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Welcome to my travel log! You will find here a lot more than in the travel reports, stripped from political correctness. Enjoy! 
Nov 30, 2002 07:00 PM Namibia - Windhoek, big cats!
In the morning, I wanted to do some shopping as I took only very limited baggage of toiletries and t-shirts. So, after having taken shower with a shampoo only, I made my way to the city centre. Only then, I realised that civilisation in Namibia is definitely written with a very big 'C'. First of all, shops were open on Sunday and I could easily find all shops of the world. I bought everything I wanted with absolutely no problem. Fantastic!
In the afternoon, I went on a game drive to see big cats and other animals, if lucky. The trip was going via private game reserves on gravel roads. It was very interesting and unexpected, I guess, to see that there were a number of gates on the way that had to be opened to pass through and then closed right behind. I suddenly realised that I was in a country, where wild animals are actually on the loose. Well, not literally in the streets, but free to go almost everywhere they can.
The scenery was quite African: a lot of bush and short trees, dark red sand and tall yellow grass. It does not help to spot the animals. Fortunately, the guide who travels with you should be trained or experienced enough to spot the warthog from a mile behind a bush. Well, then it had an impact on me, probably because that was my first trip to the African bush.
That was also the trip that made me feel too convinced that buying a digital camera was a bloody good idea. I managed to shoot more than a hundred of pictures without having to worry about changing the film or anything like that. Plus it was possible to see the effect straight away, so I could adjust the settings or the exposure whilst still on the scene. That was brilliant, however compared with the close encounter with the wild cats, it was nothing.
It was amazing to be able to see cheetah's teeth. Not only cheetah's, but also leopard's and lion's. It was an excellent trip. That was definitely the first time that I saw leopards, cheetahs, lions, springboks, warthogs, white rhinoceros (only from a distance though) and red hartebeest in the wild.
The lions were overwhelming, or better yet, very close. I was so excited with taking all the pictures that the guide had to keep his hand on my shoulder just in case I had to be pulled back. He said: 'I will be observing the animals all the time and if I see anything changing in the pattern of their behaviour, I will pull you back'.
No idea whether it was necessary, but I have to admit I was doubleplusexcited by the vicinity of a young male lion, that was staring at me all the time while I was taking shot after shot. He could have simply jumped at me and grabbed my head or arm.
I did not necessarily realise how tricky it was. Not while I was there. It was only when I saw people's reaction to the pictures who said: 'Were you really this close?'; 'Shit, you can even see scratches on its nose from fighting with other lions' or 'Oh my, look at his eyes!'. Well, I have to say that the pictures of this magnificent cat are definitely some of my favourites. That was the only time when I switched my camera from a normal quality to high quality six mega pixels. Almost like I was anticipating that these photos would be quite good. Hmm...
An excellent safari lodge and a hotel was the last stop where there was a waterhole. At that waterhole, soon after sunset a show started. Several species of animals came to have a drink. The best ones are red hartebeest, which had to knee down to reach for the water and they did do so very nicely, I mean gracefully although being constantly alert just in case they had to stand up quickly if needed.
That was interesting to see, because there were no predators in this part of the country, and people were hunting them, so these hartebeest had nothing to worry about.
It was very exciting to observe the animals come to have a drink and other species having to wait their turn in some sort of a queue. I have never seen anything like that in my life. Naturally, I wanted to maintain this memory by taking some pictures but it was difficult as the light was very weak not to disturb the animals plus I didn't take my newly acquired tripod.
Nevertheless, I took a few shots and spent about couple of hours there sharking for a better shot. It was a definite waste of effort as none of the shots are actually worth printing or even putting in this story. They are nice and illustrate the ambiance of the moment; this is what people who actually were there with me said, but I would like to be a more critical, though. Or self-critical, to be exact. They only saw the pictures on the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen of my camera and did not realise that the pictures came out blurred and simply too dark. Well, I got over it.
The lodge was very nice with very comfortable bar (remember the view on the waterhole) full of cold drinks and apparently an excellent restaurant serving bush food, and in particular, game meat. The furniture was African, but of top quality.
