Tikal
Parque Nacional Tikal, Guatemala
Today marks a small personal milestone for Katie and me, our fifteenth country! Bill, Annette, Jenna, Douglas, Katie, and myself enjoyed an early breakfast before packing up our cars and heading to the border between Belize and Guatemala. There was a little anxiety about our beloved Renault making the drive as it was already raining when we left, but we made it out without much issue. Our 'driveway' is a 45 minute drive to Benque Viejo Del Carmen, but afterwards it is only about five minutes to the border and before we knew it we were exchanging a bit of Belizean Dollars for Guatemalan Quetzal and in line for border control and customs. After getting stamped into Guatemala, we met our driver Louis and boarded a van headed an hour and a half towards the northwest. On the way we saw many small villages (Melchor de Mencos the border town, El Zapote, Macanche, El Cruce, El Caoba) and took a short rest stop in El Cruce at a shop where we sampled local coffee and chocolate. On the way we also enjoyed views of three lakes, Laguna Salpeten Macanche, Salpetén, and the largest Lago Peten Itza (second largest in all of Guatemala at 32 km long, 5 km wide and maximum depth of 160 meters). As we exited the van at the entrance of Tikal, we were greeted by our guide Julio. Tikal is a partially excavated, ancient Mayan city ruin sitting in the middle of northern Guatemalan rain-forest with some structures possibly dating as far back as 1st century A.D. and at its peak between 200 and 850 A.D. It was abandoned as the Mayan civilization was in decline and was never conquered by the Spanish. Before we got our first view of a temple, we took a short trek through the jungle. Soon we would see the massive 'Temple One' through the trees. This temple is said to have been constructed for 'King Chocolate' (Who is also buried under the temple) and is known as the Temple of the Grand Jaguar. It got this name because of a carving on a lintel of a king sitting on a jaguar throne. It stands 47 meters tall (Tallest is Temple IV at 70 meters) in what is called the Great Plaza of Tikal and opposite to 'Temple Two' which was constructed in honor of 'King Chocolate's' wife. On each solstice the sun casts shadows from one temple onto the other, giving each other a 'hug'. We learned that scenes for Endor in Star Wars Return of the Jedi were filmed at Tikal, but we saw no Ewoks. As we exited the park we had walked over five miles, and climbed over fifty 'stories'. Louis pulled over about half way back to the border and our party enjoyed a delicious lunch. We had mixed fajitas, pork chop, and barbecue chicken, served with fresh juice and just made corn tortillas. The tour was supposed to end at about 4:00 PM, but it was after 5:00 PM when our clan got back to the car and started our dark return to our lodge.
