Tikal

Jade: We went on an overnight bus to get here and the bus had a bano (bathroom), curtains and chairs that go down like a bed. We were on the bus for 10 hours. We are in Tikal, Guatemala. There are great, great pyramids here and they are very old. They were made 2,000 years ago and they are still here. There are lot of vines, trees, birds, and moss.

Mady: The Maya were really good at building and they left their pyramids here and they were covered up with trees and plants.

Jade: We learned how there is a lost city and everyone in the lost city disappeared. We never knew what happened to them.

Mady: It is a lost city because it was forgotten about. I asked the tour guide and he said they don’t know for sure, but there was a drought so they had to move and the city disappeared. It was found again by hunters who came looking for animals to shoot for dinner and they found the lost city and there were trees and roots and grass all over it. They had to get knives to cut it all off, and they cleared it off so people could see it in Tikal.

Jade: We got a tour and there was a guide who told us all about Tikal City. He told us about the animals, what is here, and why the rainforest is so important to this place. The rainforest is called the ‘Lungs of the Earth’ because it makes the most oxygen.

Mady: The rainforest is important because it has so many plants, animals, fruit, trees, and vines. The air is humid and hot. On our walk, there was dew falling from the trees and it was misty and warm. I smelled fruit, dew, and animals. Walking we heard this great, big, loud howling. We thought it was a leopard, but it was a Howler Monkey! It was really loud. I never knew it could be so loud! Whenever they howl, people say the weather is going to change.

Jade: We climbed up two pyramids but the others were called off because the stairs might break.

Mady: I learned that when Kings die, they get buried with their stuff (like Jade stone necklaces). We heard lots of tweeting birds and we walked up these tall stairs; it was called the Double-Headed Serpent. We went up on top of the Temple and looked down. We were so high up it was foggy, we looked down on the jungle and the other temples.

Jade: On our tour, we heard toucans (they sounded like frogs), we saw hawks (Mady: I never knew they had hawks here), we also saw a parade of pizotes, they were very cute.

Mady: We also saw Howler Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, Parrots, and Ociallated Turkeys.

Mady: We have now left Tikal. We took three buses and 1 taxi to go through Belize and get to Mexico. We are now finally in Mexico!