Tikal

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We finally made it! After our failed attempt to visit Tikal back in July, we spent over four months regrouping so we could make the journey to the jungle. We went with John and Mel to Guatemala City last Friday. They flew out on Saturday afternoon, and that evening we boarded an overnight bus that took us 8 hours to the north of the City to Flores, an island town in the middle of a lake. WOW! We were greeted at 6:00 am by several guys more than willing to take us the rest of the way to Tikal...for a price. Not the funnest way to wake up, but it is part of the experience.

The pictures of Tikal should show you just how great the place is. Tikal is currently the largest Mayan archaelogical site in the world (at some point to be surpassed by El Mirador, further north in the country). We stood at the top of Temple IV in the morning, which rises to over 200 feet above the jungle floor, and looked out over the canopy. We saw the tops of a few other structures at the site also pushing through the trees.

We ran into a group from our language school that was also there. We rode back in that afternoon to Flores with them and were invited to join them to swim and take a boat ride on the lake later in the day. That evening on the boat we turned the engine off in the middle of the lake and watched the sun set. WOW!

Tomorrow we are off to Belize to spend a few days walking along the Caribbean.

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Photos

Temples
This is the view from the tallest temple in Tikal.

Jungle Walk
Some of the foliage we walked through in Tikal.

Stairs
The stairs up the temple are very long and very steep. Don't look down!

Comments

[nikki]

oh how active
look how active you guys are. wowie. hey, just wanted you to know we joined the world of blogging too. we posted a christmas letter on our blog for our far away friends :) thepetersenfam.blogspot.com We love you! We are doing more Drew Collins Greatest Hits This Sunday. Joy To The World/O Come All Ye Faithful (aka key change extraordinaire) You are Near (Theme of the year) and Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/The First Noel (I have no cute name for this one) Ok peace.

[Nicole Devereaux]

Merry Christmas!
I am so thankful for all of your adventures and know that God is preparing you for even more that you haven't imagined yet! Thanks for sharing just a bit with the rest of us. Grace and peace to you over the holidays!!! (p.s. are you actually STUDYING anything?!?)