For those who haven't already heard, we arrived at El Mirador last Tuesday. We first left our cozy, air conditioned (sort of) rooms in Flores for a little village called Carmelita. It was without a doubt the hottest, bumpiest ride I have ever taken. We then ate dinner with the entire village of about 150 Carmelitans. By the time I actually got my plate, I couldn't actually see the scrawny piece of meat I was eating. But that may have been all for the better. That night, Dr. Hansen gave a presentation to the whole village on the importantance of El Mirador, and protecting the ecology of the Mirador Basin. The basin is the last tract of pristine rainforest in the area, and for all we know, the cure to cancer is out here. But it's tough to convince someone not to create a slash and burn field for corn when they can't feed their own families. That's why it's so very important that the project is successful in finding other ways for locals to utilize this very important natural resource. And as if to punctuate the effect our culture of consumption is having, the village children proceeded to party with loud music and thumping bass until 2am. The roosters started crowing at 2:45am, and I couldn't help but contemplate this strange juxtaposition.
The next morning, we were ready to hit the trail at 7am. However, Dr. Hansen needed to keep up positive relations with the locals, so we didn't actually start walking until 11am. All things considered, the trail was quite easy. It was dry, and the lowlands here in the Peten region make for very easy hiking. To simplify it even more, we were walking on the ancient remains of a Mayan causeway for most of the trip. But with all of these things on our side, we staggered into our first camp at Tintal just after dark around 7pm, sore and exhausted. It was all we could do to find our large bags (which the mules carried), get some food, and then pass out.
The next day we got off to an earlier start as the leg from Tintal to El Mirador was a couple hours longer. We again spent a lot of time on the causeway, and Dr. Hansen was able to point out many interesting ruins along the way. This day turned out to be quite exhausting as well, and apparently the guides could tell that us gringos were struggling when they sent out a few extra mules to carry the tired people the last few hours in. It would be an understatement to say that we probably looked like zombies on our arrival to El Mirador.
But were welcomed by warm food and tents ready for us to occupy. Until the last week in August, I will be living in a 4 person tent lavishly furnished with a cot and small table. I hope to post photos of my accommodations and and the neighborhood soon, but all photos have to be approved by Dr. Hansen prior to release. And he's currently meeting dignitaries in Guatemala City. So photos will have to wait.
I spent the next few days tagging along with all of the students as they were being oriented to the area as well as forms, procedures, and a historical overview of the basin. After having only started to tour all of the sites, I can quite safely say the El Mirador blows Tikal out of the water. The large pyramids here simply dwarf those at Tikal. There are man made platforms here the size of a dozen football fields or more. And some finds are being made that are beautifully preserved.
The actual work of digging started yesterday, and as the different sites start to produce interesting finds I will become more and more busy.
Today was also our first major rain of the season. We've been spoiled by having few insects to deal with, but that may be changing in the next few days. In any case, a large beetle is starring at me saying it's time for me to go to sleep.
I will try to post photos in the near future.
