Tikal

Hi Everybody! On May 23rd and 24th Kathleen, our friend Lori and I visited the ancient Mayan city of Tikal and it certainly lived up to it's magical reputation.

 Templo 1 - "The Great Jaguar"

Tikal is the largest and best excavated Mayan site in Central America and is absolutely enormous. The three of us entered the grounds at 06:00 and found ourselves alone for almost an hour. The only sounds we heard were amazing tropical birds and howler monkeys making it seem like we were alone in the world.                      
               

Lori & Kathleen on the Gran Plaza  
                                                                    

Mask - North Acropolis - 735 AD

We explored the city until about 09:30 when adjourned to our hotel - the Jungle Lodge - for breakfast and to avoid the influx of tour groups So much for the solitude...

afterward we time at the hotel pool while a family of howlers fed & gamboled in the trees above

A howler monkey watches us watch him

We went back on the grounds around 4:30 and stayed until sunset; we were treated to a real show as the birds and animals became very active again.

We hired a guide, originally to give us access to some archeological tunnels but we were denied entry due to "a small but venomous snake" sighted in the tunnel entrance. Instead we treked through some dense jungle to a little visited site dedicated to the Mayan fertility goddess Ix Chel (pronounced e'shell)



Carved monument to Ix Chel

 Lori & Kathleen on the trail

Kathleen & Mark at the base of a really big tree

During our walk we witnessed a stampede of Coati - a kind of long nosed raccoon very common throughout Central America

As well as seeming legions of spider monkeys!

  

We climbed to the top of Templo 4 to watch the sunset - at 70 meters in height the tallest structure in Tikal.

Kathleen & Lori on top  of Templo 4 - also known as "Two Headed Serpent"
                                          

The sunset and our walk out of the park were also spectacular...

This city was once home to an estimated 100,000 Mayans - the place is awe inspiring in it's scope and scale, particularly considering the construction technology available.

And as we've pointed out, the wild life was equally astonishing...

A tarantula - yikes!                                                                           

                                   

Oscillated Turkey - very rare critter  

                                                Audubon would be proud...

Lori & Kathleen

It proved to be a real adventure driving to Tikal from Belize City mostly because getting into and out of Guatemala was a lot more challenging than any of us expected. Nevertheless we all had a great time in Tikal, and would heartily recommend the journey as worth the trouble of getting there.

Hope we get to see you soon!