TIKAL - We signed up for the 4:45 am sunrise tour of Tikal where you watch the sun come up over Tower 4.  What we didn't know is that first we'd get to watch (and feel) the rain come down in what seemed like the heaviest rain storm I've ever been in.  We were soaked head to toe - Anna had no rain coat and my new $200 REI raincoat did absolutely nothing - but at least Anna got these fantastic shots...



The sky is getting a little brighter!  Everybody was still soaked and cold at this point... our new South African friend Jackie was particularly cold and decided she should change out of her soaking wet clothes.  Anna and I formed a 'human shield' to give her some privacy... a deed for which she called us 'pals of the first order'!  I kinda liked the sound of that.



The view of the mist coming out of the trees was spectacular.  And now is when we started hearing the howler monkeys and toucans...



Here's the sun!  Ahhh it's nice and warm...



After the sunrise tour we spent another 3 hours roaming around with our guide.  He was okay, even though earlier hat morning he managed to lose 10 people in the dark, in the pouring rain, while climbing up a sketchy ruin.  (He eventually found them all ok, albeit a little wet and angry).  This is a magnificent shot Anna got of Tower 1, one of the good spots to see the sunset.



This is one of the 'rodents' common to Guatemala.  It's a coatimundi - or simply coati - a raccoon sized creature that scavenges for food, often in large packs.  At sunset we saw about forty of them rummaging around an ancient plaza.



There in the background is the tower from which w spied the sunset.  And no I'm not having a bad hair day there... there's a tree behind my head.


Here's Anna at one of the other towers... it's about ten and the sun was pretty bright and hot.



This is an area of the Grand Plaza where they used to chop off heads of chickens, goats, people etc.



Here's a shot of Danny and Neeta from London... a very interesting couple we met while watching the sunset.  It was great chatting with them and sharing a meal at the 'Imperio Maya' comedor.  The comedor's are small 'local' restaurants with fantastic and cheap food - much much better than any of the three hotels in the park.