Mayas and monkeys

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We caught the bus from Suchitoto back to San Salvador with a very nice bus driver who put our packs up at the front of the bus with him hanging onto mine every time we went round a corner to make sure it didn´t fall out of the open door! Overnight in a different hotel from before as it was next to the bus stop we had to be at by 5.30 the next morning - the first of a number of early mornings...

The bus back to Guatemala City seemed a lot quicker than the other way and getting through the border certainly took less time. We 'd booked into a small hostal near the airport as we had an early flight the next morning which turned out to be the best place we could´ve been. We spent the afternoon in a shopping centre in the city but I had been suffering with a dodgy tummy for a few days and started to feel pretty weird - very tired and a bit dizzy while we were out. This developed into an awful headache by the time we got back and I also had a rash on my arm. Being rather concerned as we were going to be in the middle of nowhere the next day I asked the hotel owner´s wife if there was a doctor nearby I could see (bearing in mind this was late Friday afternoon!). Next thing I knew we were in the car with Luis and his ex-sister-in-law Virginia (who came along to translate!) being taken to a small private hospital nearby. There seemed to be nobody actually attending the hospital so a doctor saw me straight away and diagnosed dehydration and a fungus on my arm from an insect bite (yes more bites - I have so many these days that I don´t report them any more - it´s just a fact of life here!) for which she gave me some cream. She prescribed rehydration salts and antibiotics for the original problem which Virginia then ordered from a nearby pharmacy who deliver. As we´d been going out Hugh had grabbed a couple of hundred dollars, not knowing how much it might cost to see the doctor and get medicine. The hospital charged $7 and the medicine cost about the same. The sad thing is that for many people in Guatemala private healthcare like that is prohibitively expensive and the care in public hospitals is very limited.

We had to pop out for Hugh to have something to eat and went to the only restaurant nearby which seemed to be some sort of sports club although not used much - we seem to be getting used to eating in almost empty places.

The next morning the alarm went off at 4.30am as we had to be at the airport by 5 for our flight to Flores in the north of Guatemala. This is the airport which is used for visitors to Tikal (who can´t face the 12 hour bus journey!) which is the largest and most restored Mayan site in Guatemala. We were picked up at the airport to be taken to our hotel, one of only three in the park. It was already very warm and humid and we set off to see the temples at around 10ish. Our guide, Vinicio, proved to be a mine of information about the Mayas and the temples but also about wildlife, Guatemala and its people and almost anything else we asked. The temples are some way into the park and we walked through rainforest for about half an hour. There were birds all around and the occasional roar of howler monkeys - this noise was apparently used for the sound of T Rex in Jurassic Park!

The main plaza is very impressive with two huge temples opposite each other and the northern acropolis on one side. We climbed to the top of one of the temples to see great views of some of the other temples poking out of the rainforest while watching birds swoop around. From there we went to Temple IV, the largest at the site - the climb up this in the heat of the day was tough but the views were spectacular. After much information about many subjects and sightings of spider monkeys (including one that tried to pee on us!), lots of birds and a poisonous snake, we returned to the hotel for a late lunch. We were both pretty tired and hot and sticky so we relaxed for a while in the pool (which was remarkably cool considering the outside temperature) and had showers before heading back into the park on our own in the late afternoon. This was a better time for wildlife and we saw toucans, parrots, a woodpecker (a real Woody Woodpecker with a red crest!), and oscellated turkey (whacky bird - see the pictures!), lots more spider monkeys. We sat in the Grand Plaza for an hour or so before the sunset. There were only a handful of other people in the whole area and the birds and monkeys were making a real racket - the atmosphere was amazing. By the time we left the light was fading and there were only one or two others left so walking out through the rainforest was a little spooky! Back at the lodge, we showered and had a quick dinner before heading back to the room to make the most of the remaining couple of hours of electricity. However, we were both so exhausted that we were asleep long before the lights went out!

It was pretty sticky during the night without the fan and it seemed like no time at all before our 4.15am wake up call. We met a small group of people who were also mad enough to get up at that ungodly hour and stumbled through the dark back towards the park. We were pleased to have Vinicio as our guide again who took us on a fast march back to Temple IV. We were the first group to the top of the pyramid which gave us a brief moment of fantastic views with a cacophony of birds and monkeys in the trees all around with almost no other noise. Unfortunately, groups of less thoughtful people shortly arrived and thought it was more important to talk about their cameras than listen to the amazing sounds. At least that was until one of the guides, very politely, told everyone to shut up. We sat there for well over half an hour as the morning dawned and finally the sun appeared huge and orange above the distant clouds. Apparently we were very lucky as they had had cloudy mornings for days and seen nothing.

From there Vinicio took us to some areas of the park we had not seen the day before which were all very quiet. We saw more birds and monkeys, including another weird and wonderful oscellated turkey. There was also a bright green furry caterpillar which Vinicio told us could cause a very bad skin irritation if touched. Vinicio gave us the option to climb temple V, only after showing us another temple that had been open to be climbed until a year ago when someone had fallen off and died!. Temple V had steps up the side but they were so steep it was more like climbing a ladder. The platform at the top was very narrow with no barrier and the drop down very steep and long. Hugh was already sitting in the middle of the temple but when I looked across I knew I couldn't walk across there so just sat on a step half way across. More people came up and one girl in particular was terrified when she got off the steps. She couldn't move away from them and looked really unhappy as a father and 2 children came up behind her. the two kids were mostly fine, too fine.... The father was also terrified and nobody was happy about the children running around up there so we managed to persuade them to come back near the stairs. By this stage this had had its effect on me and I could only get back to the steps on my hands and knees along with some of the others. Hugh also had to bend down and hang onto the platform as he walked back. There was great relief all round when we reached the ground safely!

We were back at the lodge for breakfast and then showered and had a rest for a while as I was still feeling pretty unwell. We had a quick visit to one of the museums which had some photos of the site when it was first discovered (or should I say rediscovered - local people had always known about it) which were wonderful. There were also a number of stelaes that have been removed from the site to keep them safe. Theft from these sites is a real problem and Guatemala is not really wealthy enough to protect all their treasures. Having said that, a lot of bits from Tikal are in museums around the world, including the British Museum, so we are probably as much to blame.

From Tikal we moved to Flores, close to the airport, which is a small island, joined by a causeway to the mainland, on Lake Peten Itza. But more of that in a few days.....

Lots of love

S + H xx

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Comments

[anonymous]

I read this entry and the next both together - sorry to hear you're so poorly Sarah. Hope it's improved by now. Your description of the top of the scary temple was very atmospheric - I began to feel disctinctly panicky as I read it! Great photos, as ever. Sarah H.