May
4, 2014 – Guatemalan Temple Run
Lucia-
My favorite part of Tikal and the other ruins around there was climbing the
temples. It was fun to climb up them. My favorite animals to see was the baby
spider monkeys. Papa and I had howler monkeys throw sticks and fruit at us and
tried to pee on us.
Dan-
It has been a surreal trip through the Peten area of Guatemala. We have seen
the impressive ruins of Tikal. They are majestic, even in the scale of the lush
jungle that the ruins lie in. We visited more remote ruins (that our rental car
allowed us to go to). They are Uaxactun, Yaxha, and Topoxte. These ruins were
all located in the region of Tikal. They were not as grand as Tikal, yet each
had their own distinct architectural style or uniqueness.
Guatemala has done a great job of
making these ruins into national parks. Alot of money and time has been put
into the infrastructure of the parks. They are equivalent to national parks in
the States. The trails are well marked with informative signs, clean
facilities, and helpful park employees.
I have loved seeing and hearing all
the wild life in and around the ruins, especially at Tikal. I don’t remember
seeing so many things the last time Kim and I were here. Birds we have seen or
heard include: macaws, toucans, parrots, and falcons. Other animals have
included: howler and spider monkeys, fox, coati (red raccoon), qouti. We stayed at an expensive hotel right at the
park entrance of Tikal to experience more of the wild life, and it was worth
the price. It also made the sunrise hike into the park later. We left at 4am
instead of 3am if we stayed in the nearest town to the ruins.
Coati
Marino-
The ruins were great because you could climb up them and play on them. I liked
Tikal the most because it was most the most excavated ones. I really liked our
guide, Rony. He wants to be an archeologist. The car trip was hot and boring. I
really didn’t like it.
Hot afternoons at the pool in Tikal
Kim
- Driving a rental car around Guatemala has been quite the experience! I have
been chief navigator with no GPS and Dan was the head driver. We had a few days
of 11 hours in the car, which is incredible given that on any one day the most
distance we covered was 190 miles! Dan and his passengers often felt like we
were all playing Guatemalan Temple Run as he avoided tumulos (huge speed
bumps), pot holes, animals (pigs, dogs, cows, horses, chickens, turkeys),
people walking, slow vehicles, cars passing the opposite direction,
motorcycles, road soccer games, and police check points. It made for top speeds
of about 30-40mph and required nerves of steel, which was often difficult given
the fighting kids in the back seat! I spent a fair amount of time in the back
seat with Lucia to give the kids a break from one another. At one point we went
on the same road 5 times in Guatemala City while we were trying to leave!
Another time we took a 2 and a half hour detour when we headed East instead of
West leaving the town of Lanquin in the mountains!
Things to avoid on the road!
No one told us about the river crossing on a barge!
So given all that as a backdrop, we had
amazing times at the ruins we visited. Howler monkeys were right outside our
bedroom in Tikal all night talking to each through their screeches and howls.
We climbed temple 4 at Tikal in the pre-dawn darkness and sat in silence with a
group of 30 other people while we listened and watched to the jungle come
alive. Marino and I sat and sketched during sunset atop one of the temples in
the main plaza and the next evening at sunset we watched a group of spider
monkeys scamper and walk across the top of a palace ruin across from us. The
next day we explored Uaxactun, a remote and mostly unexcavated ruin north of Tikal,
where some local boys showed us a vent hole that had cold air coming out of it
and we observed some archeologists restoring some carvings. The ruins outside
of Lago Peten Itza were called Yaxha and Topoxte. It included a boat ride
across a crocodile filled lake, tall temples with views of the surrounding
jungle and lake, and hardly any other people.
The places we have stayed have really
added to our experiences. At the lake near Tikal we stayed at a small family
run hotel where Marino and Lucia got to play with the children of the owners
and other children that were visiting as well. French, English, and Spanish
were the languages spoken but not shared among the children! We were able to
explore during the day, swim in the lake, swing from a tire swing, and hang
out.
The next place we stayed outside of
Lanquin was set in the jungle. It was a hostel style place that also had
private cabins and family style meals for dinner. We talked with many other
travelers and it was incredible watching the kids have their own interactions
as well. Marino taught origami to a handful of folks and Lucia told jokes and
laughed a lot. One day Dan and I actually got to go on a hike to some hanging
bridges while Marino and Lucia stayed behind a took a class about how to make chocolate
from cocoa pod to finished product.
Not only did we have lovely human
interactions, we visited the gorgeous limestone pools of Semuc Champey two days
in a row. We were able to swim in the cool pools, bump down limestone slides,
and jump from up high. The pools are a turquoise blue green surrounded by steep
jungle walls with a raging river that runs underneath them! A wonder of
the world to be sure. These were not accessible to tourism the last time Dan
and I traveled in Guatemala.
Our wrong turn and huge detour occurred
on the way back to Guatemala City and made our return to GC 7pm instead of the
afternoon. Oh well. All is well that ends well and we are at our house at Lake
Atitlan for five weeks. More soon on that…..
