Our Trip to Aguateca

On Saturday we took a day trip to visit the Mayan ruins at Aguateca.  The ruins are located about 1.5 hours from Sayaxche'.  They are only accessible by boat.  It was a very scenic boat ride and we all thought it was our favorite part of the day.  Below is a photo of our group before we headed out-

David, Cruz, me, Miss Fran, Mrs. Jane, Mr. Wendall, Dr. McGowin, and Bro. Jim

 

We boarded our taxi boat along the Passion River right next to the ferry. I cannot remember why Cruz was so unhappy here because he really enjoyed the day.

A few homemade canoes we passed

We planned the trip to leave right about naptime for Cruz.  Here he is shortly after we left- sound asleep in his daddy's arms.  He slept most all of the way going and also took his afternoon nap on the return home.  It seems most all of our trips lately are planned around morning and afternoon naps.

Most of the time the water was wide open, but sometimes it was narrow.

This is what it looked like as we got near the park entrance.  The boat driver had to cut the motor off and paddle us the rest of the way in.  It was a little snaky looking to me.

Here are a few of our group exiting the boat.

We quickly learned that there was going to be a climb to reach the top.  The guide told us a little over 100 steps.  It was actually 322 steps to reach the top level where most of the ruins were.  That's 322 wooden, steep, slippery, unstable steps.  Yes, we were a little sore the next few days. haha

We took a stroller just in case we could use it but left it at the welcome center.  We ended up carrying Cruz up those steps and all around the park.  Have I mentioned lately just how heavy he is!

I carried him to the top of one of the ruins.  He had fun running around once we got there.

Another favorite part of the day was getting to hear all of the howler monkeys.  It can be a little scary at first, but it is very cool.  We did get to see a few monkeys and even saw a tiny baby one in a tree with its mother.

They sold a few hand-carved items at the welcome center.  We bought Cruz a canoe and paddle as a souvenir from our visit there.

Heading back down to the boat

Miss Fran and I before we returned to Sayaxche'

We had taken picnic supplies but ended up eating our meal on the boat ride back.  We returned to Sayaxche in the afternoon with plenty of time to rest before we all got together again for supper.  It was a very fun day and we were glad to get to experience it with special friends.