the glories of Tikal

Saturday 21st September 1985

I sling my hammock in Tikal.

Bus to Tikal 2Q. The bus driver spends an hour driving around town trying to recruit more passengers. Gary wanders on in another direction. Two Londoners, Mutley and Katie, and Magnus in the company of an older Japanese guy called Michi who has arrived overland through Darien gap. He reports that the Nicaraguan border guards were ignorant and he had to retrace his steps to get a visa.

Numerous soldiers along the road.

Arrive at the site to find an empty camping ground witha few shelters without walls and palm thatch roofs. Sling our hammocks and mosquito nets. Occellated turkeys scratch in the grass. Chris D a marine with a degree in classical literature turns up later. One of my padlocks disappears. a giant rhinoceros beetle marches through camp.

Light a campfire and have hotdogs, tortillas and baked beans. Michi steals a beer and bottle of chilli sauce from one of the cheap comedors just outside the site entrance. A huge hairy tarantula jumps onto Chris' foot, its body is covered in bright red hairs. In the morning we find its burrow.

Camping is free but daily park ticket is 1Q.