At the site, I met two English guys. They were potato farmers from Essex, to be exact again. Ben and George, very funny and witty guys. They were teasing one another all the time or rather George taking a Mickey out of Ben.
Although it may not have looked like from a distance, it actually worked fine, but I was under impression that he might have been taking a piss at me, particularly when he was talking about big ears and uneven teeth.
Never mind, I had a great time and did not leave any impression that I was suspecting anything.
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Nov 29, 2002 07:00 PM Namibia - Windhoek, just arrived
Windhoek, at the first glance, appeared civilised, excluding the airport. The roads were in an excellent condition so the minibus taxi could speed up to ensure all passengers got delivered to all desired destinations of theirs.
Cardboard Box Backpackers looked extremely good and welcoming. People were super friendly and there was a pool. Uh oh, and an excellent bar! These were the second group of reasons why I decided to stay there instead of a hotel downtown. In the hotel, I would only have a chance to sit in the bar and talk to prostitutes. At the backpackers, the bar was excellent, the service attractive and people normal with similar interests travelling the world and take pictures. Then, I decided that whenever possible, I should be staying at backpacker places, so I could meet interesting people.
The first set of reasons, or just a simple, single reason was that I wanted to be close to the travel shop just in case something turned out, and I could eventually start exploring Namibia. That was important, as I could not confirm my new itinerary until Monday, i.e. two days away.
Since I did not book a private room, I had an option to stay in a dorm with seven beds. Well, it did not matter too much to me and the other sleepers in my room were four girls. They have been travelling a lot and one of them was working for United Nations on a project or something. These girls were very into backpacking and it did not matter to them that I was there. They did not even leave the room when they wanted to change their blouses, or bras for that matter. It did not disturb me at all and I definitely did not mind. They must have been used to that. I was not, I have to admit, and this might be why I was so excited.
It was Saturday early afternoon. People have just got up from their beds. The swimming pool started to get filled with travellers from around the world. I managed to organise myself one-day trip outside the city to see some animals. Plus I met a local who promised to take me out on my first night in Namibia. Until then I was studying carefully the travel guides I took with me and thinking very hard whether I should be going to Victoria Falls or not.
Going to Victoria Falls was, unfortunately associated with several complications. I had a single entry visa to Namibia only and needed to re-enter the country at least once more. I would have to apply for a special visa somewhere in Windhoek and I did not have time to waste. Not really. It all was making me unhappy with the High Commission of Namibia in London who said that it would be no problem to get a multiple entry visa at the port of entry. It was not.
The other complication was the travel methods and the proximity of the eclipse. I could eventually fly to Victoria Falls from Windhoek some other day, some other week, but the cost was too high compared with the time it takes to fly there. The choice to make was: total eclipse of Sun or Victoria Falls. It was an easy choice. I obviously chose the eclipse. I only had to think twice. Usually, with choices like that I had to take time to think at least three or four times...
I started the Saturday night out with a dinner I ate on my own – in a very good restaurant, though. The girls from my dorm suggested the venue but would not join me due to the cost. That was actually one of the best meals I had in Namibia.
The restaurant actually serves dishes in the pots they are prepared or cooked, with exception to soup, served in a big soup vase, and rice – served in a rice bowl. Fascinating!
It was not cheap but I was finally happy to eat something that was a lot different from a plastic airplane meal. Last two days I was shoving up mass production food at the airport lounges and on airplanes (except on the flight from Munich to Johannesburg, when I was sleeping). I so much enjoyed my dinner that I was late for my appointment with a local named Lips (although I am not entirely sure about the spelling) who was more eager to show me the nightlife than I had energy to fully appreciate it.
Lips took me, and another soul hanging around the Cardboard Box named Bobo, to a very hip and expatriate packed place called 'Jass' and pronounced simply jazz. It was very pleasant and hippy. Oh, and we also picked a girlfriend of Bobo’s. At least Bobo claimed that she was his girlfriend. Lips was not exactly impressed with him and, like me, thought she was a prostitute. She turned out to be sensitive about cigar smoke at the Jass and we had to move to sit outside, which was even better for me. I do not like tobacco either.
