No Bañarse!
by Sara Barbieri, Tour Manager (on January 2009 trip)
When you are traipsing through the jungle in the pouring rain feeling the water seep through your clothes, you do begin to wonder what you are doing—oh yes, stalking a Maya ruin at Yaxha! The world around you is still and green and there are no other foolish mortals about (save your intrepid fellow travelers). Transported back in time and appreciative to be with “glyph-man”, Stan Guenter, who illuminates the history of the stelae and the temples you discover, the moment seduces you. The morning, you realize, though damp is thoroughly excellent and even invigorating. And, when this experience is followed by a lakeside lunch under thatched eves at El Sombrero where the soup warms your bones and a member of your group disappears into the kitchen to concoct mulled wine, you know there is nothing better than where you are. After lunch, a boat carries you across a crocodile-infested lake through mist and the flutter of egrets wings (yes, and more rain) to an island where the site of Topoxte awaits. We have the island to ourselves, the only people with the foresight to explore this remarkable and remote site when no one else is about! On the way back to our hotel as the damp rises off our clothes and the windows fog up, we all agree, today is our favorite day so far…
