Living the Good Life: Tikal

Hey Guys,
After Panama we flew to Belize City, mostly because it was close to Tikal, a site of ancient ruins we wanted to see. Somewhere along the line we heard from our fellow travelers that Caye Caulker in Belize was worth checking out. Since we would be so close, we thought, why not? It was island life at it's finest.

Here I am swimming with a manatee. My first time seeing one of these 'sea cows' underwater, and we both got to swim with them!

We also swam with these guys, they were super chill and basically ignored us. They just wanted the treats our boat driver was throwing over the other edge. Looking back, there's some things you really just can't do in Canada.......

Sharks frands

After the super relaxed vibes of Belize it was time to head into Guatemala, a country I was very much looking forward to seeing. Described by other travelers, as 'very indigenous, cheap, food like Mexico, cheap buses and bad roads.' Sounded right up my alley!
Our first stop was to Tikal, a site of ancient ruins built by the Mayan people from 300 to 850 BCE. I love ruins, all the time, but I was especially excited for this place because it is situated in the jungle and there are lots of chances to see wildlife while you appreciate the ancient buildings.

We were up bright and early that morning, here we are sitting at the top of Temple IV waiting for the sunrise over the jungle.

Unfortunately, there was plenty of fog that morning. Damn muggy jungle! Apparently this happens ALL the time, but they never tell you that until you've paid your money and climbed up there. However, it was still an awesome chance to sit and enjoy the stillness of nature. A few howler monkeys serenaded us, and some rare birds flew by. Pretty dang good still.

Something tells me there is a monkey in this picture somewhere, otherwise why would I have taken it?

A 'glyph,' which is a carved figure or symbol that tells a story. In this glyph, it is depicting a Mayan god.

Ok, there is definitely a monkey in this picture!

These two pictures depict a stelae, a large rock that is carved to tell the story of how the temple it belongs to was built, when, and all sorts of other fun facts if you know how to read Mayan hieroglyphics.

This is in the main plaza, with all the main temples surrounding it. It was definitely the most impressive area, but we spent the rest of the afternoon traipsing around the more hidden gems. We saw lots of monkeys, birds, and it felt very cool to walk through the thick jungle on your way to the next temple.

Check out this strangler fig slowly enveloping the tree

A cool angle that shows just how engulfed in the jungle the ruins were. Even the tops, 70 m up in the air, had been covered by debris and jungle. Pretty impressive how much work was done to clear.