Guatemala Day 4 August 13, 2018

Yesterday we arose with the sun to go shopping. Today we arose like a million hours before the sun to catch a 6:30am flight to Tikal because the tour company believes you need to be at the airport 2 hours before flights and 3 hours before international flights even though this is Guatemala, not New York. There are only 2 gates in the regional departure lounge and the only people in line in front of us at security were our group. So it only took us less than 30 minutes to drive to the airport, check in, and go through security with our shoes on and multiple bottles of water. Which meant we had a lot of time to sit in the most uncomfortable, hard plastic airport chairs ever created while trying quite unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position for an hour and a half nap. I don’t even remember the safety instruction, take off, drinks, or landing because the second I got on that airplane I was out! Of course it was only a 33 minute flight, but I needed that sleep.

After that we had about an hour and a half drive to get to Tikal (yes, another nap). Our guide told us about the wildlife we might see while trekking through the jungle to the ruins: Spider Monkey, Howler Monkey, Toucan, Coatimundi, and Jaguar. I asked to please see a Jaguar, but he said he had only seen a jaguar 7 times in 9 years. I thought the chances were pretty good, but alas it was not meant to be. We did however see a couple of Spider Monkeys, hear Howler Monkeys, and supposedly saw a toucan way high up behind the leaves which flew away before I could find it. We also saw a whole tribe of Coatimundi! A new sighting for us! I saw them scampering along in the distance while our guide was telling us about the temple we were standing in front of, so I had to interrupt him. At first I thought they were monkeys because of the way they scamper along in a pack with their long tails high in the air. Needless to say, thetwinsontour led the picture taking charge (That’s the only time we were fast enough to lead the group, but when pictures of Coatimundi are at stake we mean BUSINESS!)There were about 30-40 of them all running along together looking for a tasty snack. Our guide said that they are usually in a pack of 80-100 though so they must have broken up. With their pointed snouts and striped tails, they look like a cross between an anteater and a racoon, and are thoroughly adorable! They are omnivorous, so they eat plants, bugs, and animals. My only regret is that the critters are too dang fast so the only picture I could get of them with a 2,000 year old Mayan temple in the background was blurry. But don’t you worry! I still got plenty of pictures which should go without saying to our longtime and faithful readers. While everyone else was taking pictures of the ruins, thetwinsontour were chasing Coatimundi around the rainforest in pouring rain trying to get the perfect shot. I was able to post a few pictures of an adorable coatimundi on our Facebook page (thetwinsontour), but he didn’t get the love and respect that he deserves. I just don’t know what’s wrong with you people sometimes! It was a Coatimundi for crying out loud!

Tikal was built by the Mayans long ago, like 900 B.C. to 900 A.D. so it was abandoned and taken over by the jungle and Coatimundi long before the Conquistadors conquered Guatemala. It’s a huge area and quite amazing that so many of the limestone structures are still intact. Even more amazing is that you can climb nearly all of them except the main temple. Several of them have wooden stairs in the back because a few tourists have fallen off and died–our guide didn’t say, but I assume it was French tourists because it’s always the French tourists that go off and die at these places, followed by Germans. But all I can say is bless those poor French tourists because without the stairs it would have been really tough going. The steps were all about a foot and a half high and quite narrow. Let’s be honest. I would have made it up about 6-7 steps and said, yes that’s a great view, and then just admired the rest of the temples from the ground. I asked our guide if the Mayans had smaller wooden stairs over these giant stone steps because the Mayan people that we had encountered in Guatemala were so short. He said no because the Mayan kings were quite tall. Based on skeletal evidence they were 6 feet or 6.5 feet tall, but their servants were much shorter. The size discrepancy is due partly to genetics but mostly to nutrition. The kings ate a lot better than everyone else.

It was super hot and humid there in Tikal yesterday. It was about 95 degrees with 70% humidity, so just like Kansas. Luckily we were walking through the jungle and had some shade, so we didn’t melt completely, but I must have sweated a whole gallon of sweat in just an hour. My fast drying travel clothes were soaked. And then when we had seen about half the temples, the rain started! We had asked our bus driver before we left the hotel in Guatemala City if we needed a raincoat or anything and he said no. Luckily we had our trusty disposable plastic rain ponchos that have accompanied us unused to many exotic locations (one of them we even picked up at the bus station in Iceland due to cloudy skies). Now I need to buy another pocket sized rain poncho, so let me know if you see any on sale. I fear the price has gone up a bit from the green Wal-Mart price tag that said a dollar on the other rain poncho. Luckily, we were able to take shelter for a while in a picnic area so our trusty disposable ponchos were sufficient to keep us from getting too wet. Please note, thetwinsontour do not encourage the use of disposable plastic rain ponchos as disposable plastic is a blight on the environment, but we do recognize the occasional emergency need for a disposable plastic rain poncho, for instance when one is trekking through the jungle of Guatemala without a raincoat because your bus driver said you didn’t need it. Remember our favorite and most important alliteration: REDUCE, RECYCLE, REUSE! And while I’m at it stop using plastic straws! Sea turtles are more important than your lips touching a restaurant glass.

Where was I? Ah yes, Tikal which had a starring role in the original Star Wars movie. There is a scene where you can see the Milenium Falcon flying over the jungle of Guatemala and the tops of the ruins. As we always say, if it’s good enough for George Lucas and Star Wars, it’s good enough for thetwinsontour.

Tikal is an amazing and breathtaking place (especially after climbing a bunch of steps). We love all types of ancient ruins!

I think our flight was delayed coming back, so we didn’t get to the hotel until 8pm. We had already devoured a multitude of snacks but were still ravenous and completely exhausted, not to mention really smelly when we got back. I have a confession, and I am not ashamed to admit it! We walked next door to McDonald’s for a McChicken deluxe and cheddar bacon fries. There is a time and place for McDonald’s, and if the end of an 18 hour day of airport sitting, ruins climbing, jungle trekking, and wildlife photographing isn’t one of those times and places, well then I don’t know when is! The McChicken wasn’t nearly as good as I remember, so it will probably be quite a while before we have one of those times and places again.

Love,

thetwinsontour