Belize Sunday, February 15, 2015

We were driven to the Belize/Guatemala border early in the morning by Andy. At the border he turned us over to Mariela, who was our Guatemalan driver and guide in Tikal. When we arrived at the park, she walked the park with us, giving us information along the way. Tikal is quite amazing. It is hard to imagine how splendid the city must have been. The highlight was climbing to the top of Temple IV. We could sit there and view the entire Tikal site, with the tops of temples and pyramids showing through the trees.

Temple II

Temple II

Temple I

The Plaza

View across Tikal from Temple IV

Mariela and Rick

Mariela, our Tikal guide

The Mayan Ceiba Tree

Jungle Lodge was our one night stay in Tikal. It was an amazing complex right just steps from the park entrance. The grounds were beautiful, with jungle plantings throughout. Our little casita 6A was so cute. The bathroom had a big skylight and was so bright and airy. They turn off the generators during the day and during the night in the park grounds.

Jungle Lodge is located right at the Tikal Park entrance.

Our beautiful little casita!

W
alkway to our casita

We were served dinner in the Jungle Lodge restaurant. Before dinner, we were playing cards in the lobby. We chatted with a couple from England who were playing Scrabble near us. Phillip, an English traveler who we had met earlier in the day, came into the lobby and we invited him, a solo traveler, to join us for dinner. He is a lawyer from London who is traveling in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. We really enjoyed chatting with him.

Our new friend, Phillip

We were really ready for a good night's sleep and appreciated that we did not have to rise early for anything the next day.