Tikal, Baby!

June 18, 2021

Took my time getting up this morning since my Tikal adventure doesn't start until noon. Thought I'd go have breakfast at Tikal Coffee Shop, but for some reason, they weren't open. I went down to the water and started to walk along the waterfront and found Cool Beans, which I had read about. It is a cool little cafe on the water with no doors--just open air. I order a ham/cheese omelet, hash browns (which turns out to be fried potatoes), fried plantains, watermelon, thick toast and butter/homemade jam...for FIVE bucks, people (including tip)! I'm stuffed!

So hot out today thanks to rain last night (a pretty big storm--the first one I've had here). I go back to my room, and wait for Elmer, my tour guide.

I'm the only one on the tour again, so Elmer picks me up at noon and we head the one hour toward Tikal. We stop a little over halfway there at a restaurant the locals eat at called Restaurante Gonzalez . There is a family tortillaria across the street--basically a shack with a mom and daughter frying em up. Pigs crossing the street here. It is so very hot...but I order BBQ chicken, beans, salsa, rice, and a pineapple/hibiscus juice.

it was father's day weekend...a little weird

Elmer has been giving tours since college (where he majored in tourism), and he is 30 now, so about 10 years. He tells me the average salary here is about 2225Q a month (less than $300 USD). We continue on to the main gate...which isn't actually the entrance. You have to drive a bit further to actually get to the parking. The guys at the gate are selling maps which I don't need since I have a guide, but he tells me the money goes to those guys (park rangers) instead of to the government, so I buy one.

As we are driving down this entry road, Elmer spots a group of spider monkeys (he is EXCELLENT at spotting things), so we pull over to look. I get out to take pictures and notice they are climbing over the trees to get to our side of the street. Suddenly, they start throwing sticks at us, lol! They did not like that I was taking pictures, apparently. We continue to the ACTUAL entrance and see a grey fox and a toucan along the way.

spider monkeys making their way over to us

As we are walking past the ticket booth, the souvenir stands, and the relief map of the entire area, Elmer is filling me in on so much history and info I can't write it down fast enough, but it was all interesting. Tikal is the second largest jungle after the Amazon and is officially a UNESCO site--the only one that is a jungle--officially called the Mayan Biosphere. A jungle is different from a forest in that there have to be a certain number of types of trees per hectare.

3D map of Tikal

croc near the entrance

There are 360 species of birds here that NEVER migrate away thanks to warm weather year round. It wasn't called "Tikal" until 1848 when it was discovered. Tikal means "city of echos" and I learn why when we hit the grand plaza. Hand claps and foot stomps are way magnified. You wouldn't need a microphone for public meetings, that's for sure.

In addition to the temples, there are stellae left over (which are basically like billboards telling people about important events regarding the upper class), and the spaces for ball courts--very important in their culture. It was even how it was decided between twins who would become the leader of a family. The ball courts symbolize life/death, east/west.

I also see a crocodile, howler monkeys, a hummingbird, a lot of spider monkeys, wild turkeys (which have amazing colorful feathers that look like they were painted), parrots, lots of frogs, and a tarantula! I also chewed a leaf from an allspice tree and saw a giant white tree (called ceiba) that represents Guatemala--the branches are high to the gods/heaven, and the roots are largely above ground--so you have symbolic sky, middle ground, and underground, appeasing all the gods.

Temple VI

Grand Jaguar (Temple I)

Palace of the Grooves

bedroom

original wood

throne

Temple V

standing in North Acropolis looking at Temple II

Grand Plaza

Temple I

stellae

Temple II

in Central Acropolis

real jungle!

Temple V

trail of ants

wild turkeys

pyramid still hidden under jungle

I climbed the Grand Pyramid and Pyramid IV (the one where Lucas shot Star Wars)...more stairs that almost killed me...but WORTH it.

on top of Temple IV

i'm as high up as the monkeys!

By the end, as I'm sitting on top of the Grand Pyramid to watch the sunset (unfortunately with three dude bros who are shooting a video travel blog, and one guy is smoking a fucking cigar after climbing those stairs), I am exhausted. It is beautiful, and everything is underneath me. The termites are even louder than the cicadas at home. This is for sure the way to end a trip.

the Grand Pyramid

up on top--i was just over on that tall one!

When the sun sets, we walk back down to see one more spot, then begin the trek back to the car in the pitch dark. Elmer has a flashlight, and spots the tarantula, and also, their version of lightning bugs. They look like beetles, and have much larger lights...including their eyes, which is super creepy to look at. Elmer is such a nice guy--he truly cares about this place (he even did some work on it in college) and knows all there is to know. He also cares so much about his customers!

We make the drive back and he tells me about his trip to the US when he saw mostly stuff along the west coast and Colorado. It was really interesting. Back home, I shower the sweat off and head to bed early--have to get up early tomorrow to head back to Guate City.