Adventures in Tikal with Brazilian diplomats

Sabado. sabado sabado. hoy es sabado 10 de enero 2004. And what a lovely day in enero is it. Which I´m sure you can figure out to be January. So I am getting pecked by mosquitos, I think. I don´t see them but I feel something pesky. I am in the historic city of Flores, once known as Taysal. Some of the ancient Mayans lived here and in Tikal which is nearby and very impressive. It´s around an hour from here.

I managed to link on to a tour with a Brazilian diplomat named Marcio to not get lost and learn more about the monuments. Some of the pyramids were around 67 meters tall. Apparently they used burnt tree ashes to make the rocks stick together. That is definitely a LOT of trees.


slashes from chicleros. The sap is used to make chicle, or chewing gum. 

The guide also mentioned that self-sacrifices took place by letting a little blood be let on the tongue or the genitals. Sacrifices took place often to please the gods by causing wars and conquering other people and then taking prisoners. The Mayan new year is the 21st of March, the spring equinox. Coincidentally it is also the Persian new year. The Mayan calendar is possibly one of the most complex and I would love to learn more about it. Apparently the calender ends on the winter solstice of 2012. Most of it is read and then some parts are interpreted. The mini shuttle on the way back broke down and some of the Italians on board got out and pushed. There are a lot of speed bumps on the road.

So we saw a strange animal whose name I can´t remember but looks like something between a opossum and a raccoon . We also saw spider monkeys, peacocks, some other birds and another type of monkey in addition to some freakish nasty ants and bats. It started raining after we reached the main concourse where there are several high pyramids which apparently were the way the Mayans told time. It was strange. It was so warm and humid the rain was a welcome guest slightly refreshing us.

On that main concourse was where they had the market. About 90,000 people lived there at one time. Mayan ball games consisted allegedly in playing with a human head and the two players playing for the death of the other in a sacrifice. But not people from the city, conquered peoples.
Tikal, main concourse