Posits, Bear 2012 Journal Jan.13 ... Las Nubes, Chichital, Depto. Quetzaltenango and San Marcos, Depto. San Marcos (Costa Guatemala) above the village of El Pinan. We parked at a place where the road got bad and started looking in bromeliads around 16:30. The habitat was pine and [illegible] forest w/ some broadleaf trees and seemed to be all secondary forest. We searched in this area in 2005 and found lots of B. lindsayi and Br. xerico. On the first bromeliad I opened, we found a juvenile Alvaria aurita; looks just like a Mesaspis. Walked uphill to the west of the road and got a spectacular view of Nican Tajumulco and the valley below. A man we met said the road (which was very steep and blocked by fallen trees) goes to a town called Barrancas de Hakiz, on the south slope of Tajumulco. As we went down, the forest was in much better shape, with some really big oak and pine trees. We got 3 Denbistitia bromeliaceus in 2 big bromeliads and opened maybe 10 more. Stopped at 18:10, waited until 18:35 and walked back slowly w/ lights, searching along the mossy roadbank until about 19:10. Although recent rain or mist had made the moss damp, it was really dry otherwise and we got nothing. Drove to the "south transect" near Boqueron and searched roadbanks for 5 min, but it was completely dry and we gave up. It had been fairly warm in the morning but became cold and windy at night w/ no clouds. We returned to San Marcos to spend the night. Jan.14 Finca Norillas, Nican Jacarbin, Depto. Quetzaltenango, Guatemala Left San Marcos at 08:40. Took a dirt road to Coatupaque that was allegedly the fastest way to the coastal highway. It was pretty rough, took ~2 hours and didn't pass through any natural habitat.