Tikal--simply terrific.

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Well, we just finished seeing Tikal and it was really fantastic. We started by getting hooked up with a fantastic guide who spoke beautiful English and was very unhurried from the outset (a significant difference from the rushed guide at Copan). He gained aour confidence right away by saying that he would not only give us a tour of Tikal but also of the natural wonders, including the wildlife, that can be found in the park. And he delivered!

We started by going to the northern complex, but stopped along the way to track down some howler monkeys, which we had heard in several places in Guatemala, but never seen. Here though, we followed the "howling" (more like a grunting noise) and did catch a glimpse of one, which was very nice.

The tour guide's impression on us skyrocketed however when, in a grassy field facing the northern complex, he plucked a thin reed from the ground and then asked out loud "Let's see if my friend is still around," He then stooped over and stuck the reed into a small hole in the ground that one could have easily missed due to the grassy covering. The tour group gathered around as he fished in the hole with the reed. After a few pregnant moments of waiting, a black object jumped out of hole at the guide. There, black, shiny, and motionless was a straight out of "The Crocodile Hunter" trantuala.


(To be continued at another internet cafe nearby...closing time approaches!)

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