Baby monkies!!!

It is JUNE!  Cannot believe I have been gone a month almost!

The strangest thing about Guatemalan keyboards is that to create the "@" sign, on some keyboards you have to hit CTL-ALT-2 and on some keyboards you have to hit ALT-64.  Just thought I would share one more piece of very helpful information that I learned along the way.

a Quetzal bird

Today had a FABULOUS trip to Tikal, the Mayan ruins just North of where I am in Flores.  Hooked up with these 3 Italian guys and this Israeli woman who are all in my hotel - to pool our money for a tour - got a guide that speaks both Italian and English - so that was a good deal.  We walked in total about 5 miles over a 5 and a half hour tour.  Some of the ruins I climbed, but some were more like 250 foot ladders and I prefered the view from below.  I did climb temple 4 though, at about 225 feet.

The BEST part of it was seeing the spider monkeys - saw several different families - including some babies.  One baby was riding its mothers back (sorry, no apostrophe on Spanish language keyboards).  Another baby was giving swinging from branch to branch (using tail and all four limbs) a try - and was fabulous to watch.  We also saw a Quetzal bird (the national bird) and I saw a yellow-billed tucan and a black-billed tucan.  The black billed tucan was hilarious - the guide asked me if I wanted to see a tucan - and I said of course - so he told me to put my binoculars on a hole in this tree - and then he went over and knocked on the tree and a second later the toucan poked her head out of the hole.  I thought it was hilarious!  There was a little excitement when we were on the trail (the guide took us on several "secret pathways" through the jungle) and had to start jogging because most of us were wearing sandals and the ants that apparently cut your feet were ALL over the place.  Yikes.

Was very thankful that I purchased these binoculars!  Except - the Israeli woman was really pushy and kept saying "I want to see, I want to see" whenever we came across any wild life.

Enjoying Flores tonight - had a choco banano - which is very popular in Guatemala - basically a frozen banana dipped in chocolate and peanuts!  Yum.  Enjoyed several hours this afternoon of sitting by the pool reading Harry Potter and drinking Corona - quite the combination.  Getting ready to go to my room to...... watch TV - the first time I did this this whole trip - was last night.

Heading to Livingston tomorrow - excited to hopefully hear some raggae and eat some shrimp!