Tikal!

I´ve chosen 5 photos of Tikal. We spent 5 or 6 hours getting there and it felt great to hike around. Yesterday afternoon and early evening we enjoyed the spider monkeys. I was lucky enough to see several bedding down for the night when I climbed Temple 4 and took the first photo high up on the stairs on my way up.

The 2nd one was taken of Temple 1 from Temple 2, a fairly easy climb now. Four years ago no one was allowed to climb that one but they´ve built new stairs.

Right before the sun set the storm clouds were rolling in and the lighting was amazing! Picture #3 is of the North Acropolis taken from the Grand Plaza.

It POURED all night long and was still pouring when we got up to head back into the ruins. We stomped around Mundo Perdido (Lost World) and enjoyed the beautiful, wet jungle. Unfortunately, the birds and howler monkeys and coatis we enjoyed so much in the morning 4 years ago stayed tucked away to avoid the rain. I climbed Temple 5. I´m not usually afraid of heights but it was wet and windy up there and it got my adrenaline going! Absolutely incredibly beautiful, though. The 4th photo was taken of the jungle canopy with other ruins poking through and the 5th taken over the edge of Sylvia down below (the blue dot).

I´ll blog one more time, either later today or after we get home. We fly from Flores to Guatemala City tomorrow morning, then on to Houston and Portland. We´re hoping that Hurricane Dean (who graced us with unusual rains at Tikal) won´t prevent our timely arrival in Houston so we can make our connecting flight.

Happy trails!
Stacey