"At The Waterhole"

After such a crazy day in the caves and pools of Semuc Chempey we were totally wiped out, but

still decided to head out the next day and inflict yet another supposedly 6 hour bus trip on ourselves. As it turned out, a whole bunch of people from Zephyr were heading out with us... could it have had anything to do with the lack of water at the hostel... hmmm?

So the local tour company squeezed a whole bunch of gringos into a van again... not an inch to spare! And off we went north. The trip was mostly uneventful, until we arrived in one small town and came to a stop next to the river...

After a while a small cable ferry came over and we piled on with trucks and motorbikes and slowly made our way across.



We got into Flores late in the afternoon, and were really glad we had decided to call ahead and make a reservation at one of the hotels, for ourselves and a couple of German girls who'd stayed at Zephyr with us, so we didn't have the scramble other travelers went through to grab the last few rooms in town.



Flores is a funny old place, basically an island with a bridge or causeway connecting it to the main city of Santa Elena.

It's a quiet little town in the middle of Lago El Peten, which is so huge you can't even see from one end to the other. Although a little touristy, it's very pleasant, so, unlike most of the other backpackers, we rejected the idea of getting up at 4 am the next morning to rush off to Tikal for the day trip... we're just too old for that and preferred to sleep in!!

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We enjoyed a day wandering around town and had our best meal yet in Guatemala... exactly what we'd been looking for since we got here... a good menu del dia - a very cheap (about $2.50) for a tasty plate of food and a drink. We searched out a eatery on the main square where it seem half the office workers in town were, and had chili relleno (a big, non-spicy chili stuffed with a mix of shredded chicken and veggies) and avocado and beetroot salad and fresh corn tortillas.... YUM!!

The main plaza

Basically, we dwindled the day away wandering up and down this hill of an island, watching all the tuc-tuc (local taxis) whiz around the cobble-stoned streets.

Tuc! Tuc!

At 2:30 in the afternoon, we jumped on one of the emptiest shuttle vans we'd been in and headed north to the Mayan site of Tikal. We've been to a few Mayan sites here in Central America, but Tadd was really excited about going to such a huge ancient city as Tikal ("At the waterhole"). And even though I've been before, I knew how amazing the place was, so I was excited too!

Look at the excited gringo!

Beyond rejecting the 4am tour out of Flores, we had also decided to treat ourselves and spend the money to stay at one of the fancier hotels that are right inside the national park, very close to the ruins and in the thicket of the jungle... As we spent the afternoon relaxing in the pool, we watched spider monkeys swing and jump through the trees!

The Life of Luxury

First thing the next morning we joined up with a guide group and headed into the ruins... nothing less than spectacular. We wandered through the forest, while our rather amusing and very knowledgeable guide, Cesar, explained all about the location and the Maya. We passed lots of smallish temples and some big mounds of jungle that still encased other, un-excavated buildings. Eventually we reached the tallest of the temples, number IV.

We slogged our way to top... we are so unfit!!

But, of course, it was worth it for the view...

Tadd seemed dutifully impressed as we looked out over the seemingly endless jungle, as a million shades of green covered the land in every direction.


A few smaller sites, and lots more tidbits from Cesar and we reached Temple V...


and it's seriously steep steps!!



It's pretty amazing considering that when they found it, it had trees growing all up the sides


As ever, the view from the top was amazing, looking across to the other complexes of Tikal, which peak out through the greenery.



But Tadd didn't get to see it, as he opted to stay down below...

That's him in the middle in the greenish t-shirt

Off to the next spot, and we crossed paths with another troop of acrobatic spider monkeys

Yes! He is hanging by his tale

The Grand Plaza

Temple I... or was it Temple II... the were all starting to look alike ;-)

Oh no that one's definitely Temple II!

The local wildlife seems to like the ruins too... a very curious Coati.

Can you say, "Big, old pile of rocks"? Just kidding!

King big nose?

There was just time for a photo in front of the huge Kapok tree roots before heading back to the pool!

Compact and Bijoux Ruins

After sailing from Placencia to Punta Gorda Lindsay and I had the urge to go sightseeing. And, besides being the place for checking in and out of the country, the State of Southern Belize called Toledo is known for it's Mayan culture and ruins.