It was interesting to see how unimpressed Lips was about the girl and then picking up a transvestite later on. I was utterly unimpressed putting it very gently. I certainly feared that he would collect even more of such dodgy characters on the way, but fortunately that was it. Bobo mentioned that life must be very hard for this transvestite in Namibia since the society does not approve them. Furthermore, he/she was white, which might have been perceived as a provocation rather than choice of a lifestyle.
Thank God, we afterwards went to a very good club called 'Palm Grove' which was loud and busy with locals. I absolutely had enough of this weird company and decided to call it a night at about 2 am.
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Nov 28, 2002 07:00 PM Namibia - plans corrected, flying out
On Friday morning, I contacted the Cardboard Box Travel Shop in Windhoek and asked if there was anything available for me last minute. There was nothing I wanted or found on the Internet, but they told me that I should just make my way up to them and we would sort things out whilst I was already there. I presented them my many different options and it was easier to talk through them in person. So, I ordered the taxi to the airport and my trip began in earnest.
I packed as little as possible into my brand new rucksack so that it should pass as a hand luggage.
There are two main reasons for doing that. One – I really cannot afford, or rather do not want, a stress of a lost bag right on my way to a holiday. Two – I did not trust the airline, which happily claimed that the bag would be automatically transferred to the port of destination. Last time I was travelling via Johannesburg, I had to collect all my bags, cross the border and re-check in. This is a waste of time and a great inconvenience. I did not want to cross the border with South Africa and I did not have a transfer visa.
At London Heathrow, I just checked in to Munich, as I was hoping for an upgrade from Munich to Johannesburg, and therefore needed to speak to the Lufthansa personnel flashing my gold Star Alliance card right at their faces.
When I got to Munich, I found out that there was nothing available for an upgrade without a voucher. A voucher that I forgot to take from home!! Well, I was happy that the increase in the adrenaline levels never fail me.
At least, I had access to the first class lounge or the Senator Lounge on the airport, where I could kill time waiting for my Johannesburg flight in a more civilised way. That is what I thought at the time.
Seating in the Senator Lounge was very boring, I have to admit. The lounge was small, not very nice and dirty! I expected a lot more from Lufthansa!! Plus, that was the first class/gold cardholders lounge, which should offer higher standard to a regular business class lounge.
I truly did not enjoy staying there, except of the fact that they served Franzischkaner heffe weizen beer. Of course, being in the lounge was a lot better that hanging around the airport or sitting on plastic, sticky and filthy main corridor seats.
However, I have been loyal to the Star Alliance airlines for more than three years and I have earned enough of club points to be holding double gold card, so I would like to expect some service. It was not exactly the beginning of my holiday, which I imagined. I cheered up after a little while.
Although I could not get the upgrade, somehow the guy, who was checking me in, assigned me not just a seat, but also an entire row. I could therefore stretch a bit, actually almost completely on three seats. I remember this had happened a year previously also, when I was flying to Madagascar, also via Johannesburg. Then, it was with South African Airways.
Well, it definitely makes a difference to be able to stretch across three seats, given that the flight is more than ten hours long. I could not help noticing people's envy looks. No wonder – they were cramped between them seats with two inches room for manoeuvre!
I refused to eat on the plane. I just had some water and a glass of red wine right at the start. Then, to piss absolutely everyone off, I stretched across my row and went kipping. Luckily, there were only few bumps, first one just above Tripoli and then two or three around the equator, so I could snooze almost during the entire flight.
At the Johannesburg International Airport, they introduced international transfer centre, so I did not have to go through passport or customs controls, which was exactly what I wanted to avoid even before leaving my London flat. The transfer process was quite speedy as I was already in Munich checked in for my next flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek, and in no time, I found myself in the Baobab lounge of the South African Airways sipping black (like Africa) coffee and graffitoeing this note on my funky Palm Pilot (trademark TM, of course)!
