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Now I must rush through the rest of the trip, as this is already a very long story. The third day we spent exploring the site and learning about local plants. A highlight was finding a group of howler monkeys, who Henry tried to make howl by shaking the trees and howling himself. They absolutely refused. Maarten had wanted to get a recording of howler monkeys, but recorded Henry instead and played it back to an amused Luis back at the campsite. We climbed several more pyramids and I made a sketch of the most highy excavated part of the site – a stairway with a stucco jaguar-claw sculpture next to it. We discovered that the ground was absolutely littered with broken pottery – including little pieces which often fitted together. It was amazing to see such untouched ruins. Later the caretaker showed us some pieces of pottery he kept in a box under his bed... pieces that the archeologists hadn’t wanted. He spoke with great pride as he showed us plates, incense burners and anthropomorphic bowls with faces on them and beautiful patina finishes. Then we began our long and painful journey back to civilisation, stopping at the same campsite on the way back and meeting a French couple of top of the pyramid there. It was an arduous trip, and the ticks and blisters were no fun (I even developed a blister on my bottom from the damn mules). But it was one of the most memorable parts of our trip so far. It was a priviledge to see such a remote and untouched site, and it made us realise just how few areas there are left that are relatively untouristed. We ran into several other tourists on our trek, so it seems only a matter of time before the site is cleared, restored, and turned into another Tikal. |
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