Tikal, Guatemala--Feb. 5, 2009

After a six hour water taxi and bus ride from Caye Caulker, Belize to Flores, Guatemala, we set ourselves down in Casona de la Isla which is a small island in the middle of a very large lake called Peten Itza. What a darling town! It reminds us of many Italian towns we´ve visited with small, steep streets and colorful buildings (mostly hotels and restaurants) clutching the shoreline. They´re all piled on top of each other, it seems, and have balconies with pots of shrubs and lovely places to sit and watch the lake while dining.
Yesterday we climbed aboard our collectivo (mini bus) and headed off for one of the most spectacular Mayan pyramid ruins. We arrived and immediately our guide Carlos led the 4 of us into the UNESCO world heritage site and began what was to be five hours of climbing, hiking, tripping over big tree roots, and making our way through the jungle surrounding the site. At first, I didn´t see any structures, but after climbing a very rough path, I could glimpse through the trees the first temple. What a magnificent sight! It rose through the jungle like some prehistoric monster with huge steps down the center and enormous blocks of stone going up 200 feet high. Then we learned we were to climb it! Luckily, there was a scaffolding up the side of it so we didn´t have to climb the very narrow and steep stone stairs. The view was breathtaking! We could see about 30 miles out over the jungle and were awed by the other pyramids sticking up past the tree canopy. To shorten the description of this place, there are hundreds of structures here; we saw approximately 50 of them, each one as majestic as the next. Of course, it didn´t take too long for us to feel our legs and knees begging for a break. So, we returned the the Jungle Lodge for lunch at 3 pm and a rest. Later that afternoon, we spotted many birds--oscellated turkeys, oropendula birds with yellow tails and marroon bodies, and bright green parrots. But, I didn´t get to see a toucan. Bummer.
This morning we awoke at 4:15 for a sunrise tour. Hiking in the dark through the jungle was quite the experience, enhanced by periodic glimpses of stunning stars through leafy boughs of kapok, gumbolimbo, teak, sapadillo (gum) and cedar trees, among others. I even spotted a falling star which fell in the direction our path was taking us. When we came to a clearing, the sky opened with millions of twinkling diamonds. The remoteness of the site allowed them to shine even more brightly than is visible in most places we´ve been. Even our lodge turned off the electricity at night. At that point, our guide Antonio informed us that we were going to climb the 200 foot pyramid called temple 4. Since we had climbed it yesterday, we felt confident that we could make it once again, but doing it in the dark was a little unnerving. We had flashlights, of course, but once we got to the top, we turned them off and sat in the dark, waiting for the first light.
We waited for about 30 minutes on top of this pyramid, facing east, before we could see a faint blush in the sky. (The pyramids are oriented toward the North Star, so one of the staircases in each pyramid faces east). At this point, we heard the first bird chirping and the brighter the sky grew, the more birds joined in, at the end resulting in a cacophony of squawks and tweets that was piercing. Added to it, the howler monkeys began their daily growling competition. It was amazing to experience that chorus of sound that seemed to awake the entire jungle. After about an hour in an increasing cooler breeze, we climbed down and saw the entire ruins again. However, this time, when we arrived at temple 5 which rises so steeply that it seems nearly vertical. We hadn´t planned to climb it because we were pretty tired, but we decided that we´d better do it now if we thought we ever would want to. So, up we went. The view was still another amazing sight that we won´t ever forget. After about 4 hours, we returned to the lodge, ate breakfast, and collapsed in bed.
The Jungle Lodge was built in a clearing at the entrance to Tikal, with seemingly endless miles of trees, vines, roots, rocks, and lots of wild orchids and bromeliads among many other plants. The small cabins, which are painted red like the pyramids were thousands of years ago, are placed along a rocky cobblestone path in a small clearing. It has a main lodge in which is located the reception area and restaurant and is run by solar and generator power. It´s a very peaceful setting, and we were sad to leave such a beautiful and tranquil place. But, it´s off to Coban tomorrow and our new residence Hostal de Doña Victoria.
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Caye Caulker, Feb 1, 2009

