Day 14 June 5
Last Day in Tikal




Upon returning from Uaxactún, we heated a quick dinner on Roberto's portable gas stove. The dry sausage, bread, biscuits, jelly, and instant soup that we had brought all the way from Guatemala City were a royal feast in that remote area. We had been rightly forewarned that the culinary arts in the Petén had vanished with the fall of Maya civilization. Our simple fare was not only palatable, it also helped our budgets recover from the hundred-dollar airfares we coughed up to get there. (There was a restaurant a few miles from the ruins that served an inexpensive, atrocious cuisine. The Honduran waitress and the tough-talking ladino regulars who derisively called us canches (blonds)-- which we were not-- made the place even more surreal.)

The infamous Guatemalan moth, as big as a large sparrow, had come out in huge numbers to rest on the lamppost in the background. I often feared that a particularly clumsy specimen would bump against my face. On our return trip, one of these insects actually hit the windshield of our jeep. (Thud! Ouch!)




Here is a portion of that lamppost in the background, scanned to about 3000 dots per inch and enhanced by a digital photo editor (thank you 1999 technology!). Do you see the outline of that chunky little creature?

This moth is known to sometimes lay its tiny eggs on the skin of unsuspecting animals, e.g., sleeping tourists. The eggs hatch and the larvae burrow underneath the skin, eating and putrefying the surrounding flesh. If left untreated, the result can be a prolonged tour of the Guatemalan health care system.




Unfortunately, none of my pictures of our jungle lodging developed well enough. However, here is a picture of a similar hut I stayed in a year later (at Palenque, Mexico). The only difference is that we had and absolutely needed mosquito nets in Tikal. The wilderness in Palenque was an amusement park compared to this.

Each night, a few insects would somehow get into our nets. On our first night, we crawled under our nets and then turned on the flashlight. Madjid let out a scream and jumped out. I shrugged, and spent the night with two spiders and a few smaller insects close by, inside my net. Anyway, the real enemies were outside. I knew that the mosquitoes of the Petén were out for blood, but thanks to my net, their incessant buzzing actually lullabied me to a good sleep each night.




In the morning, the photographer is photographed.





Early mornings at Tikal were surprisingly cool, even during summer (when we visited). Blankets were not part of our preparations, but I wrapped myself with a towel for a similar effect. In crazy contrast, the late mornings and afternoons were episodes in a steam bath. Tikal's location in the interior of the country probably accounts for this "continental" effect.

After around 9 AM, the temperature would quickly rise. To cool off, we took showers at a nearby communal bathroom that also doubled as a laundry. Lacking the latest in washing machine technology, we simply soaked our clothes in a water and body soap solution, then left them on the grass to dry.

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Into Guatemala 1989. © 1999 J. L. Pe