Tikal
Roger is back for today´s installment.
Today we got up before daylight so we could prepare for our trek to Tikal. It was a beautiful morning, much cooler again than what we had over in Belize.
The drive to Tikal park took us about 40 minutes from our hotel in Flores, and we passed through many quaint Maya villages on the way. Most of the drive was spent avoiding the various livestock that is left to wander freely around the roadside--pigs, chickens, and horses among other things. When we finally arrived at the park we drove nice and slow as well...mainly because we were taking pictures of animal crossing signs that could only be found in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle. Click here for our favorite. This definitely made us think twice about wandering off the well-marked paths! In case you are terrible at animal identification, that is a Jaguar!
We got lots more animal viewing in when we started the 20 minute hike through jungle to the first temple. Traci experienced her first howler monkey experience when we heard the cries erupting in the jungle, which can be a startling experience if you´ve never heard one before. We followed the sound until we were able to get directly beneath the group of monkeys and the sound was spectacular. Imagine a cross between a tyrannosaurus rex and a giant gorilla screaming at the top of its lungs right above you. Traci was able to get some good video of it and we can´t wait to share.
The ruins of Tikal are astounding! Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We were able to climb to the top of the first temple to get an awesome view of the surrounding forest. Study this picture we took as that will be the focus of my trivia question :) Those are other temples peeking over the jungle canopy.
Over all I think it is by far the most impressive ruins I have visited. Don´t have the space to do it justice here, so we will be ready to share photos and video when we get home. If you Are curious about Tikal you can read up by clicking here. If it comes up in Spanish, you can click an English link on the page.
Finally when we returned back to Flores we had yet another animal sighting. If you recall a few posts ago we talked about seeing an elephant in San Ignacio...well we saw another today. This time it was a rare Egyptian Albino elephant. I guarantee you won´t see another photo of it on the net, so check out the one we were able to get by clicking here!
Our next post will be coming to you from the sun-kissed island of Caye Caulker so stay tuned to find out if we survive the midnight crocodile hunt!
I almost forgot! Trivia of the day: What famous American movie uses Tikal to represent another planet?
Roger and Traci
Today we got up before daylight so we could prepare for our trek to Tikal. It was a beautiful morning, much cooler again than what we had over in Belize.
The drive to Tikal park took us about 40 minutes from our hotel in Flores, and we passed through many quaint Maya villages on the way. Most of the drive was spent avoiding the various livestock that is left to wander freely around the roadside--pigs, chickens, and horses among other things. When we finally arrived at the park we drove nice and slow as well...mainly because we were taking pictures of animal crossing signs that could only be found in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle. Click here for our favorite. This definitely made us think twice about wandering off the well-marked paths! In case you are terrible at animal identification, that is a Jaguar!
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We got lots more animal viewing in when we started the 20 minute hike through jungle to the first temple. Traci experienced her first howler monkey experience when we heard the cries erupting in the jungle, which can be a startling experience if you´ve never heard one before. We followed the sound until we were able to get directly beneath the group of monkeys and the sound was spectacular. Imagine a cross between a tyrannosaurus rex and a giant gorilla screaming at the top of its lungs right above you. Traci was able to get some good video of it and we can´t wait to share.
The ruins of Tikal are astounding! Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We were able to climb to the top of the first temple to get an awesome view of the surrounding forest. Study this picture we took as that will be the focus of my trivia question :) Those are other temples peeking over the jungle canopy.
Over all I think it is by far the most impressive ruins I have visited. Don´t have the space to do it justice here, so we will be ready to share photos and video when we get home. If you Are curious about Tikal you can read up by clicking here. If it comes up in Spanish, you can click an English link on the page.
Finally when we returned back to Flores we had yet another animal sighting. If you recall a few posts ago we talked about seeing an elephant in San Ignacio...well we saw another today. This time it was a rare Egyptian Albino elephant. I guarantee you won´t see another photo of it on the net, so check out the one we were able to get by clicking here!
.JPG){kind=link}
Our next post will be coming to you from the sun-kissed island of Caye Caulker so stay tuned to find out if we survive the midnight crocodile hunt!
I almost forgot! Trivia of the day: What famous American movie uses Tikal to represent another planet?
Roger and Traci
3 Comments:
Hey Roger,
Oh my gosh I can't quit laughing!!! Definitely a rare sighting for the Albino Elephant. Bet you two couldn't contain yourselves on that one. :)
My guess on the trivia question would be Star Wars. Am I close?
BJ
You guys are too funny!! Sounds like you are having a great time in the jungle : )
I can't imagine coming across a road sign like that...I would be staying in the car. Looking forward to the next post.
Juls
BJ won the prize for guessing Star Wars! We don't know what the prize is...but she gets it!
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