TIKAL!

 We flew on a small plane (a 24 seater, I think) to Flores, where we were picked up by a drive for an hour drive to the Tikal National Forest.  Our tour included dinner at the very nice lodge where we spent the night, enjoying the meal and the night sounds following.  Up at 3:30 a.m., grabbed a cup of coffee then walk for about an hour to the ruins.  Our guide pointed out a number of fun things in the dark along the way:  a small fox, large tree frog, termite hills.  Would have been swell to see a jaguar, but they are seldom seen.    
We walked up a wooden staircase to one of the temples to see the sunrise.  Listening to the jungle wake up was amazing.   The howler monkeys sounded like huge monsters of some sort, but they are just a normal size monkey.  I tried to video to capture the sounds but it didn't turn out too well.  Some temples can be seen through the foggy cloudy scene.

This is one of the major temples, not allowed to be climbed, but we roamed around with the guide, returning to the lodge about 9:00 for breakfast.  We then walked back on our own and did more exploring for awhile.

Masks were carved into the base of \ the temples. They have built thatched covers over many to preserve them.  There has been a lot of restoration and is still ongoing.

A termite nest spotted along the walk

And a beautiful wild turkey.











Resting in front of our room after a day of lots of climbing and walking.  Wonderful little trip!  Lots more photos and will post more later.  Internet connection is slow and others have better pictures.