Tikal! Day 4

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Tikal Tikal!

We woke up at 5am for the sunrise tour this morning at Tikal. The shuttle was a little late but it was light at 515 when we walked out to catch it and the sun was surprisingly high at 6am when we neared the outskirts of the park. While waiting, we had a nice chat with a fellow staying here at don david who lives in Santa Fe but comes to Portland twice a year to tango. He went to Tikal yesterday and has been all over the world. He said Tikal was better than other mayan sites, machu pichu, and ruins he´s seen in Ecuador and Peru. as if we needed more to convince us this is a special place!

We left the group that we´d shared the shuttle with when they stopped for coffee-tea so we could explore the park immediately and on our own. (for interested travelers, the park was about $20us each to enter and we´d guess sunrise was around 5am today). Tikal is a series of temples and buildings anywhere from a 5-25 minute walk away from each other. You walk on trails under the jungle canopy and can spot monkeys, coati, birds and huge grasshopper/crickets. There is also the noise of the jungle all around you. And the humidity, can´t fail to mention that. It was truly a magical experience and one that you have to do if you ever have the chance. Our highlights were Temples 4 and 5, which are the two highest and offer the best views around. We almost had them to ourselves too. The other highlight was the walks through the jungle on the trails when we were all alone. just us and the monkeys. On our way back we saw a group of them overhead, including a mom and her baby. There was a little tussle in the lower canopy and we got to see them up close. One actually almost peed on us, but was kind enough to do it a couple feet off of the trail.

The canopy tours are at the first park gate, 17km away, so you can only do them if you have a specific tour set up. Hopefully we´ll get the chance to do a canopy tour soon.

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Photos

Templo 5
the view that more than made up for the trek to the top

Tikal
the Dr. Seuss tree

Tikal
climbing the vine

Tikal
walls....closing....in

Templo 1
looking at it´s bum (backside of the Gran Plaza)

Tikal
the huge steps in the acropolis

Tikal
Our little coati friend

Templo 5
with its impressive staircase (ie ladder)

Tikal
After surviving the descent and 7 hours of Tikal

Comments

[Paul]

Workout
That climb will keep you both in shape for kickball! Nice shots, the ones from on top are very good.

[Graham B]

hell ya!
Looks like a great time guys! Keep the pics coming.

[Graham]

That possum needs a haircut...
Wait. Where are you guys? Is that from the west hills? Why aren't you answering my phone calls?