YOLO in Tikal

 Before we left Belize, Sonny showed up in Belmopan.  He's our new friend from East Lansing, MI, a fellow Spartan, who is always helpful and fun.  He and Jason tackled the crooked bumper step on the back of our van, trying to straighten it out so it wouldn't break the tail light.  They pounded and cut the old broken bolts until it was almost level again.  

Then we found a welder who would reattatch the edge of the bumper again and reinforce the edges.  We'd ripped the steel edge off in Mexico crossing a river bed and had been lucky to find the piece.  We'd been carrying it along hoping for a fix and it was now time for it.

The guy couldn't weld until Jason disconnected the batteries or the current would mess up the electronics in the vehicle, so he had to wait while Jason took out the drivers seat to get to the batteries beneath.  Here Jason's holding a piece of damp cardboard as the protection for the paint.

Our bumper is as good as new again!

We passed this river crossing ferry just after our entry into Guatemala.  We didn't take this one, but it was interesting to see how many folks were waiting for it.  It woud allow vehicles, too.

The pretty green waters of the river were enough to make us stop for a photo.

We didn't stay in Flores before heading to Tikal.  We got a bit closer by staying at a park in El Remate on the shore of Lake Peten as well. 

We bought a case of the local Guatemalan beer, Gallo.

A hazy sunset over the lake at El Remate, our view from the van.

A bit of kapok fluff from the trees in the park.  The Ceiba tree, as it's known here was sacred to the Maya.  It has almost no leaves, just pods that create this fluff.  It used to be the stuff they put into life jackets.

A big mama sow came scrounging through the park after her piglets went running across the grounds.

A coatimundi along the road onteh way up to Tikal.

Just inside the Tikal National Park is this huge old ceiba tree, with air plants, or epiphytes covering its branches.

The top of one of the ruins at Tikal where you can still climb stairs to get near the top of the pyramids.

Tikal has the tallest structures ever built by the Mayans.

Karen overlooking one of the courtyards or plazas from a temple across the way.

Jason at the top of one of the ruins at Tikal.

An unusual zoomorph carving.

Lots of stone stellae and artifacts here in Tikal.

The rickety stairs led to another stairway that gave access to the top of a pyramid.

Jason at the top of the pyramid.  You can see the tops of several other pyramids in the background.  Tikal is a huge, spread out complex of buildings.

Jason taking a breather at the top.  This is as far up as you can go.

Looking up from the next level down.

Another massive tree on the grounds.

A partially uncovered ruin still sports the green growth.

A Mayan sacrificial site.

Inside a break in the wall of one of the ruins it looked like a carved head to me.

Part of the seven temples area.  By now Jason and I had lost each other and there was no way to know which way each other had gone.

An iconic structure at Tikal.

This irridescent turkey is also at home in Tikal.  The national dish here uses turkey legs to make it.

The coatimundis scavenge the parking area for trash from visitors.

You'll notice our YOLO sticker on the top left of the welcome sign at Tikal.

Back at El Remate, local high schoolers had set up a bunch of food stalls around the basketball court.  They were selling food as a fundraiser, we figured.  Later they performd some traditional dances in their traditional dresses.

We bought dinner from several of their stalls.

A marimba band played music until the building next door drowned them out with techno music for some fashion show

Jason and YOLO at El Remate.

Our tacos and empanadas for dinner.

Across the way, dump trucks dumped rock all evening long.  They are reclaiming the land from the lake to build more homes and businesses.

It always seems hazy here.

We tried the chubitos, as well.  Mostly dough with a tiny bit of chicken in therm.

Taco Bell gets a road sign here as we move into Flores.  Old meets new I guess.

Jason in front of a replica of a stone carving in Flores along the lake next to the causeway out to the island.

 Flores is actually on an island, connected by a causeway that didn't allow vehicles of our weight over it.  So we parked at a nearby sports facility and were joined by several 'chicken buses' who used the waters of Lake Peten to wash their vehicles.  They've taken school buses to a new level of art.

We walked across the causeway to the big letters on Flores.

Some of the roads and sidewalks are under water so you have to detour unless you are in a boat.

Thought this guy had a lot of character in his face.

The buildings on Flores are a rainbow of colors.

Even the hotels get fancy in their paint jobs.

I just loved the name of this place--The Idiot.

More flooded sidewalk and road

Notice the railings on the side of this hotel.  I believe they are teak branches.

Minions seem to have made it everywhere in the world.  This one is holding up a trash can on Flores.

Interesting flowers along the road here.

These guys were tossing tourists' luggage up onto the roof of the transport bus.

Homeless or sleeping it off?

I really like the way he advertises his fruit.  

This cow in the back of the truck has probably reached its final destination--the carniceria, the butcher/meat shop.

A tuk tuk full of pineapples for a streetside vendor to sell.

Another good example of a modern chicken bus. They are everywhere here!

We left Flores and headed south towards Rio Dulce, but only got as far as Poptun before finding a good place to spend the night in a sports complex parking field.  We took a back corner spot and once the swim meet traffic left, these dump trucks pulled in and parked facing the road.  They all had cartoon characters painted on the fronts of their dumpers.  Here they are belcing diesel as they all revved their engines.

A front headlight on a Ford dump truck sports a skull in the lens.