After an hour plane ride from Guatemala City to Flores in
the region of Peten, Northern Guatemala (where the weather was basically the
same as Houston)…we were in the jungle where the Mayan civilization maintained
their magnificent empire…this isn’t a history lesson so Ill skip the lecture,
although our guide was very thorough…and I ask a lot of questions. Thank
goodness he spoke English. We get to the Tikal Inn and find ourselves in a
resort type setting, a huge pool surrounded by little tiki huts and we had one
all to ourselves! Now I start a plus minus system on our experience there:
Downfall: they had certain hours for
electricity since they ran on a generator still so by 10pm….Rika and I were
freaking out because we couldn't even see anything with our eyes open, pitch
black. Thank goodness for cell phone lighting. No electricity also means no fan
(not that it was really circulating any air what so ever), its about 98 degrees
and humid. Excuse me but I don't live in Houston for a reason (no offense to
all you lovely Houstonians, but you know its humid).
Plus side: this freaked me out to the point
where I had to run outside to get some fresh air, only to come upon the most
astonishing sky I have yet to see in my short life. I stared at the universe
and all its glory until my neck just couldn't take it anymore.
Downfall: I got bit my some mosquitos even
with some heavy duty deet on…so I may either have cancer from all the exposure
to the deet or Malaria, time will tell.
Plus side: I got to eat a Cheeseburger and
French fries. Enough said.
Our
time walking around the jungle made me feel like Alice in Wonderland with all
the mystical creatures and giant plants surrounding me as I go deeper and
deeper into an unknown world. Sorry but I like lists…Here is a list of what I
think to be all the wild animals I saw on our journey:
grasshoppers with blue iridescent wings
Toucans*
Peanut-head butterflies
Coatis*
Spider Monkeys
Howler Monkeys
Army ants (that almost destroyed me)
Leaf cutter ants
Parokeets
Parrots
Pheasants
Turkeys
…and LOTS of vibrant butterflies
*these two were my goal, I HAD to find them.
Coatis
Peanut Headed Butterfly
The
next morning we head off to zipline through the canopy of the jungle with
our…guide? Gamma (not his real name but after hearing his laugh…his name should
be Mario). This is Rika’s first time not only ziplining, but shes afraid of
heights…not to mention she climbed almost all the pyramids we saw the day
before. Mostly I think because she saw me running off trying to climb
everything in sight.
I
was so proud of her, she didn't even cry! Now she wants me to get over my fear
of clowns (there are a lot of clowns here on the streets…Im not pleased nor
amused)…aint gunna happen.
After
a dip in the epic pool we headed out to the Isla de Flores on Lake Peten Izabal.
My oh my was this gorgeous, I couldn't stop smiling at how adorable this place
was, we could walk around the entire island in 20 minutes, it faces a jungle,
and there were tropical drinks floating around everywhere. What more could you
ask for?! I ordered sooo much watermelon juice, it was the best Ive ever had. I
think its my new favorite.
Sunday was mostly spent lounging by the pool, finally
tanning a little (Im pretty sure I was starting to look jaundice…is the malaria
already kicking in?!) and reading “Eat Pray Love”….such a great book for this
type of traveling adventure. It's the authors fault I later indulged in a
mouthwatering margherita pizza that afternoon.
Soon there after we were on our way back to the reality that
is Guatemala City….so strange flying in and feeling like Ive arrived back home.
I guess that's a good thing J
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