Day 176 - A growler, not a howler

Flores / Tikal

We took a minibus for the hour and a half trip to the Mayan archaeological site of Tikal. We were armed with our copy of the Rough Guide on the phone and a map of the site from our hotel as we headed off to explore the ruins at 8am.

While it is a relatively large site is is also quite easily walkable and we could quickly see the similarities to Chichen Itza and Teotichuan that we had visited in Mexico some years ago. We followed the paths between the sets of pyramids and other ruins, some of the sites hadn't been fully uncovered so huge mounds were visible under which you could easily imagine there would be more pyramids.

We saw some spider monkeys early on in the day, and we were near the Perdido Mundo section when we heard the most tremendous noise coming from a little further ahead. We followed a guide who stopped at some trees, the noise was now so loud and ferocious that we wouldn't have been surprised if a large brown bear appeared. Up in the trees were two groups of howler monkeys, it's amazing how such small animals can make such incredibly loud, scary and deep noises, perhaps they would be more aptly named growler monkeys.

The weather was very hot and humid so we were delighted when a huge thunderstorm started just as we arrived back at the entrance gate. They have a stupid system with the buses where they only return to Flores at set times, 12.30pm and 3pm. There were lots of people waiting, with the shuttles parked nearby, but it was well after 3 before we finally started the drive back. You'd think it would be much better if each bus returned to Flores as soon as there are enough people to fill it, instead they all wait until they are all full, then all leave at the same time.