Caye Caulker was beautiful when we arrived on Friday after spending 3 days with our friends in El Placer, a little town north of Mahahuel, Mexico on what is called the Mayan Riviera. There we snorkeled, walked on the beach, ate some delicious home cooking and had a chance to catch up with friends we met in Chile. They then delivered us to the bus terminal early in the morning on Friday, and we got on our way to Belize.
As we rode in the bus, we could tell we were getting to a different landform, as the rocky limestone soil gave way to a lush, more tropical area with sugarcane, papaya, orange trees and other agricultural crops.
Crossing the border wasn't the problem we thought we might run into, but it went smoothly and quickly (nothing like crossing from Chile to Argentina). After going through some small outlying villages, we got into the town of Belize City, jumped out of the bus, grabbed a taxi, and caught the very next water taxi for Caye Caulker.
Caye Caulker is a pretty laid=back town on an island about 1 hour's boat ride from Belize City. It has sand streets, lined with little wooden, very colorful houses and stores. Many are on stilts to withstand the high tides in bad weather. Vendors sit behind makeshift stalls, barbequing lobsters and fish, or selling handmade jewelry, shirts, dresses, or bathing suits. Everybody speaks to you as you walk by. They may ask you to see their wares, but they don't pursue you if you say, "No, thanks." If you don't want to walk, you can flag down a golf cart taxi or rent a bike. We walked almost every street, just peering into doorways or back yards, admiring the flowers, or looking for a place to eat. It seems that so many people decided they would earn a little extra money by turning their front porches into a restaurant or cafe, So, there are plenty of places to have a snack, a drink or a whole meal, some with one or two tables, others with 10 or 20. The Caribbean is an amazing blue, and we were very eager to get in it, but the day after we arrived, we had a very long and hard rainstorm. We grumbled but it did no good.
The next day, the wind was still whipping up white caps, but we decided we'd take a water taxi to the next island Ambergris Caye about half an hour away. It was a cute place, too, but much more built up than Caye Caulker, so we stay only long enough for lunch and a latte.
Today was beautiful, and we were glad we stayed an extra day. We had wanted to snorkle the reef here, and finally got the chance. We went out on a sailboat that took us to the reef in 3 places: Coral Gardens, Shark Alley and Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The coral was interesting, but it was not as colorful as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Shark Alley was pretty incredible. There were sharks around the boat, but by the time we got in the water, the sharks were gone (whew). But we did get to swim with some sting rays, snapper and grouper. When we got to Hol Chan, we got to see tarpon swimming below us and so many very large fish. We saw trigger fish, more grouper, parrot fish, and some brilliantly blue ones. Actually, there were so many that I can't remember all of them. It was a very successful day with an underwater symphony of fish and a very beautiful sailing cruise as well. We ate well, also, with fish sandwiches, fruit and on the way back to port a delicious punch and ceviche which I will make when I get home.
Tomorrow we are on our way to Guatemala. I hope the border crossing goes as smoothly. I think the experiences there will be exciting, too.

Chichen Itza

We had seen plenty of photos of the largest pyramid called "El Castillo" at Chichen Itza, but to see it in the flesh was truly an amazing moment. After walking through the gauntlet of vendors, our guide Felipe and we came to the base of the huge and intricate structure. It´s made of stones, set in specific places and in sequence determined by the calendar. In short, it is set up to parallel 18 months (of 20 weeks each) with a 5 day month at the end and an extra step at the very top to equal 365 days in their calendar year. This, one of the seven wonders of the world, has 9 levels, divided into two sections by an enormous and very steep set of 91 stairs. We stayed for the light show in the evening which showed how the pyramid looks during the equinoxes in March and Sept. The sides of the stairs on the north side have large snake heads at the bottom, and when the sun hits them on the days mentioned, the light and shadow forms the tail of the snake (looking like triangles set side to side) which reaches the top of the pyramid. It´s really hard to imagine; I had trouble with it at first, until I saw how it worked with the lights. It´s a fantastic work, for sure, especially considering how much planning went into the design, and all this in the years around 900 AD.
But El Castillo isn´t the only beautiful structure; there are many, many others including an enormous ball court, an observatory, a throne room, a place where sacrifices were made, and a temple of 1000 columns. And, added to this, archaeologists aren´t even finished with it. They have uncovered only about 10%. Our guide was excellent and took us around every inch of the area. By the end of the day, we were exhausted but had to wait for the evening light show.
When that ended, we then had to find a taxi to take us to a little town called Piste where we, fortunately, arrived just in time to catch a bus the hour back to where we were staying in Valladolid.
Today we are in Tulum, but it is raining, so, rather than be on the beach in the rain, we are going to continue south and return to Tulum at the end of our trip at the end of Feb. I hope we can shake the rain!

