Day 13: Communing with Tikal

Day 13. Our last day at Tikal. We were both sad about it. We loved Tikal, Roxie, Guatemala and would really like to go back.

We spent our day in Tikal. E explored architecture. I wandered alone drinking in the forest and the ruins. I sat quietly in one spot in the forest for over an hour. Spider and howler monkey fed and sat and scratched in the trees above me. A guan (a large endangered bird) had a midday rest nearby. He forgot I was there and just went about his daily business. Other birds and creatures went past. I felt such peace.

On the way back to the hotel I passed this wall. The detail is so foreign to me. Nowhere else would they have carved rock like this. I thought about the people who carved away this limestone with stone tools. Who then covered the limestone in stucco and painted it bright red. Who wrote their history in stone stellae. Who charted the sun from their observatories marking time for centuries.

Tikal must have been amazing before it was abandoned 1,300 years ago. It would have been filled with people and life.

The afternoon was a reality check. Enough of nature and the Maya! It was souvenir time. I bargained hard but it was fun. And I have a little bit of Guatemala back here at home with me.

Belize Trip Back Blips
Day 1: Lost Luggage and Laminai
Day 2: The Ruins of the British (and Mayan) Empires
Day 3: Journey to Chan Chich
Day 4: Jungle Oasis
Day 5: It's a jungle out here
Day 6: We win the Survivor reward challenge
Day 7: Floating down the river to infinity
Day 8: A Military Escort
Day 9: People Watching
Day 10: Toilet Humour
Day 11: Tikal Immersion
Day 12: Roxie and the Machete
Day 13: Communing with Tikal
Day 14: Slash and Burn
Day 15: Swimming with Sharks
Day 16: Passage of the Mangroves
Day 17: Exploring San Pedro
Day 18: Lost and Found