I knew this lounge. I used it in 2001. Then, they would not let me in either, despite my Star Alliance golden membership! However, I grinned a lot (not sure, if my straight from red-eye and unbrushed teeth helped – although this exactly could have been the trick) and used my charm whilst claiming that bmi british midland told me that I could use the South African Airways lounge. It was already working, but when I said that I may never come back (my philosophy of visiting places only once) and promised to send a postcard – I was in!
At the airport, I made some 'shit-I-forgot-to-take-it' shopping. I bought a small and extremely light rain jacket, and swim trunks. I was ever so happy with the rain jacket. I have never seen such a light jacket in my life before and I could fold it almost to a size of a matchbox!
The flight from Johannesburg was quick and professional. No wonder, it was South African Airways. At least from them one should expect some level of service.
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Nov 27, 2002 07:00 PM Namibia - Almost left, but had to change plans dramatically
Even before the actual trip, it already turned to be an adventurous holiday. Approximately twelve hours before my flight out, I realised that my driving license had expired five months ago. My entire plan for the holiday crashed, or actually was thoroughly torn off by my own hands!
Words cannot begin to express how annoyed I was then, and how many negative thoughts went through my mind at that time, and something tells me that it would be somewhat inappropriate to quote any of them in here.
I had spent weeks and weeks to come up with an optimal itinerary; choosing best routes, studying four different guidebooks. Then, of course, was all the trouble to find appropriate accommodation and book it. I was very proud of my plan and I had all nights booked, even for those impossible to book places. Still, on Thursday night it all ended in a bin, very promptly.
Well, actually, before deciding to thoroughly murder my itinerary, I speculated for about an hour how to cheat the Namibian office of Avis with my invalid driving licence.
The expiry date on my license was 8 May 2002 yet I was able to rent a car with Avis in September 2002. No-one, including me, noticed that I should no longer drive a car. Naturally, my first thought was that it should not be this difficult to convince Avis that my driving license was absolutely fine.
Something however was telling me that it could be a crime and I could be jailed for driving illegally if/when stopped by the Namibian police, and possibly deported.
So, because my plan was screwed up already, I thought that reducing the length of the holiday was not the best idea. I therefore rushed towards my computer, opened the Internet and browsed through my favourites. I did use the suggested websites by Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and Hilary Bradt as the first hits.
There were a few options available that I considered interesting enough. They were not ideal, I thought and I was still very pissed off with myself, but I decided to give them a try.
After analysing what the websites offered, I had to draft a new holiday plan, which took me just about an hour. It had a few options this time round, as I had to assume that the travel agencies in Namibia would be able to accommodate me.
As Namibia is only two hours ahead of GMT, telephone confirmations had to wait until the morning. What I managed to that night however, was to secure a place in a bus, which was to take me to the Solar Eclipse area within the Caprivi Strip in the northern Namibia. I managed to pay for it as well. God bless the Internet!
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Jan 07, 2002 07:00 PM Costa Rica - Jaco, last day
The beach itself is rather quiet, not too many people. Well, it is not deserted and few locals will accompany them tourists, but it definitely does not resemble any of some shoulder-to-shoulder beach resorts.
It is common knowledge that the town is a laid back place offering waves, fun and sun. It is well controlled by the police and is considered safe. I must say that I have not seen any incidents and, maybe because I decided to stay in one of the most expensive hotels around, I felt relieved after having to be cautious all the time for almost three weeks seeing armed people everywhere, hearing gun shots and being advised by the local police forces not to attempt to explore certain areas…
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Jan 06, 2002 07:00 PM Costa Rica - Jaco, day two
The people mix in Jacó is great – the average age is about 22.5 years and it is only because the older owners of the bars and restaurants make it so high. Well, if one is not prepared to compare their own body with the ‘Baywatch’ figures then weak minded ones may fall into nasty complexes. People are fit or very fit and they ride on any kind of wave, regardless what weather.
They drink a lot as well. They are a great laugh and some of the girls would definitely fall for a more responsible guy than a crazy surfer, make sure tough (if you’re not black) that you at least manage to turn into a healthier colour before hand.
