Krzysztof Filla   Photo Gallery

Photograps 2019

In my opinion, Guatemala is the most diversified country in Central America in terms of ethnicity, linguistics or archaeological discoveries of ancient civilisations. It is amazing to see the sheer number and density of volcanoes that are part of the Atlantic ring of fire. The indigenous inhabitants of Guatemala for millennia have worshipped and paid homage to the volcanoes in their beliefs and rituals. My brief duration offered only a short glimpse of this diversity which I wanted to share with observation and photography of biodiversity. Unfortunately, the places of the natural world, I visited, had been greatly degraded by humans. It has been noticeable the so called 'the empty forest syndrome' as some scientists describe it. And part of protected area had been turned to a plantation of the African oil palm to produce the palm oil, which demand worldwide continuously grows. Guatemala is in the tropical zone and as far as the wildlife is concerned in the region, its neighbors such as Costa Rica or Panama are in comparition two different words. One of my objectives in Central America, was to see and photograph a bird called the Resplendent Quetzal, that is the symbol of Guatemala. It is part of the national emblem, and the official currency of the country is called Guatemalan Quetzal. Presently Guatemala is not the best place to spot the bird that occurs from South Mexico to Panama.