Nevado de Colima: Pumas

With my very good friends Matias and Luis, we took the new Puma trap up Nevado de Colima to "la casa de la Mariana" and then we went off to view the peak of Nevado de Colima and the summit of Volcan de Fuego, search for puma sign, and have a few beers...

Caldera Volcan de Colima

14th September 2009: It took Juan-Carlos and I more than 2 hours to repair the road to the caldera, and hard work at 3,100 metres. We get to the top, take pictures, have a snack, and then hear the roar of a vehicle. And who should it be? None other than the Englishman Nick Varley and his students heading off to sample the latest lava flow. Very lucky for Nick that we had just finished the road - we should have installed a toll booth! Let's see now...how many beers do you owe us Nick?

Cerro Grande 2009

Some great shots of my good friend Juan-Carlos Gavilanes coming back up the Pozo Grande (Big Hole) on Cerro Grande, earlier today. The hole is 95 metres deep.

Puma trap is finished

The Puma trap is finished, painted, and ready to go!

New Puma Trap

The new Puma trap to capture the Pumas (Mountain Lions) on the Colima Volcanoes is almost completed. This is my second trap, the first was built in Tanzania for Leopards.

2005 Explosion

An incredible shot of the 2005 explosion.

Volcan Coliman

Today was a special tour up the volcano as the uncle of my good friend Juan-Carlos Gavilanes Ruiz, el Sr. Angel Ruiz Alvarado, joined us for the tour, and Sr. Angel Ruiz Alvarado is 86 years old! He is now the oldest person I have taken up the volcano, and my son Angus who will be 5 on the 1st August, is the youngest. Actually Angus was going up the volcano when he was 3 years old! And it is Angus that calls the volcano; Volcan Coliman. So now Volcan de Colima or Colima Volcano, is "Volcan Coliman". The volcano is also called Volcan de Fuego de Colima, but I like Volcan Coliman. Well done Angus! The adjacent extinct volcano, el Nevado de Colima, also has another name; the Nahuatl name, El Zapotepetl. Just like the Nahuatl name for Volcan Pico de Orizaba is Citlatépetl. I bet the true Nahuatl (Aztec) name for Colima Volcano is Volcan Coliman (Because Colima is derived from the Nahuatl word Colimaitl: Where coli means volcano and grandfather, and maitl means dominion). Angus is holding my snake tongs because we are looking for the Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake Crotalus basiliscus.