Tikal ... Mayan Ruins

Friday morning we caught an early morning bus to Guatemala City and then a flight from Guat City to Flores which is in the northern part of Guatemala. Flores is just a jumping off point for the incredible Tikal, one of the most important Mayan settlements with a population estimated at 100,000 that lasted over 1500 years (700BC until ~900AD).

What sets Tikal apart from other sites is that it surrounded by a steamy jungle with howler monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans, coatimundi, and the huge tarantula-like ceiba tree.
http://www.belizezoo.org/zoo/zoo/mammals/coa/coa1.html Ceiba tree and some coatimundis looking for food.



There are 5 major temples that have been uncovered and their tops extend well above the canopy. What I found to be the most exciting part (besides the animals) was that only 20% of the structures have been unearthed and as we walked through the jungle, there were enormous tree covered mounds that were clearly more structures. I wanted to badly to just take a shovel and start digging!

One of the mounds ... or another unearthed temple.

We were allowed to climb two of the temples (Temple II and Temple IV) and we were able to see the tops of the other temples above the canopy.

On the ride home, there were 30 people in our van! Honestly... these people sure know how to pack a vehicle full. There were about 7 jump seats that fold down and two people standing in the "doorway!"