Having sailed down the coast of Belize, we've noticed the inland topography change from a flat marsh to tall forested hills. We went around town and discovered the cost of tours was quite high at $95 USD per person. Lindsay referenced her Lonely Planet guide book and we decided to use a public bus to get to an archaeological site called Nim Li Punit (It's not English or Spanish, it's a Mayan name). It wasn't too far from the main highway, so we wouldn't need to walk too far. The reason we decided to use a bus was because, for the most part, Punta Gorda is one big bus stop for the travelers between Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. Lots of American-made school buses to choose from, so we just showed up at the edge of town and waved down the first one going our way. The 45 minute journey cost us just $2.5 USD each. It was worth every penny!

The road leading North from Punta Gorda is called the Southern Highway. My opinion of it's condition, using a scale of one to ten, is a nine. The absence of paint and reflectors is all that separates it from a Texas-sized paved highway in the States! The roadside was quite populated with simple concrete and metal houses in various states of construction or demise. One in ten was made of wood.

We arrived at our site as the attendant, or conductor, told us we were there and pulled over to the left hand side of the road. My inexperience in public transportation showed as I exited the bus and passed in front. The driver was quite clear in his disapproval as he used his horn until I was clear of his path. I don't think I will do that again. Lindsay told me that apparently the driver is in a hurry to make it to the next stop before his competition does. This enthusiasm for efficiency and income in Central America is rare. Maybe they just enjoy the race, I'm unsure, but I do know that I for one didn't appreciate it.

Lindsay and I were the only ones off the bus. It was early in the day, and the only people we saw were some women washing clothes in the shaded stream adjacent the gravel road going uphill to the ruins. Of course, they asked if we were interested in a necklace or bracelet, which we were not. We climbed the hill for about a quarter mile. The wild parrots were easily spooked and made lots of noise as they flew out of the trees by the pairs. Other long-tailed and colorful birds flew and called all around us. Very cool.

As we approached the entry point of the site, we saw a few nicely constructed buildings for the officials and some of the more valuable artifacts. We paid our $5 USD each and made our way through the placards and cases of stone relics. We knew that the name Nim Li Punit is derived from a carving on one of the site's twenty-six stelae, which depicts a figure wearing a large headdress. In the Maya Kekchi language, nim li punit means “the big hat”. The monument on which this carving appears is the longest stela in Belize. It was laying down in one of the buildings and was probably over twenty feet long and two feet wide. It was two-thirds carved with a figure, and then many square symbols that represent the date and purpose of the stela. Translation code has theoretically been “cracked”, but there are so many question marks in the description of what it said that I can't recall any of it. It was about 1500 years old.

The entire site was a rather small one, but interesting none the less. It is assumed from the types of structures there, that this city was primarily into political and religious undertakings, and the ruling family engaged in long distance trading. Touring the ruins, only a small percentage of the structures and walls have been rebuilt. I had a strong urge to stay and put it back together again, and a feeling of disappointment to see some of the sites left to overgrow again. More signs would have been helpful, but I suspect that the lack of knowledge about these sites is the reason for that. I left with more curiosity about the ruins and the Mayan culture than when I came.

Lindsay and I made our way back to the road to find a bus to the next town called Big Falls. We had seen some waterfalls in the tour books and thought it would be fun to see and perhaps swim. We decided to start walking, and wave a bus down headed our way. We walked for over an hour, through a construction site, and finally waved down a young guy in his pickup truck. We were disappointed to find out that there are no falls in the traditional sense, just an area where it slopes down a bit more than the rest of the river in the area. We discovered a fancy lodge along the river and hitched a ride back to Punta Gorda with some people that we met there. Not a bad day of exercise and adventure, and we were back by lunch time!

As if we hadn't had enough excitement for one day, Customs and Immigration (these are two separate departments, if you didn't know), and a Health Department official decided to pay us a visit on our boat. I think because we were up on deck finishing lunch, and the ferry boat had just arrived with very few passengers, and the officials were already there on the dock, they decided to come over and check our papers.

Unfortunately, we had a problem. The Customs officer pointed out that we had not extended our ships papers along with our passports last month. Ooops. Nobody told us we needed to do that. But of course, explaining the procedures is apparently only their job once someone has not followed their procedures, based on our experience. We straightened the entire problem out on shore for zero dollars, her signature and a stamp, that's it.

Now we're good until October 29th. Who knows what will happen when we go to extend our stay at that time! We'll be sure to write about it if it's interesting!