Tikal…reflecting on a stop in Belize

What a place it was indeed. We left DuPlooys early in the morning and began the journey. It was just our family and our driver. We arrived at the Guatemala borer in just a few minutes and picked up our guide. As soon as we crossed the border, which involved walking into one building in Belize and then walking 500 feet in mud (from the rain) into Guatemala and then getting properly stamped (after paying the fees along the way), we headed into a large town. The road was dirt but I figured it was temporary. Wrong! We cleared the town and came to realize that a large portion of our journey was going to be on bumpy dirt roads. Imagine if you will a dirt road that has potholes and other issues and that is what we traveled on. Slow and fast, stop and go, bump and smooth, we felt it all. Along the way we passed through various communities and saw some interesting sights. I believe that every structure, telephone pole, and rock were either stamped, painted, or postered with the names and faces of various people running for the office of president of Guatemala. It was amazing! Those cute little signs that decorate or desecrate the places along the road where we stop, turn, and pass by are absolutely beautiful compared to what I was seeing.as we moved closer to the sacred grounds of Tikal. Eventually we did encounter paved roads but we still had to deal with potholes (this is one of the major roads in the nation) and speed bumps, just like in Belize that allow for people to cross the road safely and to keep the drivers from going too fast along the roads.
We finally arrived at the Tikal national park (not the official name) after over 2 hours of bouncing and bumping. Our guide had been giving us information along the way and now we stepped out of the air-conditioned car and into the heat of the day. It was cloudy but still humid. We saw the overall design of the “community” of Tikal that included homes, temples, places of gathering for selling, talking, and other things. It is huge! What’s even more amazing is to think how this jungle covered area was once very clear, much like in a city. The infrastructure of roads, buildings, and the like were absolutely amazing and caused me to realize that when Columbus talked about the natives not being civilized, he didn’t have a clue at what civilizations had done in that area of the world hundreds of years before he arrived. It helped me to realize that we should always get to understand and know the people and the place we are going before determining just who is and isn’t in need.
We began our journey around the park with the many others who followed their own guides. We saw the Cebu (sp) Tree which is considered sacred and the tree of life for the Mayans. We say the gum tree from which gum originally came before what we have now which is created in factories. We saw our share of Spider Monkeys and Toucans. One of the highlights for the boys and I was being able to hold a large Tarantula as it crawled over our arms. Yes I have pictures!


As we moved through the parks the temples, with many, many, stairs were impressive. We saw some of the places where families could have lived and the courtyards where nightly entertainment would have taken place. These types of settings were available in many different places around the city. It was also noted that while they are uncovering some of the ruins, there are many that will be left under the dirt (though they know the location) so that the air and weather does not destroy that which has been in place for 900-1500 years. One of the greatest contrasts for me was to grab a coke or sprite in the midst of this ancient and sacred ground. There was very little of the commercialism and each day new ice was brought in to keep the drinks cold, but it did provide a light moment and great relief as well. We partook of at least 4-6 bottles of Gatorade and that made a difference as the sun came out and we began to lose a great deal of fluid.
The highlight of course was climbing to the top, or as high as they would allow, of Temple 4 and to see the “Star Wars” view. It was amazing and even more amazing that they had all kinds of staging set up around the area as they try to restore the area, and they had no problem with us walking in and among it. The earlier picture on the blog of our picture was actually taken less than two feet from the edge of a stone that if we had fallen we’d have traveled a great distance before landing. And there were no safety rails at all! Nothing like that would have happened in the US. We are far more safety conscious at this time.
There is the story of a woman who fell down the small steps from the top of one of the temples about a month prior to our arrival. She died but I think it was a rare accident though I do believe more people find themselves dehydrated because of the climbing, walking, and lack of planning for the intake of fluids. Our day came to an end as we headed back into our van. The guide slept in the front seat, Chris laid down in the second seat (a couch type seat) and Matt rested his eyes as well. Lisa and I sat scrunched in the back seat, awake and aware of the bumps and holes but also very aware that we had been walking on sacred ground. This was a city of great accomplishments from waterways to the way of resolving issues, and road system. They were a powerful kingdom in their time and if we took the time we could learn from them. Their religion is not something with which I agree (blood sacrifices, human sacrifices, and the like) but I have no doubt that they were a spiritual people.
We arrived back at DuPlooys exhausted but far richer for what we had been allowed to see and experience.