Mom and Dads Mayan Adventure

One of the big temples in the central courtyard of Tikal




This is probably my favorite view from tikal. Its the one taht was in Return of the Jedi. The photo doesnt do it justice.




Another amazing view, accessed only by climbing a staircase/ladder hundreds of feet into the sky




This is the view from our hotel in Flores. Mom and I watched the sunset while treading water in the lake. magical.




A view of Flores from the water. You could get a ride on a little wooden boat for an hour for less than ten dollars




Our hotel in Flores. Check out the top window right by the sign...yep, that was our room!




A little side street in Flores. I could walk these lanes for hours.




The rents and me in Actun Tunichil Muknal!




The skull of a teenage Mayan boy sacrificed over 1000 years ago.




Jacob at the top of El Castillo in Xunantunich




Jacob and the Rents at a very deserted Altun Ha.

Hi everyone! It is Tuesday morning and the rents left yesterday. What a wonderful visit! They were here for ten days and we did a little bit of everything. We started out with a few days in the village, meeting people, eating fried fish, playing volleyball etc. It was a great opportunity for them to see where I live and the people I hang out with. Mornings were spent cooking eggs and pancakes. I was reunited with my cast iron skillet (yes they carted all 15 pounds of it down here!) We walked Moses, explored the village and generally hung out. We took a few day trips, visiting Crooked Tree village and walked next to the lagoon, we explored the Mayan ruin of Altun Ha. The visit was made even better by the fact that it was absolutely empty. We pretty much had the entire place to ourselves. Awesome. The next move in the visit was three nights at Chaa Creek, a resort near San Ignacio. The place was pretty luxe; thatch roofs, whitewashed walls and dark wood furniture everywhere. Our little cabana had a view of the river and a landscaped outdoor shower. One of my favorite parts about the place was the hot water. I took three showers a day! Each night after a full day of activities we would get dressed up and head to the dining room for a wonderful five course dinner. Mom and Dad seemed happy to keep stuffing food into me, trying to fatten me back up!
Our time in Chaa Creek was not spent lounging by the pool. (well, a little bit was!) We filled our time with activities and adventures. The first day I went on a mountain bike tour. We rode on trails, dirt roads, muddy airstrips, creek beds and plenty more till we reached Xunantunich, the second highest Mayan ruin in Belize. The private tour was great and I continued my immersion in Mayan ruin culture and got a great workout at the same time. While I was riding a bike the Rents took a canoe downstream from the lodge to San Ignacio. Seemed like they really enjoyed getting back in a boat and floating down the river to the sounds of parrots, toucans and howler monkeys.
The next day we all took a van to Actun Tunichil Muknal cave. A 45 minute jungle trek took us to the mouth of a cave where we swam, waded, crawled and wedged ourselves into the far reaches of the underground world. This beautiful cave went from “neat” to mind blowing when we were shown the back rooms, where pottery sat, untouched for a thousand years. The cathedral sized back room was also the site of many human sacrifices, and we were able to get right down next to calcified bones, skulls and full skeletons. Part of what made this so incredible was the lack of railings, glass walls and other tourist site type barriers. It was obvious to me that access to this cave will eventually be curtailed. There is too much there and we could get too close to it. The only thing separating us from a human skeleton was a piece of neon tape on the ground that might as well have said “hey, please don’t step on me, I’m a mayan skull”. The place has been on multiple tv shows, in National Geographic and had been filmed the day before by Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods. I dunno what the guy was gonna eat there, but its still pretty cool.
Sounds like we’ve done a lot already huh? Well, it only got better. We drove the car to the Guatemala border, parked and caught a ride into Flores. Flores is an island in the middle of Lago Peten. The brightly painted concrete walls and rusted tin roofs went right down to the water. Our hotel was right on the water, and we would sit in the Jacuzzi, sip Gallo beer and watch the sunset over the lake. For about ten bucks you could take a little wooden boat ride to explore the island, little three wheeled motorcycles, called “tuk tuks” were the mode of transport for everyone. I cant quite figure out what it was about Flores, but I instantly fell in love. It is Medieval and brand new. A gorgeous restaurant filled with flowers would be tucked into a nook on a cobblestone street, tiny shops filled with brightly colored Guatemalan hammocks and blankets were on every corner and everything just felt so perfectly foreign. Flores is about an hour away from Tikal, the final mayan site we visited on this trip, and by far the most impressive. We spent eight hours hiking through the jungle and coming across massive spires, temples and residences. Tikal makes every other site look miniature. We tramped up the side of one of the temples and came across a view that will stick with me forever. The jungle was spread out in front of us, and poking up through the trees were massive limestone temples. I felt like I was in “The Jungle Book”. This famous view can be seen in Star Wars Return of the Jedi. Its one of those classic images that even if you have never seen something like it it instantly feels right and familiar and strange and new all at the same time. Wow. Tikal is one of those amazing places that I feel like should be on everyone’s to do list. Like Macchu Picchu, or the Egyptian pyramids, or the Statue of Liberty. I feel so lucky to have seen it. The truly amazing thing is, after eight hours and almost 10 km of walking, we saw only about 75% of the site. Now, take that statistic and add this: only about 20% of the site has been uncovered. Eight hours showed us 75% of 20%. This place is big. Huge, Massive.
All said, this vacation was one of the best I have ever had. My family travels together well, and we were able to have a great happy visit and enjoy each other’s company. Thanks for the great time Mom and Dad! I’m glad you guys had fun and didn’t melt in the heat!