By Deborah Van Hoewyk

Silly me. I used to think that there were hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, cyclones in the Pacific, typhoons usually aimed themselves at Japan, and then there were the monsoons, which had a lot of rain and were hot and steamy, and they all stuck to their geography like glue.   Living in the northeastern U.S., kids found those Atlantic hurricanes exciting—when a hurricane actually made it all the way to Maine, my father would drive us around on my brother’s paper route in case there were any downed electric lines we wanted to play with. Continue reading Hurricanes—Not Just for Meteorologists →

By Neal Erickson

Mexico has more species of tarantula than any other country in the world except Brazil. The tarantula is, however, often maligned and misunderstood. Their bite is not fatal, and barely toxic to humans if at all, and most of the species in Mexico would rather flick hairs at you than bite you if they are threatened. That’s right. Flick hairs. Continue reading Tarantulas: Nothing to Fear →

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

Remember those tin noisemakers you used to twirl at New Years? Bright colors, horrible noise? When you wake up in Huatulco, don’t you just hear them all over again? That would be the call of Ortalis poliocephala, the West Mexican chachalaca—which is supposed to sound as if it’s saying its name, “cha-cha-la-ca.” You’ll have to decide on the noisemaker vs. the name. Not only is their call unmistakable, they’re very talkative. Mornings are especially good for call-and-response discussions of plans for the day. In case you missed the plans, activities are discussed at the end of the day. Continue reading The West Mexican Chachalaca—Best Known for Its “Song” →