It’s about 27 kilometers from the entrance gate to the archeological site of Tikal. The road is paved and in good shape except for the odd hole here and there.We parked and stowed all our riding gear, then donning our shoes and hats, we set off along the jungle trail to see the ruins. There’s about ten kilometers of trail meandering among the ruins. There are buildings everywhere only most of them don’t look like buildings, just big, conical hills covered in trees. When you look closer you can see places where it is obvious the stones have been deliberately placed, yet most of it just looks like a jumble of rock.There’s lots of wildlife in the park, although we got there too late to see much of it. As it was we did see some monkeys, a family of pizotes, and something that looked a bit like a fox.There are ongoing excavations at a few of the more spectacular buildings. The archeologists have to remove all the trees and roots. To do this they have to also remove the rocks. They pile these to one side. The tree roots have displaced most of the finished stone that used to be on the buildings. They’re found in piles at the base of the structure. Once the trees are gone, the workers rebuild the walls with the existing stone.The major restorations at Tikal happened in 2004. Very recent!l We couldn’t climb the pyramid stairs on any of the structures, but several had wooden stairs with railings so people could climb up. Apparently too many people were falling off the pyramids.It was a very hot day, but because most of the walking is done through the jungle, there is lots of shade. We were both sweating so much neither of us had to pee even though we drank litres of water. Our feet were sore by the time we returned to the parking lot. Before we left we stopped for a sandwich and cold fruit drinks at a little restaurant.We went back to our B&B via Santa Elena so that Bill could get to a bank. We had to go back on the nasty road.When we arrived at our B&B we discovered we had been joined by another couple from Canada, Tammi and Kurt. They live on Vancouver Island and were travelling around Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. It was nice to have company in English for a change. Hot, humid, thunder storms 34″
2015-10-26 01:59 p.m. San Jos?
