Sunrise

At 4 am our guide, Chino, arrived flashlight in hand to lead us into Tikal to watch and listen to the jungle wake up from the top of Temple IV. Along the way we crossed a super highway of leaf cutter ants making their way through the jungle with their heavy loads. The ants carry their bits of leaves back to their colony where they bury them 2ft underground. Slowly the leaves begin to ferment and after about 15 days the tiny mushrooms that the ants eat begin to grow.
Climbed to the top of Templo IV, 65 meters tall, and reached the top while it was still fully dark. Tilghman laid his head in my lap and promptly fell asleep as the jungle began to wake us all around us.
The mist swirled all around us as the light grew and the tops of pyramids came in and out of view. As bird calls began to fill the silence the forest erupted as the howler monkeys woke up and set to work waking up anything unfortunate enough to be sleeping nearby.
Back in the forest floor our guide explained to us the importance of the year 2012. This year marks the end of a 5126 year cycle. These Maya had it going on in the astronomy and calendar departments. They understood the concept of zero and the fact that the grand cycle had already begun. Contrary to popular belief this year marks the end of a very long cycle and the beginning of a new era. Apparently, being able to accurately predict seasons and other natural events helped the rulers maintain power. It was evidence that they were in communion with the gods.
Our guide took a man on a sunset tour on the equinox when there was a full moon. The man knew the layout of Tikal and asked Chino to take him to the Northern Acropolis from there they watched the full moon rise above Templo V and he thought Venus rise above Templo IV. The man whipped out a laptop and triangulated the position. It turned out he was from NASA.
This December 21st is going to be really big in Tikal.