Tikal

After leaving Monterrico, we decided to go to Flores for a few days for the sole purpose of visiting the Tikal. People travel from all over the world to view the several thousand year old Mayan ruins. This is the largest of the ancient ruins, built entirely by hand in perfect geometrical and astrological proportions. After much painful deliberation, we decided to be adventurous and go for the sunrise tour. This required us getting up at 3:30 a.m. for the bus to pick us up around 4 a.m. For those of you who know me, you know I am not a morning person. Even more so without coffee. So this was a risk, especially for Reade, but in the spirit of adventure, we decided to embrace the early hours and go for it.

We spent a sleepy 45 minute pitch black bus ride into the heart of the jungle. Upon arrival, we were herded out of the bus and told that we had to hike quickly through the dark woods to the first temple that we were to climb in the hopes of getting up there before the sun did. So we brought out our trusty flashlight (we learned our lesson from hiking Pacaya) and proceeded toward our first temple.

The climb to the top of Temple IV was long and steep, especially at 5:30 in the morning. It was well worth it, though, as we sat atop this Mayan skyscraper awaiting the sun to rise. The sky began to slowly change colors behind immense ruins in the distance that we would later climb. The clouds slowly lifted and dispersed. The howler monkeys and toucans screeched their morning call and response, hinting at why the name Tikal is so fitting, translated "Place of Voices". And we all sat there, completely silent, drinking in the magnificence... the peacefulness that only comes when you're truly in communion with the beauty of nature. Never have I been so convinced that God is an artist of the highest caliber.














The rest of the day was split between walking through the cool of the jungle spying on the various species of animals and climbing different ruins. I discovered that my fear of heights is very, very real when a few times in a row, we raced to the top of these massive temples only to realize how very high we were and how far it was to the bottom. The steps were either really steep or very narrow, neither of which instills confidence as you try to slowly make your way back down to the stable ground, beckoning its welcome. I may be smiling in this picture, but I was gripped with fear (I mean, it was 10 stories tall). Reade was very patient in talking me back down, because I was about ready to set up camp with my back glued against the narrow wall until they could find a helicopter to come and rescue me.
Take a look at the rickety ladder to the right and you'll see why. In fact, this was only half of the ladder. Below are a couple of the other temples we saw.














It was an outstanding day. By the time that it started to get really hot and tourists began flooding the park, we had seen and climbed all that we wanted to and were content to take our leave. After all, by the time we got back to Flores around 1:30 p.m., we had already been up for ten hours. We were ready for dinner. Or at least a nap.