Well, neither Julie or I heard my watch alarm go off at 4:30 am. Luckily, I have a bad-ass internal clock and woke at 4:50. In a mad rush we got ourselves downstairs to catch our 5:00am bus to Tikal.
Upon arrival, we were two of 10 people in the entire park. We had the place largely to ourselves which was ideal for photo ops. We were also early enough to get a glimpse of some of the wild life. Mini-toucans, spider and howler monkeys, a strange raccoon like creature called a white nosed coati and leaf cutter ants were among the creatures we encountered.
Around 10:00am a ton of indigenous families began streaming into the park. They carried coolers and picnic baskets. Some even had large boxes perched atop their heads. A little confused, we asked a guard what was going on. Turns out that on Oct. 12 they hold a yearly celebration of local culture, complete with a bon fire, dancing, music and chicken sacrifice. We felt really lucky to have the park to ourselves in early morning and then to witness the cultural celebration later on.
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