#The blue tarantula (or la tarantula azul)

[zagreusm]

Rox Reyes joins the Spiderweb Gala!

[ochoislas]

¡OH ISLA CARIBE!

Repica la tarántula al pie de la azucena, frente a los pies del muerto, en la arena blanca junto a la playa coralina; cangrejillos rúbeos escapan en puntales, que tu nombre invierten. . .

Arriba la lírica perlesía de eucaliptos, embebiendo raudal de plata de algo intransitado. . . Supón que cuento estos esmaltados, netos marcos de muerte, los brutales collares de conchas en torno a cada tumba, cuidadosamente dispuestos. Es referible esta lástima. . .

Y en la blanca arena doy con un nombre, si bien en otra lengua. Nombre de árbol, nombre de flor adrede desmienten la muerte ignota. . .   El viento, barriendo encanijadas palmas, es casi blando también.

¿Mas quién es el Capitán de esta isla doblón sin torniquete? ¿Solamente cangrejos reclamo que apestan las ingles calientes del matorral? ¿Quién el gobernador del moho que invade los sentidos? Su matemática caribe empaña las claras lentes nuevas.

Bajo el flamboyán, de un mediodía o siesta las conflagradas flores cuajen la luz, entregue mi alma, cernida en alto, blanca y negra al filo del aire. . . hasta unirse al farsante huésped del azul.

No se vea el peregrino de vuelta ligado como doce tortugas en el muelle cada lubricán. . . aún sin morir, con costras de sal en los ojos. . . ¡Enormes, trastocadas! ¡Tal trueno en su vena! ¡Los picos crispados tosiendo tras la mareta!

Cagafierro del ciclón. . . yo, arrojado a su curso, fraguo aquí con las tardes, satén y vacío. . . Me has dado la concha, Satán. . . el carbol, el ascua del sol estallado en el mar.

*

O CARIB ISLE!

The tarantula rattling at the lily's foot, Across the feet of the dead, laid in white sand Near the coral beach; the small and ruddy crabs Stilting out of sight, that reverse your name —

And above, the lyric palsy of eucalypti, seeping A silver swash of something unvisited. . . . Suppose I count these clean enamel frames of death, Brutal necklaces of shells around each grave Laid out so carefully. This pity can be told . . .

And in the white sand I can find a name, albeit In another tongue. Tree-name, flower-name deliberate, Gainsay the unknown death. . . . The wind, Sweeping the scrub palms, also is almost kind.

But who is a Captain of this doubloon isle Without a turnstile? Nought but catchword crabs Plaguing the hot groins of the underbrush? Who The commissioner of mildew throughout the senses? His Carib mathematics dull the bright new lenses.

Under the poinciana, of a noon or afternoon Let fiery blossoms clot the light, render my ghost, Sieved upward, black and white along the air — Until it joins the blue's comedian host.

Let not the pilgrim see himself again Bound like the dozen turtles on the wharf Each twilight — still undead, and brine caked in their eyes, — Huge, overturned: such thunder in their strain! And clenched beaks coughing for the surge again!

Slagged of the hurricane — I, cast within its flow, Congeal by afternoons here, satin and vacant . . . You have given me the shell, Satan — the ember, Carbolic, of the sun exploded in the sea.

Hart Crane

di-versión©ochoislas

[vikinglatinamerica]

I’ve been camping in the jungle of Palenque for a number of days now.  Palenque is an ancient Mayan town in the state of Chiapas, Mexico.  It’s been extremely pleasant sleeping with the hammock!  The camp spot is at place called El Panchan which is right at the entrance to the National Park where the ruins are.  It costs 30 pesos($1.50USD)per night to camp.  For 200 pesos($10) you can have your own cabin right on a running stream.  I’ve been going to sleep watching fireflies dance about and waking up to the sounds of the monkey’s roaring in the distance.  Not exactly sure what they are doing but it sounds somewhat aggressive.  Someone told me its the same sound they used in the movie Jurassic Park for the background audio of the T-rex.  Absolutely amazing and surreal to see and hear these exotic things.  There was a tarantula in the shower yesterday!  Huge bull frogs leaping about and these weird rodents that look like a rabbit mixed with a rat similar to capybaras. Yesterday we took a hike in the Palenque national park and saw some jaw dropping cascades that you could walk up with ease and wallow in the natural beauty. Even more interesting to me was a Mayan pool including stairs and a cave that the water rushed down through. Made up to 2,000 years ago! There were humongous trees over a thousand years old.

Town of Palenque.

The El Panchan local. Howler monkey.

This was already written there before I arrived! Haha

Leaf cutter ants.

Covered campsite. My hammock

My campsite.

Mayan swimming pool.

Mayan cave with stream rushing through.

