Easter at Tikal

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I've just returned to Guatemala City from Tikal, which are the Mayan ruins about 350 kms. north of Antigua, in the region bordered by the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and the country of Belize.
Had a wonderful Easter Sunday and Monday up there. Flew up there early Sat. morning on a prop plane and back tonight at 5 PM on the same one. As some of you may know, I don´t really like to fly, even in big planes, so I´m proud of myself that I did this, even though the flight back was bumpy and you couldn´t see anything because of the clouds.
I have some great photos to post but can´t seem to do it on this computer at the airport guesthouse I´m spending the night at. Will try to do it tomorrow during my 3-hour stopover in Miami. Arrive in Boston at midnight and will be staying with my friends Jane and Don, who have very kindly said they´ll wait up for me! Two or three nights in Boston, then back to Quebec City (probably by bus) to see Marc and Marlo and to catch my flight back to Paris on March 31. Before leaving Guatemala, I hope to visit tomorrow morning the excellent Anthropological and Ethnographic Museum, which is just a few blocks from the airport.
How can I describe Tikal? Interesting, grandiose, fascinating. I loved walking through the jungle--birds and monkeys "chattering" above-- and then coming upon such amazing monuments. Only the photos you´ll see will give you an idea of all this. I´m very glad I decided to go there. It was the perfect end to a wonderful two months down in this part of the world. And going on an all-inclusive "tour" the way I did from Antigua meant that I didn´t have to worry about bus or shuttle schedules, etc. My room at the Jungle Lodge was lovely, and I was able to swim in their pool both yesterday after lunch and this morning. Went onto the site twice yesterday--3 hours in the morning with a guide and then another 3 hours in the late afternoon with two Danish girls also on my tour. We caught a glimpse of sunset, with light on the monuments. But I didn´t get up for the 5 am sunrise tour this morning since I´d gotten up at 3:30 yesterday morning to be picked up at 4 by the shuttle bus which drove us from Antigua to the Guatemala City airport. But I did visit the two small museums in Tikal Park. They were great, too. I also was very lucky. I realized I´d left my camera in a souvenir shop, and when I went back more than an hour afterwards, it was waiting for me and the vendor said he was hoping I´d come back. I bought something from him and gave him a kiss on the cheek to thank him for his honesty!

Anyway, I´ll continue tomorrow with more photos...

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