Guatemala - 2011

Day 11 - July 22 - Rest in El Mirador

Here are spider monkeys. They are the quieter and more curious of the two species. The other one is the howler monkeys which come by on occasion (twice at 5 am). The howlers are REALLY loud, but very secretive. You never see them. The spider monkeys are playful and will even seem to be threatening or imitating us.

No idea what this little bird is. Only saw them the first day.

Rudy taking care of Kevin's blisters with a fishing hook.

Then he puts some sap from a plant to help the healing.

They constantly are showing us plants that are edible or useful for medicine. One leaf has a spicy smell from which she brewed a delicious tea. It was the same flavor as the one at the Incan restaurant in Antigua.

This is Francisco. He works for CONAP (conservation organi He speaks English well and we enjoyed his company and information about the state of conservation here in Guatemala. Of course he is frustrated with the bureaucrats in the government. He also is under constant pressure from the locals that want to hunt and forest the jungle. He has been treatened often. When he learned Kevin and I were science people he told one of the guards to allow us up the pyramid to stargaze, an unusual allowance and treat.

Maria making tortillas.

Here is Elder, one of the guards. He is going to accompany us up the pyramid tonight. Also interesting that he, like a few others do not drink alcohol, so many of the gifts we brought are useless to him. I ended up giving him a package of trail mix.

Notice the rain collection aparatus behind him.

This part is a filter for leaves and twigs. The shower water is not filtered again, only the drinking water, which is filtered with thru a ceramic filter.

An pavo (turkey) egg.

Sponsors. Notice Walmart Central America.

Click for larger view.

Toby, Maria, and I left Kevin behind and did some exploring. Believe it or not, but we only got one rain storm and it was here at El Mirador.

Click for larger view. This is "The Claw of the Jaguar", the name of a king or lineage. It is a name of great power. The claw was portrayed by grey, white and red paints that looked like a scratch marks of a claw.

Maria began reading the information to me, but I stopped here because I can read it well. Instead I translated it for Toby. I was happy to be able to speak it in English at the exact time I saw it in Spanish.

Notice the small cut out spot at the middle right. This smooth white stone is a protective covering and shows what it might have looked like. Thru the cut out you can see the original stone.

Notice the elaborate and expensive covering. This is the only such roof at El Mirador, since this is the most complete excavation we saw.

Another Pavo (turkey). You can just make out the claw on the back of the foot, which they use for fighting or to defend themselves. Kevin said they are very dangerous. How does he know? Kevin and his family lived and worked at one of the inns at Tikal for a year when Toby was a baby. I am starting to learn amazing things about this man.

Click for larger view. El Tigre (the tiger) is one of the three large pyriamid structures here at El Mirador and the closest to our camp. Notice that the there is an initial set of stairs to a plaza, of sorts, then another longer ascent to the top where there is a triad of pyramids, which the largest in the center. This style is special here at El Mirador and shows great architectural prowess and power. In the large view the bottom left corner shows just how large this pyramid is compared with those at Tikal.

The first ascent to the flat base.

The triad. Here you can see two of them.

The very top. In the distance you can see La Danta, the largest of the three pyramid structures.

A foot long millipede.

A chuchara. They are varied in color and harmless, except for their sound. There noise sweeps over the jungle and ends up in a deafening unison that actually drowns out conversation. Sometimes you pick one of these up and they aren't dead yet and will fly off from your hand.

When we get back we find King Kevin still in his hammock. Rudy has thrown some plastic over him. Only problem is a few small holes above his belly. Toby and my hammock were moved to the closest cabana, which is now free.

Kevin and Toby took to their hammocks quickly. It took me a while to figure them out. These hammocks are a bit different than the ones I loved in Venezuela, which were looser in the middle than at the edges, so you were cupped. The edges of these allow my head to fall to the side. I have to work pretty hard to be comfortable.