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Jan 05, 2002 07:00 PM Costa Rica - Jaco
This beach is quite large and quite nice. It is also a popular place among the local people (Ticos) but enormously popular among the surfers. They are everywhere and it makes this beach a good party spot. There are a few discothèques, plenty of bars and good restaurants. Some of them are really very good – I could definitely recommend the very friendly restaurant La Ostra (The Oyster – absolutely no connection with the American comedy film ‘Police Academy’) that serves fantastic lobster.
I cannot recommend anything else, because I did not let myself trying anything but the lobster. My favourite style (everyone can choose their own style how the lobster should be prepared) was ‘grilled with garlic and vegetables’ – what a combination!!
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Jan 04, 2002 07:00 PM Guatemala - Guatemala City (Ciudad Guatemala)
The capital of Guatemala was the spot where I celebrated my significant birthday.
It is a big city but it isn’t as ugly as some people say. It has few very beautiful palaces and old buildings from the colonial times. There are some ugly architectural mistakes but that’s alright. All big cities have them.
The 5th January was party time. The guidebook that Lonely Planet issued is very weak as far as the nightlife descriptions are concerned. The only solution was to go to the centre and then sniff the party.
That was Saturday so it should not be too difficult, I thought. Well, it was not that easy, though. The central part of the city is a dodgy area. Prostitutes, transvestites, strange looking characters…
Las Cien Puertas was the bar where my birthday party kicked off. Well, it actually kicked off with a can of beer at the hotel with the receptionist and her daughter but it could not count, as there was very little action – because of the mother.
The name Las Cien Puertas means Hundred Doors. The bar is located in a little yard between two buildings. On the side of both of the buildings are doors. Multicoloured, from the ground floor to the top floor of the buildings! Fifty on each of the buildings. Hence the name of the bar.
It is very trendy and pictures of various revolutionaries decorate the walls, like Ché from Cuba. In fact, they make very good mojito over there. Highly recommended!
Music was however the best. It was live. Four guys. Two of them quite overweight, one black and one Maya. They played incredibly good. I nearly bought their CD. After having downed five mojitos, as it happens, the band stopped playing and it was the time to change the venue.
The challenge was to find something new in this spooky area. Fortunately, it was not that difficult. The other bar was massive. It must have been a warehouse before, or something, because the main hall was about 20 meters (65.6 ft) high. Again, there were posters on the walls. This time, they were film posters, which were making the place look like a gallery. At the far end of the main hall, there was a stage and a band was performing. The interesting thing about this venue was that everyone seemed to know everyone. There must have been approximately 300 people and upon departure, they were all hugging one another good night.
There was also a third place. Small one. Very trendy though. Painted in red. I was confused at the beginning because it looked that there were more barmen than guests. Seven men were sitting at the bear and all of them were serving plus there were three others wandering around serving every now and again. They closed at 3am, I think. It was a good night. The very next morning I was flying away from Guatemala to Costa Rica, to spend three days relaxing on the Jaco Beach.
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Jan 03, 2002 07:00 PM Guatemala - Coban, Chichicastenango, Lago Atitlan
Cobán
We stopped in Cobán as the hour was approaching midnight and driving was becoming tiring and less fun.
The morning showed the magnetism of the scenery. The Central Highlands of Guatemala hide pretty little villages, whose inhabitants have a lot of time and no efficient public transport.
So, on that day, the 4th January 2002, a new bus called Chevy Tomek Krisek S-10 Pickup appeared and started picking up many hitch-hikers, who were very happy. They just hopped in the rather dirty pickup and hopped where they needed to get out.
We must have picked up a dozen of market goers and workers, who were building the roads. All of them offered to pay for the ride but we naturally refused to accept anything. We were going in the same direction, so no fee was necessary. That was making the villagers even happier, which made us feel so good about ourselves. Well, we were not doing it for money, any way.
Chichicastenango is one of the most important market towns in central Guatemala. People from the entire region often travel whole night to get to Chichi to trade. The largest market is on Thursdays and Sundays.
