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!)

Chichicastenango and Goodbye to Western Guatemala!

Peter and I are finishing off our time in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. It has been very special time because, for me, it was an introduction to a part of the world and its people, as well as a new insight into Peter. For Peter, I suspect, it was a visit to dear friends and closure and perspective on a very impactful part of his life. This morning we came into the capital on a chicken bus and tomorrow we will fly to the western, jungly part of Guatemala to view the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal.

Since I last wrote, we did a day-hike around Nebaj, which was more strenuous than we either wanted or expected, but which left us with new information (from our guide Nicholas) about the Guatemalan civil war and a healthy respect for the Cuchumatanes mountains! It is amazing to see the near-vertical plots of land farmed by the Maya and to think about all of the strength and endurance of the men, women, and children who farm this land. We then went back to Santa Cruz del Quiche to see Maria and Mateo (Peter´s second host family) again. Maria is the indigenous vice-mayor of her region, so they invited us to accompany them to a public mediation, which was as interesting as it was long and drawn out. There were two cases: the first was one of a shooting (with thankfully no victim!), where the accused did not show; the second was a separation of a newly married couple, which ended in separation, despite the exhortations of the community and elders. After the mediation, we repaired back to Maria and Mateo´s house to say goodbye, which was very sad, since we do not know if we will see them again.

Saturday night, we took an overcrammed "minibus" ride to Chichicastenango, which is the largest and oldest market town in Guatemala. The market happens every Sunday and Thursday, so we wanted to be there for all of the action! Some people even say that the market dates back thousands of years to ancient Mayan times, and it is a hub for the selling of handwoven textiles from all over the highlands. Unfortunately, we both woke up on Sunday with some stomach distress, but that did not deter us too much and we mostly spent the day wandering through the vast market, bargaining, fending off over-agressive vendors, and enjoying the scene.

So, that brings us to today! It feels good to be up-to-date! Thanks, to everyone for your comments and opinion poll participation. . .it´s nice to know that people are reading along and thinking about us. . .we miss you, too!

Pictures, above: Peter with our Nebajense guide Nicholas; Peter with Maria our boxboles instructor in Nebaj; Peter with adorable, young Diego--a Chichicastenango street vendor who was trying to convince him to buy a too-small head wrap; Peter and the market; Mayan bishops in Chichicastenango performing a ceremonial rite on the steps of the Catholic church.

Pictures from recent adventures

I wasn´t able to post pictures last time, so here are some from Nick and Elizabeth´s wedding, visiting Peter´s second host family (Maria and Mateo) in the Quiche, and from our time in Nebaj. . . .Enjoy!

A quick update

No pictures today, because we´re way up in the highlands in Nebaj, Guatemala, and yesterday the internet connection cut out on me unexpectedly. I´m just happy to be online at all! Since I wrote last time, we have been all the way to the small village of Villachuato, Mexico, for Nick and Elizabeth´s wedding and now are all the way back up in the Guatemalan highlands.

The wedding was wonderful, though travel to it was a bit chaotic and I ended up with food poisoning (but I´m okay now). We are really glad we went! First of all, Nick and Elizabeth, who we know from Seattle, are very special people and it was so good to see them tie the knot. It was also good to see a bunch of Seattle people, who also made it to the wedding. In addition, the wedding was like wedding-palooza, with a seventeen-piece, all female mariachi group called Las Estrellas de Michoacan. In addition, there were three other live bands on two separate stages and the whole village came--it was a huge party!


Back in Guatemala, we headed almost immediately up to the Quiche highland region, where Peter spent 3 months doing work with the Defensoria Maya. When we first got into town, we started looking for his old host family from here and ended up just running into them at the bus stop! It was amazing to meet them and I will post pictures of them next time--they were thrilled to see Peter and kept saying. ..it´s like a dream! Then, we came up to Nebaj, which was one of the hardest hit areas during the civil war, but which is definitely making a comeback, with a lively market and new tourist industry. This afternoon, we have signed up to make a local specialty with a Mayan lady in her house and tomorrow we´re going on a guided hike. . .more on those next time!

Love, Robyn and Peter

Lake Atitlan: Relaxing and Regrouping

After the non-stop craziness of Good Thursday and Friday, we were glad to be getting out of Antigua to Lake Atitlan, for some much-needed R&R, especially since we had both picked up somewhat minor stomach bugs from the street food in Antigua and Peter´s throat was a little scratchy. Our first stop around the lake was Santiago, where the townspeople kicked out the army and the police during the years of the civil war by witholding food and bathroom facilities from them! Peter also thought Santiago would be an interesting town for me to see, because the men, in addition to the women, wore traditional Mayan dress. When we first got off the dock, we had some cheap hotels in mind and asked our tuc-tuc (a three wheel scooter with a covered area for passengers in the back--sort of like a modern rickshaw) driver to take us to one. Peter inspected it and deemed it to be too sketchy. The other one, it seems, had gone out of business!! Then, we were taken to a VERY high end hotel and then one slightly less fancy (but still with a helipad!), that we settled on. It seems that there was just nothing in the middle.

After getting settled in, we went out exploring and to find food. We had a great dinner of fresh black bass from the lake and then stumbled upon a night market near the church. In addition, the church was having a bonfire to celebrate Easter Eve. In the church, we found many effigies of Jesus and his disciples, nattily clad in homemade colorful shirts and myriad ties and scarves(one statute of Jesus bore at least 20 neckties!), given by the town as offerings. There were also statues of Mary in traditional Maya dress. Most amazing to me, though, were the offerings by the alter, where the townspeople had hung bananas, rice, and big sticks of sausage wrapped in colorful, metallic ribbons! It was very festive. After wandering around for a bit and talking to folks near the bonfire, we went back to our hotel. The next morning, we came back to find the church packed and overflowing with people out onto the steps. We stayed for a bit to listen to the service, which we soon figured out was being delivered mostly in the Mayan language of Tzútujil, rather than Spanish! We then moved onto the artisinal market, where we got some souvenirs, then retired to our hotel, where we called family for Easter and then had a traditional Mayan temazcal sauna.

The next day, we really needed to get away from our ridiculously fancy hotel! So, we set off (first stopping off to see Santiago´s version of evil San Simon) in a boat for the other side of the Lake. On the boat ride, we ran into a local gringa named Lizzie, who managed one of the hotels on the lake and recommended another hotel in our price range--she was even nice enough to call from her cell phone to make sure that there was space. Through this serendipitous arrangement, we found our hotel, the Isla Verde, where we have been ever since. We have a beautiful lake view and have been doing nothing except hiking, sleeping, swimming, and enjoying the delicious , mostly-vegetarian food at the hotel. Tomorrow, we will head to Mexico for Nick and Elizabeth´s wedding, which should be a huge adventure!