What was meant to be a 2 day layover in La Libertad turned into an entire week. My second morning there, Bruiser awoke with a swollen hind leg. He hit it pretty hard out in the pasture and it was bothering him. I had to give him time to heal.
Along with my new friend Carlos Emilio, we wrapped his leg every night and gave him bute to help bring down the swelling.
“In a few days he will be good to go and you can continue your trip,” Carlos told me as I ran cold water on Bruiser’s leg.
Carlos is only 19-years-old, but already has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to horses. His father, one of the first jockeys in the state of Peten, has had many race horses.
“I have been helping my father take care of horses since I was 4-years-old, they are my passion,” he told me.
As Bruiser slowly got better, Carlos took the opportunity to take me to Tikal – one of the largest archeological sites of the pre-Colimbian Maya Civilization (aka the coolest place on earth!)
In 2006 I backpacked Central America and visited Tikal for the first time. I was left in complete awe. Tikal was one of the most powerful kingdoms in ancient Maya. The city covered an area greater than 16 square kilometers and included about 3000 structures. It is estimated that 40 000 people lived in Tikal.
In the heart of a rainforest, Tikal sits in Guatemala’s first National Park. This is what makes this place so magical for me. The pyramids are tall, surrounded by large trees and wildlife. As you walk around the park you can hear monkeys yelling from the tree tops while deer graze near by.
Looking out from the tallest Pyramid, Temple IV, is an unforgettable view – a sea of green as far as the eye can see with the tops of pyramids reaching for the heavens. It was as if they are searching for the Mayan gods who once inhabited this magical land. It is so beautiful!
It also has an eery side too as one begins to imagine our cities after the natural world has taken them back. Large skyscrapers peering over the forests long after the last breath has been taken by a human being. Being in these pre-Colombian cities really makes you understand that everything has a beginning and and end. No matter how grandiose or powerful.
