me out to catch my bus to the city! It was then official. I saw a big cat in every country that I visited!