It is not as nice as guidebooks describe it, but it is charming enough with its white little churches, colourful market and people dressed in traditional Maya clothes.
It is so cool to sit in a café on the market square and sip the local beer called Gallo watching people passing buy. Listening to the bargaining of the marketgoers and the traders.
Then I thought that holiday is bliss. Life should really be constructed this way that 80% of the time should be holiday and 10% working (only just to make even more friends) and 10% retirement. The retirement is necessary to tell the grand children about all the travel and tell them how educating it is.
One needs to be careful in Chichicastenango. Not very long after you put your foot on the market, there maybe ‘official guides’ inviting you to visit the Maya ceremonial stone site. It is supposed to be authentic, but is a tourist trap and not worth the trip, not really.
Panajachel – Lago Atitlán
The national park designed to protect the lake Atitlán was a good idea. The spot is magnificent, like from a science fiction film, not from this planet. Right on the lake, there are three massive volcanoes. Perfect cones, one by another – see the picture on the next page.
I had to express several times how proud of myself I was that I came up with the idea to come at the lake for the sunset.
The view was rather breathtaking. The colour of the sky that was still very blue and it contrasted with various shades of grey, which was the paint of the clouds. Then the horizon was getting red-ish as the sun was declining and the volcanoes reflection in the lake’s waters collected quite a number of spectators on the shore.
All that made me want fish for dinner. Panajachel is at the lake, it is a cute little town, but just too touristy. Well, one would hope that for at least that reason it would be packed with fish restaurants. It isn’t. It took quite an effort to find this fish for dinner, as the streets packed with tacky craft stands were increasing the temptation – should I buy more souvenirs. Maybe a pullover… the problem with Maya is not only that they did not know the wheel but also that they still have not come up with the idea of making a good quality pullovers. You know, pullovers full of the colours they are using making all these bed covers and blankets.
I eventually had a fish in a hotel restaurant. It was a sea bass, which was rather overpriced.
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Jan 02, 2002 07:00 PM Guatemala - Uaxactun, Tikal, Flores, Santa Elena
A special permit from the security agency is required to go to Uaxactún. It is easy to obtain, though and I was very happy to have decided to do that. The mud road from Tikal to Uaxactún is adventurous and a 4WD is vital. The jungle is quite dense there and the rain can make the trip challenging. Good!
The village of Uaxactún is located along the disused airfield, which is now used by horses and pigs as a main vending area, chill-out zone and restrooms. Boys from the village recognise it as a football pitch. So, I guess the expression ‘disused’ airfield is very inappropriate!
Although Uaxactún is on the list of one of the main attractions of Guatemala and takes at least one page on the tourist agencies’ brochures, it is not a subject to mass tourism. As a consequence, children from the village are very curious and stare at any exotic stranger. They are not afraid, though. Nothing stopped them to climb the beautiful black Chevy S-10 Pickup and play there. In fact, there were two vehicles in the village – an old Mazda mini bus and our Budget’s Chevrolet.
The Maya ruins are well hid in the jungle and a small trek from the village is necessary to get to them. Despite the fact that people seemed very friendly and calm in the village, the area is not considered completely safe. I definitely did not feel comfortable there and various horror stories ran through my very imaginative mind. Having read all these warning messages before even setting out from London, seen armed people in Nicaragua and Honduras and heard gun shots in El Salvador and having promised my friends to be careful I had an increased difficulty to let myself go and relax completely. And it was getting dark…
The ruins are very mysterious. Deep in the jungle and unexcavated. There are only very few pyramids that were dug out but majority is still uncovered and trees grow on them. One of the pyramids, and the only one completely excavated (on the picture on previous page) dates back to B.C. 2000. That makes it one of the oldest pyramids on this planet, built only 530 years after the Cheops’s Great Pyramid in Giza.
Tikal
Maya’s Manhattan Tikal is called but I can guarantee that it makes a more gigantic impression!