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Merida, the city of art & music

To leave the rain and land in a place of bright sun and cloudless skies is truly a marvel. Flying over Cancun in an arc that took us out over the Caribbean Sea, looking out the window and seeing the beautiful turquoise water below us made us eager to see the rest of this beautiful landscape.
By the time we caught our bus to the center of Cancun, the sun was almost down, and we quickly found our hotel and asked for a recommendation for a place to eat. We were guided to a lovely restaurant called Labna´ where we both had specialties of the Yucatan. Terry had grouper baked with peppers and a herb that tasted like it had anise in it. Mine was grilled with a lemon and butter sauce. Both delicious and it remains our favorite dinner, so far.
Next morning, we caught the bus to Merida. We passed 4 hours through scrubland that went on forever! Then, finally we entered the city and took a taxi to our hotel Luz en Yucatan. I love to enter places that have a very plain facade and a big surprise when entered. Once we opened the door, we could see through the outdoor square, filled with plants surrounding an oblong tile walkway, almost like an outside hallway, back to a second house which was the office and several of the rooms. There was tile everywhere, and farther back, we glimpsed another courtyard with a pool. Beautiful. Our room was large and cozy with a double bed, single bed, hammock (which we tried and found to be very comfortable) and a huge shower.
We set our suitcases down, and off we went to the main historic area, Plaza Grande. Along the way, we passed many buildings of colonial architecture, painted pink, green, coral, all trimmed in white. The cathedrals that were close to the square were beautiful. The oldest one in the state was San Ildefonso, and it was very stark, no tiles or paintings but enormous and austere. A huge cross hung at the front altar. The next one was Inglesia de Jesus which was the opposite. It was small, with beautiful hand painted murals of various designs and colors, all with gold trim. The altar was piled with white flowers. We ate at Villa Maria, a restaurant that had a huge skylight through which we could see stars as we dined. That evening, as we returned to our hotel, we passed by Parque St. Lucia where there was a fiesta featuring bands and dancers. Very entertaining and fun.
The next day we took a walking tour and saw some more of the colonial architecture, ducked into some museums and art galleries, and took in the ballet which had a full symphonic orchestra. Everything is far less costly than it would be at home, which is a wonderful addition to the enjoyment.
On Sat we went to our first ruins. Uxmal is one of the most important sites in the Yucatan. It is oriented to the North Star so that it casts special shadows and light at the time of the two equinoxes in June and December. There are four major structures one of which they allow you to climb. So, we took the opportunity to climb the pyramid up to the top. I wish I could add a photo here to show the angle of the stairs. Pretty steep and narrow and very amazing especially considering it was built around 800 AD. We then went to a second ruins called Kabah which was a smaller version but also with some amazing carvings of Chac Mool the rain god of the Maya.
Now we are preparing to catch a bus to Valladolid which is also a colonial city with much art and music. We´re eager to see some more of this beautiful architecture.

Adventures in Central America

Our next cultural adventure (we don’t call them vacations anymore since we’re retired and don’t need vacations as such) will be to Central America in just 3 weeks. So, we are busying ourselves with reading about the Maya and all the architectural wonders, their religion, the food they ate, their lifestyles, etc. that have been attributed to them. It’s an amazing period of time that spans thousands of years, and we are excited about seeing a tiny portion of that time period.
We are also hoping to catch some sun in that gloriously warm part of the earth, especially since we’ve just experienced the most snow in this part of Washington in many, many years, certainly the most since we’ve lived out here.
Happily, we will be able to celebrate the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, before heading south the very next day. What a happy occasion to send us on our way; we hope that people we meet will greet us with a different view of the US. I have positive feelings about our new and improved standing in the world.