Journey through darkness to rise triumphant

A sudden knocking at our door jolts me out of my deep and soothing slumber. Confused for a moment I fight off the intrusion and rollover, then I remember where I am and whats about to happen. Steve (my brother) lets out a resistant groan denying the wake up call, but rolls out of bed despite. The air is hot and sticky even at 5 am with the windows fully open. I quickly devour a banana. Its sweet flesh easily satiating the low rumble in the pit of my stomach. Everything outside is enveloped in a mute darkness except for the other cabins, stirring now from the rapping of the doors.

My thoughts return to the jaguar sighting mentioned to us the night before. I quickly push it out of my mind, and make certain not to be the last one in the line crusading through the jungle. We quickly grab some fruit, throw on our shoes and head out to join the awaiting trekkers.

The time has arrived for the early morning excursion deep into the Guatemalan jungle to witness the famous “Tikal Sunrise”. A deep sense of excitement wells up from my gut to my chest. Flashlights are handed out, but we are a couple short. I don't get one. The guide then instructs us to follow him, and we are off into the heart of the jungle.

Enveloped in a musky blackness I blindly stumble behind the feet of the person just a foot ahead. The jungle is eerily silent when all of a sudden from directly above our group comes a booming cry! My heart pounds in my ears and my thoughts turn instantly to the jaguar, only to hear “Howler monkey!” called back down the line. It sounded like a lion had climbed a tree and was bellowing at us to leave his jungle. We forge ahead into the black.

At last we arrive at the ruins, still immersed in the thick jungle darkness. We climb the stairs up the ruins of Tikal. The same stairs many before us have ascended. Some to return, others to continue their ascension into the heavens above as a sacrifice to the blood thirsty Mayan gods. We claim our viewpoint atop the remnants as the air goes from black to blue revealing an impenetrable cloud wall. In a flash my enthusiasm shifts to defeat.

All at once the sun penetrates the dense cloud and arouses the slumbering jungle. The chill in the air vanishes as if part of the ritual. Distant Howler monkeys persist in their bellows while countless birds commence their morning melody. The blanket of fog retreats before the blazing sun to reveal in all its majesty, the Great Plaza of Tikal. Immense concrete monuments basking in the golden rays of daybreak, swimming in the sea of white fog having been reclaimed by the flourishing jungle. The pinnacle of a fallen dynasty, the remnants of Tikal are exposed to my astonished eyes.