Not only are the surroundings better - there is a lot less crowd and the tranquillity of the place is overwhelming. I could not quite believe that! The best time to visit the ruins is the sunrise, or even just before sunrise. When leaving so early, there are two points to consider though:
A/ It is still dark and there is no chance to take good pictures (most people usually take their cameras there so they should know) but a great chance to see the monuments in a morning mist and spot few pizotes, small funny animals with long tails like lemurs;
B/ It is not easy to find your way in the jungle and not completely safe, however safety record has been continually improving after numerous terrifying tourists’ stories had been published and brought to government’s attention. 
We decided to try anyway and got up at 5.30 am, took an extremely hot shower trying to lit the bathroom with a candle and a torch and… forgot to take the tickets. Actually did not forget, but rather did not consider it necessary to take them as we have already been on the National Park’s territory. Had to turn back to the car to collect the tickets and lost approximately 15 minutes, which at that time was a lot.
Then, we lost our way to the Great Plaza, well almost. The plan was to follow the main route rather than some sort of a ‘shortcut’. Nevertheless, it was fun to almost crawl between palm and fern trees. It definitely was fun to discover the first giant temple so all over sudden behind the bushes!
Even though I had no idea, where I was, it felt good. It was at the back of the Great Plaza, behind the Templo I, by the way.
Few tourists were already there, sitting high up on the Templo II, even though it was still before 7 o’clock in the morning. What a disappointment – they must have known to take their tickets with them and did not lose their way, I guess. There were sitting there and smoke cigarettes – how disgusting!
The high point though was that several pizotes wandered around hoping to grab something to munch from what the tourists would not manage to gobble for breakfast.
Again, it was wicked to climb the temples and look at things from the top. There are so many of them and not all of them are fully excavated! The work is still being done.
The area is of a considerable size and it took until 1pm to walk around everything without stopping too often or for too long for a contemplation. So, almost seven hours! It definitely does not feel like it, as everything is so exciting and climbing from one temple to another, on this pyramid, on this house, that house takes time!
One view, from the top of the pyramid in the El Mundo Perdido (Lost World) stroke me. That was the picture that George Lucas used for his first Star Wars film, Episode IV – A New Hope! I am not saying that I immediately remembered. I knew that the sight was familiar, but only now when I am watching the film on the Sky Premier Widescreen TV channel for the
‘I-don’t-even-rememberth’ time.
It shows the two temples of the Great Plaza from the distance and the Templo III. It is not a completely exact shot like in the film and it was actually taken not from the pyramid but the Temple IV, because it is closer to the view George Lucas used.
The pyramid serves very often as a picnic spot (I had two plastic bags of cashew nuts and couple of sips of bottled water) or bird watching spot. It is amazing how many different species of parrots can fly one after another, from one tree to another within such a short time. It is very easy to spot them because they are not quiet birds.
Monkeys, however are a bit quieter but I still managed to see some around the Templo III, which is still under excavation. Excellent!!
Pissed off! This is exactly how I felt when saw that after having taken three rolls of very fast 800 film, I noticed that the sun started to come out exactly when we were leaving the park!
Blue sky with some white clouds would much contrast so much better with the grey walls of the temples and the green of the jungle making a fantastic composition on the photographs. Well, I did not go to Tikal to take photographs, but of course, due to the expensive passion towards photography it bothered me enormously. Well, I felt a lot better to see that the clear-out was only temporary and the nasty grey clouds covered the sun within minutes anyway. And it is quite normal for tropics, is it not?
Flores & Santa Elena
These are usually places where people tend to stay overnight before or after visiting Tikal. Santa Elena is not particularly nice and Flores is just too small. Disappointing. That’s the word.
It is definitely better to spend the night in Tikal but eating is far better in Flores. The restaurant in Tikal, the Jaguar Inn, was fine and the food was OK but not as good as in Flores – the Las Puertas restaurant. However, the service at Jaguar Inn was a lot better and prettier! The bar tenderess or tender-ass was gorgeous and had the most divine breasts, firm like she was spending too much time in the frozen food section in a supermarket or around the ice machine in fact. Very nice!
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