Our guide at the ruins said that they are the only ruins that were strictly inhabited by indigenous Mayan peoples. Other ruins had mixed cultures. Over 50,000 people lived there. Maya in Mayan means maíz(corn). The Mayan’s were vegetarian people with their diet consisting mainly of corn, beans, and vegetables. Another interesting fact was that the most ugly people were considered the most beautiful. Our guide Virgilio whom we rented for a mere 300 pesos($15) said that the queen of Palenque was very ugly.  Pakal the king of Palenque lived to 80 years. He died in 683AD. Which was a very long lifespan in those days. Pakal acceded to the throne in July 615 and ruled until his death. During a long reign of 68 years, the longest known regnal period in Western Hemisphere history, and the 30th longest worldwide, Pakal was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque’s most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture. There are three adjacent pyramids at Palenque. They are the grave sites for the King Pakal, the Queen, and the Skull temple for the slaves. When the king dies they kill all of his slaves as well because they believe that the slaves will accompany him in the afterlife. The pyramids were built with limestone, mohagany, and cedar amongst other materials. The limestone was located deep in the jungle and was carried by slaves all the way to Palenque without help from animals. Another interesting tradition they had was that the winners of a ball game they played would be the one’s to die! I guess they were happy to have their hearts cut out as an offering to one of their gods. Only 1 percent of the pyramids are uncovered from the jungle! It takes a lot of money and labor to carefully expose the ancient structures. They find the pyramids using satellite and special technology that allows them to see the structures underneath all the foliage of the jungle.

King Pakal’s pyramid.

Water supply for the whole village.

Air conditioning.

Lilach demonstrating how the Maya’s used the bathroom.

Ancient Mayan toilet.

King Pacal’s wife’s tomb.

Mayan cave with stream rushing through.

Mayan swimming pool.

Cascadas de Agua azules(waterfalls of the blue waters.) Although it was the rainy season so the water was not blue.

Yakir buying some coco’s frío.

Tips on visiting Palenque: 1-If your staying out of the town of Palenque closer to the national park and ruins and your on a budget you should bring food and drink from town because its more expensive resort prices at the accommodations off of the street Zona Arqueológica. It is 20 pesos with a colectivo(shared van) into town. Of course taxis are more expensive but a more convenient option. The colectivos stop running at 18:00 going from town back to El Panchan and you could catch one back into town until 19:00. It’s a 45 minute to 1 hour walk from town to El Panchan which is right at the entrance to the National Park. I highly recommend staying somewhere off of Zona Arqueológica highway in the jungle to get the ultimate experience! 2-If you plan on spending more than 1 day in the National Park make sure to keep your bracelet on so you don’t have to pay the $31 pesos(October 2016) again. I learned the hard way because some employees of the national park told us it was only good for one day but then when entering for a second day they said that it was good for multiple days. It’s always good to ask more than one person in order to get the right information. 3- The town of Palenque doesn’t have much going on. They have the usual cheap street food and some restaurants to choose from. But if your looking for some action and a good time I recommend visiting Don Muchos inside of the El Panchan resort area. They have live music everynight and surprisingly good food. Decent pizza and pastas as well as Mexican fare. But it does cost you a bit more. I had some of the tastiest tacos de al pastor in all of Mexico at a place called Mr. Taco in the town of Palenque. 4- I recommend taking a guide into the jungle inside the National Park to see some of the ancient Mayan structures such as the swimming pool I mentioned in the article. They can also give you information on natural medicines the Mayan’s utilized that are derived from plants and trees.

Interesting link: http://oronegro.mx/2016/07/25/descubren-acueducto-bajo-la-tumba-de-pakal-en-palenque/?lang=en

LAND OF THE ANCIENT MAYAS. I've been camping in the jungle of Palenque for a number of days now.  Palenque is an ancient Mayan town in the state of Chiapas, Mexico.  

[prozesa]

¡No apto para aracnofóbicos!: Filman una rara especie de tarántula azul (VIDEO)

Nuevo artículo publicado en https://www.prozesa.com/2017/09/28/no-apto-para-aracnofobicos-filman-una-rara-especie-de-tarantula-azul-video/

¡No apto para aracnofóbicos!: Filman una rara especie de tarántula azul (VIDEO)

Las imágenes, que pueden herir la sensibilidad de quienes sienten miedo a animales, muestra un ejemplar enorme de la especie Poecilotheria metallica.

[caption id="attachment_88570" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Tarántula de la especie Haplopelma lividum, conocida como 'Cobalt Blue', nativa de Myanmar y Tailandia.[/caption] Una enorme tarántula de una especie extremadamente rara y de un inusual color azul cobalto fue filmada por un estudiante de medicina de la ciudad española de Barcelona, Daniel Valcárcel. Se trata de una araña de la especie Poecilotheria metallica que tiene un característico color azul brillante, así como manchas blancas de diversas formas tanto en sus patas como en el tórax. Este arácnido, que ha sido declarado especie amenazada en nivel crítico e incluido en la lista roja de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN), sobrevive en una pequeña área de 100 kilómetros cuadrados en la India. Su hábitat, que está estrechamente relacionado con los bosques nativos de la zona está extremadamente amenazado por la deforestación. https://youtu.be/RVTqoEZuBQ0 Sin embargo, no está claro dónde se registraron las imágenes. La protagonista de la filmación, descrita como una "joven Poecilotheria metallica hembra", camina libremente por la mano del autor, y se posa en su muñeca. Los entomólogos conocen al menos 40 especies de arañas de distintos tonos azules, aunque aún no han logrado determinar el rol evolutivo de esa coloración en esas especies de artrópodos. https://twitter.com/SiguesTeSigo/status/910621661266931712 El investigador de la Universidad de Akron (Ohio, EE.UU.) Bor Kai Hsiung desestima el factor de la selección sexual y se inclina hacia la idea de que ese color ayuda a las tarántulas camuflarse para cazar y a su vez, pasar desapercibidas para sus depredadores, recoge la BBC. En su cuenta de Instagram, Daniel Valcárcel ha publicado numerosas imágenes de arácnidos de gran tamaño y de diversas especies.