The Mysteries of Tikal!

We awoke at 5 am on Tuesday morning to catch a 7 am flight from Guatemala City to Flores, in the Peten region of Guatemala. As soon as we got off the plane, I felt the distinct change of region--it was steamy and sunny and jungly. Just the way I like it! We were met at the airport by a tourist shuttle and made our way further north to Tikal, home of the ruins of a mysteriously disappeared Mayan superpower.

Overcome by enthusiasm, we dropped our stuff at our hotel and set off under the noonday sun to see the ruins. About 15 minutes up the path, however, it became evident that we were asking for heatstroke and we decided to return to our hotel for siesta (like every other sane person!) and to try the park again in a few hours. This was a good idea and by the time we got back to the park at 3:30, it had cooled down enough for us to really enjoy ourselves. That first afternoon, we spent time touring the complex ourselves and getting a feel for the lay of the land. Unexpectedly, one of the best things about the park was the wildlife! On the first afternoon, we saw anteaters!, toucans!, wild parrots!, and peacocks! It was so amazing to see these animals just strolling around outside of a zoo. We had a particularly nice time watching the parrots kibitz with each other just before the sun went down. After our interlude with the birds, we came upon a huge temple, which had stairs for tourists to climb. We ascended to watch the sunset, which was so peaceful. However, we stayed too long and had not thought to bring a flashlight, so the next 25 minutes as we made our way out of the park were somewhat harrowing. First Peter was scared, then I was scared. We were both thinking of the fact that the Tikalese jungle contains jaguars! And then there were the screeches of the howler monkeys and Peter´s sandal broke! We sang loudly as we stumbled over roots and tried to intimidate whatever might be lurking. Thankfully, we made it out safely and had a very nice dinner once we got back to the hotel, turning in early that night as we had signed up for the sunrise tour the following morning.

The next day, we woke up in the pitch dark and dressed by candlelight (the generator at our hotel only functioned between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.) for the sunrise tour. The guard from our hotel was nice enough to take us to meet up with our group and then it was about an hour´s hike into Temple Four which we ascended to watch the jungle wake up. On the way, we saw a troop of howler monkeys (less scary with a guide and flashlight in hand!). The sun rising over the trees and the mist and the temples put on a show that more than justified the early wake up. After the sunrise, we got a three and a half hour tour of the park in the cool early morning air by ¨Little Cesar,¨a charismatic guide with impeccable English and an obvious love of Mayan lore. The tour was informative and entertaining and afterwards, we spent some more time wandering the park, heading back to the hotel around 10 as it started to get hotter.

I almost was too Tikaled out to want to head back for the second afternoon, but am so glad that we did! On the recommendation of a guide, we headed to the remote Northern Zone of the park, which is the only major part that we had not yet seen. The road was steep and we began to wonder if we should continue. Just then, crash! Through the trees came swinging an entire family of spider monkeys! Peter´s all-time favorite animal! It was amazing to see the monkeys eating, playing, traveling through the trees. . .I even saw one climbing on a temple! They were so quick, though, that they were extremely hard to photograph, so they aren´t in the pictures above. . we´ll have to see if any of the prints come out once we get home. We spent about 45 minutes just watching them play, making our last experience with Tikal an incredible one. Satisfied, we headed back to the hotel and were on the road to Rio Dulce the next day (yesterday). In about an hour, we will board a 46 foot Catamaran for a four-day sail through Lake Izabal, down the Rio Dulce, to the town of Livingston and back again, stopping at hot srings and other points of interest along the way. . .more on that in the next blog entry!

xoxo, robyn & peter

(Pictures above: Us on top of Temple V for sunset; our feet--it would be a long way down!; Peter in front of the Temple of the Jaguar; Sunrise over Tikal; An anteater!)