Tikal National Park

Close your eyes after you read this and imagine it in your brain. You have just walked into a lush green jungle, surrounded by trees, wildlife, and ancient Mayan ruins around every corner.  You decide to climb a pyramid temple, putting one foot above another on the steep stones to the top. Alone at the top you peer over the jungle and witness Spider and Howler Monkeys leaping from one tree to the next.  Colorful Toucan birds chirp in delight in the joy of a new day. 

 
Welcome to Tikal National Park located in North Central Guatemala. I took a sunset tour and this was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.  The Mayan settled here around 700 BC - 900 AD. The site is vast and has hundreds of temples, pyramids and stelae (stone slabs erected as monuments).