We’re back.  The hiatus from the blog was thanks to an amazing 9-day Guatemalan adventure with Sarah’s sister and brother-in-law, Kati and Paul.  They arrived on Friday morning, the 17^th.  We took them to a couple of our favorite restaurants (one for desert) in "Zona Viva" Friday night before taking an early morning flight deep into the northern Peten jungle.  The plane only held 17 people and it sounded like a lawn mower when the pilot cranked up the engine.

We safely landed in Flores and took a 75 minute shuttle to Tikal National Park.  Tikal was the center of Maya civilization for 1,000 years, but they occupied the area from 900 BC to 900 AD.  After that point, the massive temples were left to be swallowed up by the jungle vegetation.  The ruins were not rediscovered again until 1848!  Tikal could not easily be reached until 1951 when the University of Pennsylvania led a restoration project that ended in 1984.  While the protected area of the park is 576 square km, the “uncovered” area open to the public is only 16 sq. km.  So it’s safe to say that an incredible amount of ruins is waiting to be found.

We began our tour right away with a bilingual Guatemalan guide who somehow spoke English with an Australian accent.  We hiked into the jungle, spotting a few spider monkeys on the way.  Our first glimpse of the ruins came from the back of Temple I, which was built in 721 AD.  It is the hallmark of Tikal – the one you see on all the postcards.

On the other side was the Great Plaza.  Temple II faces I and has stairs built on the side to climb to the top.  On one side is the North Acropolis, which has the remains of some 12 temples.  These were built on top of hundreds of other structures.  Whenever a new Maya ruler took over, he would tear down temples and rebuild on top to symbolize his power.  Also near the plaza were the remains of the “court” for sports.  They played a form of ping-pong that was more like a cross between soccer and racquetball.  During the early years of this game, the tradition was to sacrifice the winner to the gods.  I have to think this practice might have resulted in the earliest form of point shaving.  Perhaps that’s why they later changed the rule and killed the loser.

We explored a few more temples, including the tallest one – Temple IV.  It towers over the jungle at 212 feet and was built in 741 AD.  This engineering accomplishment seems nothing short of impossible.  The climb up Temple IV is long and slow, but not without a magnificent payoff.  All around you, the jungle canopy stretches to the horizon and is interrupted only by the tops of other temples.

We hiked to our hotel, which had 13 thatched bungalows.  We made sure to check under the bed for scorpions and tarantulas!  On the way to dinner at another hotel, we saw a huge eagle.  It had to be almost 3 feet tall. 

A guide who was watching said they can pick up small children!  At dinner we waited 90 minutes for what thankfully turned out to be decent food.  Some chocolate cake being delivered to another table caught Sarah’s eye, but when she asked for a piece the answer given was quite hilarious.  Perhaps we lost something in translation, but we are pretty sure the waiter said that he was too busy to get it!  …The 3 hotels near the park all run on one generator, so electricity in the rooms is available only for a short time in the morning and evening for hot showers.  We made good use of Paul’s headlamps during a game of jungle euchre (The victory went to Kati and Ryan).

We got up at 4:30 a.m. in order to see the sunrise.  We hired a guard and hiked into the park to Temple V, which is the second tallest.  As soon as we climbed to the top in the dark and sat down, the show began.  A howler monkey made his territory known in the tree right next to the temple.  Sarah recorded his growls with her digital camera - click here to listen.  Over the next hour, we watched the sun rise over the jungle and listened to the jungle come alive.  Pure magic.

After the sunrise it felt like we had the entire park to ourselves.  Apparently the animals felt the same way.  Over the next hour we saw parrots eating fruit from a tree, toucans, woodpeckers, and countless monkeys.  The spider monkeys put on a spectacular show, and Paul and Kati cancelled what now seemed like a pointless trip to the zoo in Guatemala City.  Here is Kati’s money shot of Curious George.

 Let us know if you want access to the rest of our amazing pictures.

After the show, we hiked back to the hotel, and Paul and I prepared to play Tarzan.  A van picked us up and took us to a canopy tour.  This was similar to the zip line I did near Guate City last month, but it’s much more intense in the middle of the jungle.  We had a little trouble with Sarah’s camera, but we got the job done, so click here to see a short video of us flying through the trees.