Tikal

We were up early and rather surprised to discover that the balcony outside our room overlooks a large and beautiful lake! It was much too dark to see last night, and because there is virtually no development, there were no lights on the opposite shore to clue us in. As inviting as the lake appears, however, the crocodiles make swimming here unwise (though later in the evening we saw an American mom and ~10 year old boy swimming in the lake off the hotel dock without incident or, apparently, concern).

Breakfast was one of the best we’ve had, and unlike at the previous hotel, provided both ample choices and ample quantity. We were unable to linger over coffee, however, because the bus departed at 7:30 a.m. for the Mayan ruins at Tikal, the largest and most famous of the Mayan sites, about 45 minutes away. At a rather seedy little tienda along the way we stopped to pick up our “local expert guide,” Marco Antonio, who turned out to be pretty worthless. He walked us around for nearly five hours and told us what we could have read off the signs. We tipped him accordingly. The heat and humidity did nothing to improve our opinion -- it was like August in Iowa.

Tikal would have been spectacular if we hadn't already seen previous sites with better guides. Our guide at Copan was so excellent, that this site was mostly a confirmation of what we had learned already there. I know this was supposed to be the high point of the trip (and I guess it was "high" in that we climbed to the top of the famous "Pyramid 4" for a fantastic view) but it was something of a let down in that there were no really new discoveries here for us.

A little after 1 p.m. lunch was served at an open air restaurant on the archaeological site, and although the menu was yet another soup, chicken & rice with tortilla, and dessert, it was quite good. They gave us each a cold wash cloth as we entered, and that was pretty heavenly in itself. Cold soft drinks were included, and those also hit the spot. Hot soup didn’t seem appropriate, but was really good, and the dessert was a plain banana with a hot rum sauce and a little nutmeg on top. We were amazed so many in our group wouldn’t touch that banana and rejected it without even tasting it -- thus, I had two!

Dinner was “on our own” this evening, which was really pretty ridiculous, since we are out in the jungle there is nothing for miles other than this hotel. Forced choice. Fortunately, we stopped at another local tienda and tried to spend the last of our Guatemalan Quetsales on junk food. We were also amazed that so many who couldn’t eat lunch less than an hour ago could go nuts for ice cream now.

Star Wars fans may recognize this view from the top of Pyramid 4

After a shower, some time in the hotel pool felt good. We also caught up on some laundry and later walked down to the lake shore just before sunset. The lake is gorgeous, and almost totally undeveloped. We saw only two boats -- a slow pontoon very far off in the distance and a little fishing canoe somewhat closer. When we returned to our room, we sat on our little balcony to watch the sunset and the lightning of the approaching, rainy season thunderstorm.

Sunset on Lake PetenItza

From the balcony of our room.

 We drank our cheap beer and ate our junk food. It was plenty of supper after a big breakfast and lunch. No one else was out on their balconies at all -- too humid? But we found it very pleasant. Who would guess that there would be fewer bugs by a lake in a tropical jungle than in our own Iowa back yard?

Memory of Tikal