Monkeys and temples and toucans ...oh my!

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We arrived in Tikal on Friday afternoon. We checked into the Jungle Lodge, an eco hotel that only runs electricity for a few hours in the morning, again in the afternoon and for a few hours in the evening. The hotel was originally the lodgings for archeologists that excavated the ruins in the sixties. With no electricity, we had nothing else to do but take a late afternoon hike in the jungle. When you first walk in to Tikal park you are immediately surrounded by the sounds of birds and howler monkeys (that sound more like roaring monkeys!) You see thick green leaves, you feel the humidity, you smell the earth and hear the sounds of life around you. Quite a sensory experience. We spotted some colorful turkeys, some species of deer we don't have in the states, and a spider monkey on our way to Temple VI.

The next day we woke up at 3:30 am and started walking with flashlights (and our guide) into the park at 4:00 am. We are on our way to Temple IV to watch the sun rise. The skies were clear and we enjoyed seeing constellations as we made our way to the temple. We climbed what seemed to be an endless staircase to the top of the temple. We picked our seats and sat. First the skies begin to lighten, then the birds start calling out. The five troops of howler monkies that live in the park call out to other troops, they say "this is their turf". As the monkies quiet down the sun slowly rises up over the trees. You see the entire jungle, then the temples appear. The mist rises above the trees . The jungle is awake and we are ready to tour the grounds.

For the rest of the morning we climbed temples, spotted wildlife and listened to our guide explain the history of the Maya that lived there. He was really esoteric...and talked a lot about the sprituality of the Mayas and how we could learn a lot from them. My favorite sight was the large tucan that flew down near us to land on the branch of a tree. If your were to visit one Mayan site in your life, this should be it.

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Photos

Sunrise
Our view from temple IV

At the top
John and I after one of our many temple climbs

Butterfly at Tikal
One of the many beautiful butterflies at the park.

Comments

[Mom]

Lovely
How will you ever leave it all it soungs magical I guess it's good Owen and we are back here keep safe Love Mom