trip to Tikal

Friday night I had the light off around 9.30pm but the coughing kept me awake for a while. I had my alarm set for 3.30am and just had to put my clothes on. I went outside and stopped by Camilla's. She was out also on time and slightly funny because she was still pretty tipsy. She managed to get into trouble at the after party because some guy was pestering her already since she was in Sin Ventura and just didn´t get the message of NO. In the end she slapped him which resulted in him saying I will kill you. Down here that is something to take serious. She and Suzanna went to the group of guys they know. She said that she didn´t know how he looked like since that would have resulted in a fight. Three different gangs were her protector therefore and wanted to make sure that she got home safe and for the next week she has to be a bit careful and stick with a group they said. I guess that it pays off that you know local people and the right one´s for this ... So our shuttle was very much on time only 15 minutes late which is nothing here. The next pick-up was someone who was complaining about the fact that they were running 30 minutes late but that is pretty normal here. The next girl as well and we nicknamed them the bitches since that was all they did during all the trip. Some people should never leave their home country they just give tourists a real bad name. I thanked the lady who drove us very much just to make up for their rude behavior. The airport was a very small one and we had to wait for a while. The waiting room was filling up with tourists and mainly Americans. Why are they always so loud and annoying? O)) Oh well, the plane ride was rather uneventful and I took care of finding the shuttle transfer to Flores to the hotel since Camilla was still slightly out of it. She nicknamed me Mum since I took care of everything. In the hotel we were given time to change and we could leave some things there and than our walking tour started. I had sprayed on plenty of bug spray (DEET 25% and only had 2 bites at the end of the trip), packed more than 1 liter of water and food. Camilla and me had opted for the English tour and that was already enough to follow since the group was pretty big. In Spanish we would have missed a lot since in that heat your brain just doesn´t want to function quiet so well. It was above 40 degrees and the humidity made it feel even hotter. After a walking tour of over 4 hours and seeing all the major temples and climbing two of them we were beat and just wanted to have lunch. I really don´t know what I had expected but it was pretty impressive but differently imressive than the pyramids in Egypt. Our waiter liked us right from the start a lot and introduced himself and always chatted with us a bit in Spanish and complimented us with very flowery compliments which was pretty funny. We were able to check out our room after lunch. We were in for a surprise we got a cabana and it was huge and the best beds ever, not to forget HOT water shower. Since the heat was just too much we decide time to check out the pool. It was great and until dinner time we were at the pool and enjoyed the sun. Than a group of monkeys came by and everyone was trying to take pictures. After dinner there was nothing to do there and we decided an early night would do us good and we were off to sleep at 9pm. During the night the time was changed here and it has moved up one hour! Sunday morning we woke up around 9am and freshened up and had a relaxed breakfast. It was really nice and filling. I really think that I will miss my tortillas, friojles, cheese and eggs ... others are like real tourists and want the continental breakfast style thing! After wards we decided to lie at the pool and work on the tan since it was really hot again and it was making us lazy and drowsy. Later on we though that we should check out the museum but got told that it really isn´t worth it and went back to the hotel. Around 2pm it was pick-up for the airport again. It was interesting since it was the English speaking group that returned. Julio our guide was speaking to our driver in Spanish and thought that our Spanish would be so non-existent that we wouldn´t be able to follow. Yeah right! He said on his morning tour he observed that a fat American lady died of heat stroke in the ambulance since it took so long for it to get there. Obviously he did´t want to tell us and freak us. Oh well, you just really have to listen to your body and if it tells you to chill, take it easy do it and pack enough water! We arrived at the airport and had just enough time to get some food and more water and than it was boarding time. This time we ended up in a tiny plane like for 15 people. It was boiling hot in it and once they had closed the door lots of people were like this is just too hot and of course the air conditioning wasn´t working. I decided best thing to do is drink and than snuggle in and sleep. Camilla wasn´t able to do that and once it started raining it was getting worse with nice little bumps etc. She looked like hell and felt really sick once we got off the plane. The shuttle was waiting for us already and we had to wait for 2 people that didn´t show which resulted in the driver making lots of phone calls. In the end we left and I bet it was the bitches who didn´t´t check the time for getting back since they were still outside the airport in Flores when we were already sitting in the waiting lounge. So we were back home after a horrible shuttle ride (that guy was the worst driver I had so far) around 7pm. I just wanted a shower and fresh clothes. I turned my phone back on which had turned off and had forgotten the correct pin code for. I had to kick some SMS out when it went off and Elmer was demanding what was going on because he always got the message that the phone was out of service. So sweet he is really making an effort to stay in contact and keep his promises. I went by Camilla since we hadn´t had dinner yet and wanted to grab a bite in Antigua. She was so pale and feeling really bad. So I went by myself and took a book along. I was in Monoloco and had my first real salad (no side effects). Afterwards I went to the Internet cafe and the girl asked me if I want to work for her just a couple of shifts in the week and I think that I might take her up on the offer after my vacation. Around 10pm I went to La Sala to find the others and see what they were up to. Since Monday being Labor Day the city was crowded with all these people from all over. At first it was only Chelsea that was there and Enzo, Camillo that I knew later on Heidi showed up and I asked her if we could go somewhere else. We walked around from bar to bar but either they were really empty or so full that it wasn´t really fun. In the end we went to Monoloco and had a drink there. I was starting to cough again and ordered a tea. Elmer was serving us and was just looking at me and asking if I was okay. Alejandro and Carlos showed up of course as well and Heidi and me had the first real proper chat which was nice. At 1am they started turning of the lights as a sign to please leave. We slowly finished off our drinks and Elmer came over. We chatted briefly and he said if I would stick around a bit longer he´ll be off work in 10. He was really quick and we chatted for a while and Enzo and Chesea showed up and Heidi felt a bit superfluous and decided to chat with some other group hanging around. Really entertaining! We took a taxi home. Chelsea and me were in my room chatting until shortly after 2am. Chelsea is really bad she is playing two guys and is getting it from all sides since we think that is unfair.
The trip to Tikal was worth it since it feels as if you are in another country since it is jungle and the heat is stifling. I am glad though that we paid extra to take the plane and not an 8-9h our bus ride ... unless the bus would have been airconditioned you would have arrived pretty beat I bet! I am doing pretty well at crossing things to do off my list.

Today I woke up when Camilla came over around 7am to get the phone since she was expecting the phone call fro the school. It didn´t come. Chelsea and me had breakfast and than I went back to bed to read a bit more but ended up sleeping some more. After lunch we decided to go to town. I´m inter netting and after wards maybe catch a movie ... tonight we will have leaving dinner and afterwords maybe Red´s. I am really not looking forward to that so I hope that Robert and Sjors might come and want to do something different. I called today for the pick-up time tomorrow but nothing is certain yet so I have to call tomorrow again. Go figure! I also need to arrange my trip to the beach either today or Thursday or tomorrow morning. Elmer is all busy arranging things today but we will talk later on on the phone again.