We stayed at this really beautiful, middle-of-nowhere resort Villa Maya near the ruins of Tikal. I was inspired to wake up early and take pictures of the sunrise before we had breakfast and got back on our tour bus to explore said ruins.
The people of Tikal consolidated their power about 385 BC and became the center of the Mayan world for the next 500+ years. It was a huge city, with a total area of about 23 square miles. At least one major scholar believes this to be the land of the Mulekites from the Book of Mormon.
The architecture of the ancient city is built from limestone and includes the remains of temples that tower over 230 feet high, large royal palaces, in addition to a number of smaller pyramids, temples, palaces, residences, administrative buildings, platforms and inscribed stone monuments. It was amazing to climb up on one of the towers and look out over the jungle to other monuments, or to walk through that jungle and suddenly be in an excavated clearing - a total town square!
The area had this cool red mossy parasite on some of the trees, interesting birds, leaf-cutter ants, and I even got very close to a tarantula.
I literally made the bus driver stop near this viewpoint on our way back to the resort so I could try to capture the beauty of "Alligator Peninsula" on Lake Peten.
That afternoon Mark went on a bike ride with a couple of his sisters and I rested by the pool and walked the grounds with my camera until dinner.
I just loved hanging out with the parrots! The next morning we flew in a couple little planes from a small airport in Flores to Guatemala City.
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