the entrance to tikal is cool — it clearly distinguishes that you are entering a special place. the guard at the front gate gives you a small receipt with the time on it…and then you drive another 20 min @ 30mph…after which they check the time (to make sure you didn’t speed) and then you park, pay admission, etc. All along the drive up here, they also have signs about every 100m saying watch out for animals and yellow hazard signs with pictures of monkeys, snakes, turkeys, etc. it’s a good (and subtle) way to get you hyped up for tikal.
tikal itself is quite large, with tons of ruins throughout the park. unfortunately, because of the climate/trees, most of the ruins are….well….ruined. most of the large temples/pyramids have been rebuilt. although it’s impressive, i was in more awe of the mayan ruins in mexico’s yucatan.
one very cool thing here, is that there are birds, monkeys and other animals which can be easily seen. at one point, with monkeys overhead, i inquired what kind of fruit the monkey’s were dropping all around us. turns out it wasn’t fruit…and i quickly departed.
per alexis’ recommendation, i then rented a hammock, and slept in tikal. the hammock is pretty awesome, and probably one of the best deals in tikal — $8 US for a hammock, moquito net and really clean bathrooms. you get to hear/see all sorts of animas at night…from fireflies to monkeys.