For the committed eco-traveler, few places beat Guatemala, the Central American republic set like a rough-cut gem in the broach of Mexico, San Salvador, Belize, and two oceans. In a land area the size of Tennessee there is the diversity of a continent. Thirty-three volcanoes---many of them active---string across the south. The highlands with their Indian villages and colonial ruins are rightly credited with a perpetual spring. Rare animals, plants, butterflies, and birds inhabit tropical lowlands, the cloud forest of the northwest and the rain forest of the northeast. The greatest center of the Mayan world yet discovered is only fractionally excavated at Tikal.

Guatemala's national symbol is the rare and endangered quetzal that now lives only in the cloud forest near Coban. More than 300 species of birds have been identified within 12 miles of Tikal alone. Thousands of species of plants and vertebrates thrive in the various microclimates and topography. Furthermore, the concept of ecotourism is so well accepted Guatemala's Universidad del Valle established what is claimed to be the first university ecotourism department in 1990 under entomologist Jack Schuster. Two outstanding museums have opened in Guatemala City on the campus of Universidad Francisco Marroquin. Popul Vuh (named for the sacred book of the K’Iche) begins its collection with artifacts from 1500BC, and the Ixchel nextdoor has textiles, handicrafts and regional dress representing 120 highland communities. Sound promising? It is. But before you dust off your backpack and make your reservation on Continental Airlines, there ’s more.

"No area in Guatemala can be definitively characterized as "always safe." Reads the Consular Information Sheet on the web (http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html) and you better believe it. To put the wholesale murders and criminal assaults in their historical framework, note this beautiful country has been involved in Latin America's longest civil war, nearly 40 years of military dictatorships where government security forces, paramilitaries, revolutionaries, guerillas, organized criminals, death squads, and vigilantes turned the land into an abomination. Human rights violations were too numerous to count, and poor villagers suspected of ever harboring a fugitive past or present had their huts burned, their fields razed and their throats cut by military counterinsurgents. And, oh yes, we norteamericanos are not held blameless. United Fruit, the country's largest landholder in 1954, resisted land reform with political clout in Washington and a lot of help from the CIA.

The peace process overseen by the United Nations began with a cease-fire in 1994 and was finalized as the Peace Accord in December 1996. It appears to be working. The 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum ("Campaigner for human rights, especially for indigenous peoples") has returned to her homeland. Life goes on. Yet three generations of men have known nothing but violence, and unemployment is 47 percent. The Consular report dated September 17, 1997 says "...shootings, kidnappings, rapes, and violent assaults have for the most part occurred during daylight hours and in many cases have affected entire groups of American tourists."

The trails up the sides of the volcanoes are about as safe as an alley in 18th century London. "Don’t" has escalated to "Never" when contemplating such simple behavior as going on a back road. The shills of a self-designated shaman lure curious travelers into caves to see supposed magical rites then relieve them of their money as well as their disbelief.

In Guatemala City as well as the plazas of such major tourist centers as Chichicastenango, Antigua, and Lake Atitlan going out at night is considered downright suicidal. "Take off your engagement ring," a young woman was warned as she started to leave a 5-star hotel in the safest zone of Guatemala City. And before you shrug this off as "Just like New York..." consider whether you would wander about Central Park after dark especially if half the city was unemployed.

Does this mean you should stay away from Guatemala? Well, no. But it does mean using more than a little caution before you hop on your bike or rent a car and head into the hinterlands. You may even have to consider upgrading your travel from do-it-yourself to taking a bus tour that gets you safely to where you want to go then allows you time to wander about. This may be the time when you start your eco-trip in an international hotel (I stayed at Westin's Camino Reals both in Guatemala City and Tikal) and use a tour bought from a hotel subsidiary or at least taken from a list provided by the hotel. (I took Clark Tours.)

In the aftermath of the attack on the bus of students from Maryland's St. Mary's College in January of 1998, the government of Guatemala is talking about putting police patrols at least on the main highways. They aren't there yet (as of July 1, 1999). Right now the entrancing booklet "Protected Areas of Guatemala" doesn't apply to you.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention international travelers hotline: (404) 332-4559; http://www.cdc.gov/. Travel Advisories of the U.S. State Department: (202) 647-5225. For background information on the Peace Process: http://www.Lapaz.com.gt/indexen.htm. To be current with the scene, The Siglo News, Guatemala English-language weekly: http://www.sigloxxi.com. Also Guatemala Tourism Commission (INGUAT) 800/742-4529.

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