Up the Rio Dulce

Grrr just wrote this entry and then lost it as the session spontaneously closed- that's what you get for not saving often enough!!!
Anyway here in Flores to visit Tikal, probably one of Latin America's most famous archaeological sites and rightly so. My second Maya site after Copan and with a very different flavour, Tikal is fabulous not just for the ruins themselves but for its stunning location amidst a dense rainforest. A couple of the well preserved pyramids top 40m and although you can't scarmble all over everything as in Copan there are sympathetically installed wooden stairways which allow access to several of the temples. Tikal was an important Maya centre from 300AD until the mid AD800s (having been in existence from 300BC) and its towering temples were shrines to the glory of dead rulers. The highest temple reaches 70m but my favourite was the 30m high Great Pyramid, part of the Mundo Perdido complex. This temple has a flat top which yuo can climb to, as we did up the very steep, high and eroded steps which rise up its sides. Not for the fainthearted, although coming down was a far more nailbiting experience- many used the elegant 'bottom-shuffle' tecnique! From the flat top the view across the canopy through which poke the tops of the site's highest pyramids, is stunning. Bird cries and the sometimes chilling roar of the howler monkeys can be heard clearly from the surrounding forest. The nature of the climb up the pyramid limits the number of people who bother meaning it doesn't get crowded up there and seems a very peaceful oasis, especially as noon approaches and the crowds get bigger.
The forest around the site and between the temples is alive with birds, we saw toucans, and insects, including some particularly huge and vicious mosquitos (thank goodness for DEET) as well as animals- the howler monkeys which make themselves heard all over the site and smaller monkeys which we saw swinging above our heads.
Tikal is different to Copan in that the level of detail which is abundant all over Copan, in the sculpture and carvings on the temples and stelae, is not present, but the magnificence of Tikal's temples and the jungle setting make it a fantastic site to visit- my Maya education has been enriched by coming here!

Our journey to Tikal from Antigua too us via the Rio Dulce and Livingstone. The river flows into the Caribbean at Livingstone and as our guidebook suggested that the journey upriver was an 'unmissable' experience we made the trip from Antigua to Puerto Barrios, which is the nearert you can get by road to the rivermouth. The trip to Livingstone has to be made by boat acros the Caribbean which was none too smooth when we arrived, but keen to have the night in Livingstone we boarded a lancha rather than waiting for the bigger, slower ferry. A lancha is a small fibreglass hulled boat with rows of wooden planks as benches, they take up to 20-25 people and are found all over LatAm as water taxis. By their nature they provide not one iota of comfort but on rivers or in sheltered bays this is not really a problem. We were lucky to get seats in the front which meant that although the light drizzle got us, the waves didn't- this is because when the lanchas have a big motor on the back, as this one did, the front lifts up out of the water and any big waves hit the sides about halfway along, soaking the unfortunate people sitting there:-) Not getting wet was a small compensation for the 30mins of bone shattering bumping we received- everytime the boat came off the top of a wave and hit the water it was as if we had hit concrete- my buttocks felt bruised for days but at least the life jacket provided some padding for my back!!!
Livingstone is mainly inhabited by black caribbeans (Garifuna) and has a very Caribbean vibe. It consists of one main street leading back from the dock, and a few leading off perpendicular to it. The main street is lined with bars and restaurants and hotels, as well as local jewellery and crafts. Here I had my first and last, and very brief flirtation with hair braids; a local woman persuaded me to have them done (she mut have seen my pathetic quantity of hair and thought I'd be an easy job) and out of curiosity I agreed to have a half head. It was one of the most painful experiences of my trip so far (far worse than the black eye)- I am now full of respect for the tiny tots I have seen trotting round with a head covered in intricate swirls!!! these braids were so tight they would doubtless have stayed in until they grew out (or my hair fell out in protest) but after one painful night when I felt my head was encircled in a steel band, I picked them out the following morning whilst watching the Germany Sweden match- never again!!!
After the game we waited for a boat to take the ride up the Rio Dulce to the town of the same name. The river winds through a canyon with tree covered sides but having been described by our guidebook (Footprint- grrr) as 'gorgeous' we were honestly quite disappointed- it was nice certainly but not worth having gone out of our way for. Anyway Livingstone had been fun and the boat ride to get there was an unforgettable experience. From Rio Dulce town we were lucky enough to get a bus leaving immediately for Flores and here we are, leaving tomorrow for Belize.

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