Flores and Tikal (and something for the geeks!)
We had a very early start, so early it wasn´t even worth going to bed. The idea was to drive one hour to the ruins of Tikal and to climb one of the temples and sit and watch the sunrise. Unfortunately it rained again so it wasn´t as spectacular as it might have been, however we still had a spectacular view of the site and got to hear the Howler Monkeys - it honestly sound like some sort of monster was in the jungle (like on Lost) - I hope I get to see them later on in the trip.
Tikal is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization. It was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Monumental architecture was built here as early as the 4th century BC. The city was at its height in the Maya Classic Period, approximately 200 AD to 850 AD, after which no new major monuments were built, some of the palaces of the elite were burned, and the population gradually declined until the site was abandoned by the end of the 10th century.
Here I am at Temple 1 often used to symbolise Guatemala:
Now Tikal also appears in Star Wars. And for all you who are interested (probably just little bro and Dave!!) It was the Massassi Templeon Yavin 4. This was the location of the Rebel base after the evacuation of Dantooine!
As well as the Star Wars connection I like the site because of all the wildlife. The site is spread out through the jungle and we saw Spider Monkeys and Coatis as well as a Woodpecker and a Toucan.
The spider monkeys were great to watch jumping through the trees:
We left Tikal just as it was starting to fill up with tourists and this made me even more glad that I´d got up so early as the ruins were starting to get a theme park feel to them - also it was getting too hot to wander around.
We took mini buses to the border and crossed over to Belize. For those of you who didn´t know Belize was previously owned by the British and formely known as British Honduras. The coins still have the queens head on them and every one can speak English (albeit with a Caribean / American accent) We then had to squash into taxis where I had my pack on my knee (very hot and uncomfortable) to get to the hotel in San Ignacio.
Tikal is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization. It was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Monumental architecture was built here as early as the 4th century BC. The city was at its height in the Maya Classic Period, approximately 200 AD to 850 AD, after which no new major monuments were built, some of the palaces of the elite were burned, and the population gradually declined until the site was abandoned by the end of the 10th century.
Here I am at Temple 1 often used to symbolise Guatemala:
Now Tikal also appears in Star Wars. And for all you who are interested (probably just little bro and Dave!!) It was the Massassi Templeon Yavin 4. This was the location of the Rebel base after the evacuation of Dantooine!
As well as the Star Wars connection I like the site because of all the wildlife. The site is spread out through the jungle and we saw Spider Monkeys and Coatis as well as a Woodpecker and a Toucan.
The spider monkeys were great to watch jumping through the trees:
We left Tikal just as it was starting to fill up with tourists and this made me even more glad that I´d got up so early as the ruins were starting to get a theme park feel to them - also it was getting too hot to wander around.
We took mini buses to the border and crossed over to Belize. For those of you who didn´t know Belize was previously owned by the British and formely known as British Honduras. The coins still have the queens head on them and every one can speak English (albeit with a Caribean / American accent) We then had to squash into taxis where I had my pack on my knee (very hot and uncomfortable) to get to the hotel in San Ignacio.
posted by Phil at 9:58 PM
2 Comments:
I'm starting to get a bit concerned with all the bird references!
Are you turning into a twitcher?
hhmmmm i second that.....
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