Tikal

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Up before the roosters & the sun today (5am!). The sky is clear & the stars are out in abundance. We waited in front of our hostal with Micros & watched numerous mini-buses drive by us. One finally stopped, asked for our ticket, handed it back to me & pointed behind him & drove away. I guess he wasn't our driver. Eventually our driver showed up. Jorge drove us to Tikal & we slowly watched the sky change color from black & starry to grey & brighter. The drive was beautiful a 2 lane road of dense jungle. We arrived at the gate to Tikal at 6am & waited for them to allow us through. Once we arrived to the parking lot (after 2 checkpoints where Jorge had to show a piece of paper to a guard?) the sun was up & there was a layer of fog settled in the valley. We paid our entrance fee, which has increased from $7, according to our 3 year old Lonely Planet, to $20 per person!! That cleaned us out of money completely (another poor plan for an 8 hour day at the park, our return ride isn't until 2pm). I had 1 Quetzale = about 13 cents. Great! But we have a credit card & are hopeful that just one of the restaurants will accept it! Fingers & toes were crossed all day. We did have a pack of strawberry newtons & 2 bottles of water to get us through.......eek! Best Newtons Ever!!

Following the instructions of the Lithuanian bikers we headed straight to Temple IV to watch the fog lift & the sun rise. During the walk through the jungle (which was about 20 minutes to the temple) we heard so many birds it was ridiculous. We also heard our first Howler monkeys. We never saw one, but their sound is unmistakable. They sound like dinosaurs roaring (when I said this, Mircos said, Oh you've heard dinosaurs? Love the Germans!). I expected a howl, not a deep roar. It felt like we were walking alone in the jungle of Tikal. I expected there to be a large crowd of people all over, but other than a few points, we spent most of the day enjoying the temples alone or with just a few others.

Temple IV was beautiful. We climbed up to the highest point we could (they're repairing the top portion) & we were able to see out over the entire valley. The sun was coming up behind the other 3 large temples on the horizon. We watched the sun rise & the fog clear away. Spectacular! There was a small tour group there & the tour guide was describing the temples & how the Mayans used them & what they believed. It was very interesting & overall a spectacular vista. The temples were set up so that on March 21 & September 21 the sun would line up with the temples & they would cast shadows on one another. We sat up there & enjoyed the view for some time & marveled at the abilities of the Mayan to build these incredible temples in the middle of the jungle. Many of the temples are made out of small rock to huge boulders. It is intense. Sitting up on the temple & listening to the constant roar of the Howler Monkeys was something I will remember forever. It was like watching National Geographic channel in real life (a direct quote from the Lithuanians, they cracked me up). But a fairly accurate description. Those Howler Monkeys seriously did not stop howling until around noon.

We walked around the rest of the ruins for the next 4 hours. We saw handfuls of spider monkeys jumping around on the branches, a small toucan, a beautiful bright blue bird (I named him the mascara bird because his eyes were outlined with the brightest blue & most of his feathers were green), green Macaws flying & screeching all over the place, tiny bright red birds, anteater/racoon/monkey looking animals called Coati's (I named them the squeasel, sorry Eddie!). Overall Tikal was amazing. The area itself is massive. We probably walked approximately 8-10km to see the entire place. It was a lot of work surviving only on Newtons but worth it. The jungle is dense through the area as well. Some of the trees were massive & their roots were as large as tree trunks. By the time we made our way back to the entrance we were both starving & semi-delirious from hunger/thirst. It was actually pretty funny & we maintained good attitudes about it. What can you do when you don't plan ahead well enough? We found a little restaurant attached to one of the two hotels at Tikal & drank our first Guatemalan beers (Gallo & Brahva) & ate extremely overpriced but delicious food.Worth every penny. After lunch we walked around & went bird watching. I wanted to track down the birds I keep hearing who have a call that seriously sounds like a kazoo. I found them, little plain black birds with my favorite bird call. I laugh every time I hear it. LOVE IT! It's kinda fun bird tracking. I have a new respect for bird watchers. You really have to be still & listen & follow their sounds. They hide really well in the trees & really don't want to be seen. While walking around the parking lot we met a couple from Chile who are driving from Chile to Alaska in their super adorable VW Beetle. They've been on the road 6 months & plan to cross the US & then head back across Canada to Alaska, after getting through Mexico, in the next 6 months. They were camping & had the sweetest setup. They had a huge sticker on the back of their Beetle that said "Desde Chile Hasta Alaska." That's why we talked to them. Pretty cool.

After lying in the shade for awhile & resting our full bellies, we headed back toward our pickup point & met up with Mircos again. He had spent the day following the sounds of the Howler Monkeys but didn't end up seeing one. Jorge found us & we headed back to El Remate. We were pooped after our busy day so Geoff napped, I read, & then we went swimming/bathing in the lake. It is sooooo hot today & super muggy. The lake was wonderful & clearly more inviting than our shower so we just soaped up in the water. I couldn't touch the bottom of the lake because it was way too muddy & squishy & felt icky. Plus who knows what kind of strange jungle animal could be living in the mud. EEWWW! There were hundreds of little fish in the water swimming around us & they kept taking little nibbles on our legs. They loved the soapy water too. Geoff dropped a little piece of soap in the water & they ate it like crazy.

Geoff went out into town to change some US $ we have left & came back with quite the story. He said he was walking by this little stand where we had bought potato tacos (fried & salty) & he heard this horrible noise that kept repeating. He said he had to check it out so he walked along a path that went behind the house/hut & saw 3 guys laying on a huge pig & the pig was squealing super loudly two bursts at a time, taking a breath & doing it again. Geoff said he continued to walk because he didn't want them to think he was there snooping & then eventually he heard the squealing stop. He's not sure how they killed the pig, his guess was suffocation since he didn't see any blood. Geoff said the squealing was the loudest, craziest noise he'd ever heard. Squealing for his life, poor piggie. Then the guys put him in a wooden crate, covered him up & were done. Now he wants to go home & buy a pig to save it. I told him he could stop eating bacon & save a lot of pigs. He declined that idea....

El Remate is really a sweet, quiet little town. We walked down to a little restaurant & had dinner. The food in Guatemala is different & good but whoa do they love salt. Everything is flavored extra salty & then they almost always serve your plate with a tiny bowl of salt, just in case it isn't salty enough. On a bit of salt overload already. Plus, it's surprising to find pasta on all the menus we've encountered so far. Even in little villages. I don't mind. I love the pasta! We bought our first Guatemalan trinkets tonight. Braceletas made of string! Geoff's is rasta, mine is rainbow featuring purple. Pretty! Lot's of the locals wear these bracelets, especially the guys. Back at the hostal we talked with Mircos, who is leaving tomorrow for Flores as well, so we planned to find our way there together in the morning.

Off to bed & heading to Flores tomorrow. We were going to skip Flores but we need a decent sized town to get $ (since there isn't a bank or ATM here), buy a few necessities (soap, shampoo & such) & find Wifi to catch up on getting pics off our memory cards since they are all full. Geoff counted & we've already taken 1000+ pics. Yikes!

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Photos

Map of Tikal
It'a a very big place!

Sunrise from Temple IV
Us!

View from Temple IV
Temples I, III & IV appear from the fog.

Kassandra climbing
the stairs/ladder to the top Temple V

Blue Mascara Bird
Isn't he pretty?

Temple V
from the ruins behind the Gran Plaza

Spider monkey
Swinging in the tree & eating nuts.

Toucan
In Tikal.

The entrance to the park
after a long day.