Ancient Ruins and Howler Monkeys

  Tikal National Park, Guatemala
Wednesday, November 7, 2007

          I sit outside my room at the Jungle Lodge, one of three hotels located inside of Tikal National Park. It's aptly named: in front of me lining the balcony stand towering flowers, and spindly howler monkeys deftly leap from branch to branch in the treetops above.

View outside our room

They are quiet right now, unlike earlier, when we learned where the howler monkeys got their names! You can click to hear a recording of their howls (which sound more like growls to me).

Howler Monkeys

               
          We saw our first howler monkey next to the Grand Plaza, a beautiful grassy square of land surrounded by ancient temples. The first temples at Tikal were constructed in something like 700 B.C. Back in its day, it was the center of an enormous city, home to about 100,000 people. (Of course, only the upper class got the coveted homes near the city center; most people lived a few kilometers outside.) 

View from the Grand Plaza

There was no jungle then; in fact, on a clear day, you could see Temple IV, the highest temple at Tikal, from the temples at El Mirador, some 88 kilometers away. Today, it's about a 30 minute walk through secondary rainforest from the park entrance to the Grand Plaza. I wondered if New York City might look like this, a thousand years from now.    
    
          It's quite idyllic here, really - 70s and sunny, not too humid, parrots and toucans and wild turkeys hopping from tree to tree. There's no electricity; the hotel runs a generator during certain hours, but nighttime brings only stars and the chorus of night animals -- no TV or radio or noisy air conditioners. It's my ideal habitat, and, were I savvy enough to live off the forest, I think I could be quite happy living here!

          This morning we watched the sunrise from the heights of Temple IV.

Sunrise from Temple 4

 Getting up at 4:30 am for a 40-minute hike through the jungle wasn't Nelson's first choice of activity, but like a true gentleman he agreed to accompany me. Needless to say, he didn't regret it! Although perhaps 30 others joined us on the temple steps, we sat in silent awe as we listened to the chorus of tropical birds salute the brilliant morning sun.         
   
          As an added bonus, the sunrise tour came with a Harvard-educated tour guide, who pointed out some interesting flora and fauna as well as explaining more about the archaeological significance of the park. Check out the aptly-named "peanut head" below!

Peanut Head