The Temple of the Jaguar Book

In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, writer and conservationist Donald Schueler took to the road seeking renewal among the last untamed remnants of the Yucatan Peninsula. The Temple of the Jaguar is the beautifully written account of this quest, a journey of inner and outer discovery set in one of the most unusual areas of Latin America. In the tradition of Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia and Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard, Schueler has created a quintessential on-the-road story and, at the same time, a haunting evocation of place. Driving his beat-up van through Mexico and Belize, Schueler encounters, side-by-side, ancient ruins and modern suburbs, wilderness and village. With a keen eye and measured pace Schueler moves among Merida townhouses, a Campeche trailer park, 17th-century fortresses, and the ruins of Maya temples and abandoned haciendas. Drawing into conversation those he encounters, Schueler introduces the reader to a memorable cast of characters: big game hunters, descendents of wealthy henequen (sisal) planters, poachers, conservationists, Cancun waiters, and a gallery of American expatriates. At every turn along this journey visible remains of the past thrust themselves forward. Schueler takes these cues and brings to life the dramatic history of the region, the Maya civilization, the colonial and henequen eras, the pirates and buccaneers of the 17th century, and Mexico's bloody 19th-century caste war and 20th-century revolution. At the heart of the book, however, is Schueler's own quest for wholeness - a quest whose fulfillment is to be found in the Yucatan's diminishing but still vibrant wilderness. For it is in the wilderness that Schueler begins to rediscover his lost sense of wonder, and the Yucatan wilderness is wondrous indeed, a land lush with wildlife - pumas and ocelots, tapirs and spider monkeys and toucans, and even, occasionally still, the outward symbol of Schueler's quest, a jaguar roaming wild.

A profoundly personal and culturally illuminating account of the author's voyage through the Yucatan Peninsula in search of the jaguar--and himself. Disconsolate over the AIDS-related death of his longtime lover, Schueler encounters exotic wildlife, drug smugglers, conservationists, big game hunters, expatriates, and the magical, mysterious jungle. Schueler also wrote Preserving the Pascagoula.