Tikal (tee-kal)

A relaxed breakfast in Jungle Lodge allows us time to talk some more with Melissa and with Bill, both whom are heading home today. They would both gladly stay. Melissa with Mexican heritage so moved to be able to help. Bill from Canada on his first trip of this type. Filled with the gratitude that comes from supporting a loved one to beat adversity; the type of illness that reframes your life.

We part ways and the new arrivals meet with Ezekiel our guide and head down the roughly paved pathway to the ancient city of Tikal. We will only get to visit a fraction of the ancient citadel on our 5km walk as Tikal is now estimated to cover about 20 square kilometres. This is thanks to LIDAR technology identifying even more buildings under the jungle growth.

Tikal was settled by Mayans around 900 BC. We get to climb temples; pyramids and see the ancient alphabet and numbering systems that were developed here. The temple of the Jaguar dates from around 732 AD. Tikal is now a national park and a one-million-hectare Maya Biosphere Reserve created in 1990 to protect the dense forests of the Petén. On our path we have a rare sighting of a toucan; woodpeckers; turkeys; howling monkeys and the many native plants and some ancient trees of Guatemala. The taller trees also represented to the Mayans pathways to the underworld and sky world. There are so many Wow moments. Lots of laughter and camaraderie including to make sure we all make it up the steps to the highest temple. This is a supportive group.

We put the full Week 2 team together after the Tikal tour. Then it is back on the bus for the last leg of our trip to El Remate on Lake Petén. ‘We’ are now 11 people and our first destination is our home for the week at the Sun Breeze Hotel. Once checked in we head to the clinic to see the layout. We meet Anne, the clinic founder and long time advocate for health services in this area. The building on the left is for eye exam with doctors Cheryl and Eric ably assisted by Ailish; Sony; Tania and local volunteers Londi and Dominic. The building on the right will be the surgical suite for Dr Jair; Surgical Nurse Deanna and the four medical students Alex; Amalie; Helena and Simon. Fernando will volunteer there for much of the week.

There has been an electrical fault on the main line and Anne is currently working hard to get power restored. There is nothing more we can do today so we head to our dinner in a local Guatemalan restaurant. News comes through late in the evening that the local police have been on the case. And an electrician is out sourcing the parts he needs to allow the transformer to be turned back on for the clinic.

We started the day 900BC in wonder at the advanced Mayan civilization and all that might have been lost in the intervening centuries. We finish the day hoping that modern technology will come through in time. Perhaps the spirits of Tikal will smile favorably on us tomorrow.