Pah. Pah. Pah. Three gun shots are fired in the distance. Three armed men run towards the sound with their pistols in hand. A politician lays lazily in a hammock. I stand next to him. Frozen.

“Someone is just hunting pigeons,” the politician murmurs as he pokes his head up.

His security guards return their pistols to the holsters as they slowly make their way back, still on watch like a police dog. My heart is almost jumping out of my chest but I try to act cool. We continue to chat about the many race horses the politician owns.

Journey America has allowed me to shake hands with some of the poorest and most powerful people in the America’s. What I have discovered is that both are equally as helpful. But sometimes, hanging with the rich and famous in countries like this, has its dangers.

Here in Guatemala, those who have a lot of money or hold political posts must walk around guarded 24 hours a day. An attack by a drug cartel or an opposition leader can come at any moment.

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live under constant fear like this. Especially for your family and your kids. But this is a price the super rich of Latin America must pay.

After the politician mounted his brand new Toyota Hilux, and drove off with his bodyguards in the back, I felt a little calmer. The last thing I need is to be hit by a stray bullet meant for a politician! What a horrible way to go.

With the tension now gone, I sat down with the worker of the finca. I told him about how scared I was when the security guards started running and he laughed.

“You get used to it after a while,” he told me.

Living on the ranch with his three kids, wife and father, he is in charge of all of the race horses and maintaining the finca. Recently, he and his kids discovered 7 Mayan thumbs on the property! He believes there are treasures buried in them and is slowly searching.

“The Mayans were buried with all of their possessions, so we are digging a little bit here and there to see if we can find something,” he said.

So far they have discovered a few ceramic pieces from bowls and plates and a small head made from clay. The head is pretty extraordinary! It is the face of a mayan made to perfection. You are really able to see how distorted their heads were from the apparatus’ they would wear to elongate their skulls.

When I asked him if he wasn’t scared of upsetting their spirits he started laughing.

“No, I’m more scared someone else will discover the thumbs and make all the money,” he said.