Guatemala
Arggg had another entry typed out and ready to roll...but then the computer froze...so that sucked! Anyhow...
Woke up early in Palenque on Sunday and made the 10 hour perilious trip to Flores, Guatemala, crossing potholes, dirty rivers and banana saleswomen! The people in Guatemala seem much more friendly and happy to see us and have the added bonus of not trying to sell us their posessions every 8 seconds! This morning we woke up early (4:30am..ugh) and hopped on the bus to Tikal. Tikal as a city was apparently about 10x the size of Palenque, and after seeing it, that sounds about true. It looks like your classic Indiana Jones ruin site. Huge pyramids and towers poke their heads out of the mist covered canopy while spider monkeys play in the branches surrounding you. The spider monkeys strange cousins, the Howler monkeys are another story though. These things create a sound which is quite terrifying. I cant imagine what the first western explorers felt when they heard these guys echo through the jungle. It sounds like a chorus of lions of steroids and most of the time you cant see them so its as if the jungle itself is just kind of screaming at you. We figured if they were dangerous, it would take them hours to eat their way through the hordes of German tourists, so we were in a safe situation.
Tomorrow we begin our 6 day jungle expedition! There were a few selling points for us, but basically it came down to:
Travel to ancient, nearly undiscovered and rarely visited ruins.
We would have a pack mule.
We dont have to wash or even change our clothes for 6 whole days of sweat and mud!
Sold! Although I envision us running from headhunters and swinging through caves while accompanied by an army of elephants, donkeys, sherpas and those old british soldiers, I figure reality is more along the lines of, the three of us, 2 guatemalan guides and their donkey and these two other guys who also signed up. Regardless, it should be pretty exciting. We saw our first wild tarantula today, it was easy to miss him because at first we thought it was just a giant black cat, but then upon closer inspection, he revealed his identity. Im assuming that this was a city dwelling spider, and the variation that we´ll find in the jungle will be much smaller....right? Anyhow, upon returning from our expedition I leave the following morning for Belize but will hopefully get a blog update in before I hop on the bus! Thats all for now I suppose, Adios and Ill be thinking of you when Im fighting off the anaconda which has just swallowed Ryan.
Pictures! or lack thereof....
this computer sucks and its sooo slow, pictures of our river crossing boat and Tikal shall have to wait!
Woke up early in Palenque on Sunday and made the 10 hour perilious trip to Flores, Guatemala, crossing potholes, dirty rivers and banana saleswomen! The people in Guatemala seem much more friendly and happy to see us and have the added bonus of not trying to sell us their posessions every 8 seconds! This morning we woke up early (4:30am..ugh) and hopped on the bus to Tikal. Tikal as a city was apparently about 10x the size of Palenque, and after seeing it, that sounds about true. It looks like your classic Indiana Jones ruin site. Huge pyramids and towers poke their heads out of the mist covered canopy while spider monkeys play in the branches surrounding you. The spider monkeys strange cousins, the Howler monkeys are another story though. These things create a sound which is quite terrifying. I cant imagine what the first western explorers felt when they heard these guys echo through the jungle. It sounds like a chorus of lions of steroids and most of the time you cant see them so its as if the jungle itself is just kind of screaming at you. We figured if they were dangerous, it would take them hours to eat their way through the hordes of German tourists, so we were in a safe situation.
Tomorrow we begin our 6 day jungle expedition! There were a few selling points for us, but basically it came down to:
Travel to ancient, nearly undiscovered and rarely visited ruins.
We would have a pack mule.
We dont have to wash or even change our clothes for 6 whole days of sweat and mud!
Sold! Although I envision us running from headhunters and swinging through caves while accompanied by an army of elephants, donkeys, sherpas and those old british soldiers, I figure reality is more along the lines of, the three of us, 2 guatemalan guides and their donkey and these two other guys who also signed up. Regardless, it should be pretty exciting. We saw our first wild tarantula today, it was easy to miss him because at first we thought it was just a giant black cat, but then upon closer inspection, he revealed his identity. Im assuming that this was a city dwelling spider, and the variation that we´ll find in the jungle will be much smaller....right? Anyhow, upon returning from our expedition I leave the following morning for Belize but will hopefully get a blog update in before I hop on the bus! Thats all for now I suppose, Adios and Ill be thinking of you when Im fighting off the anaconda which has just swallowed Ryan.
Pictures! or lack thereof....
this computer sucks and its sooo slow, pictures of our river crossing boat and Tikal shall have to wait!
posted by Jordan at 1:53 PM
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