Whenever I travel outside the US, I’m continually in awe of all the things that would never be seen in the states. And while I didn’t get a picture of the scaffolding I saw completely made out of sticks and twigs Guatemala, a fabulous example would be the viewing platform my husband and I came across in the Petén jungle that was high up in a tree, which we later realized was more like a few smaller trees that had all kind of grown together and looked anything but stable. I’m still not sure how I got up to the top with my severe fear of heights and falling to my death but after just walking for about an hour in the creepy jungle with nobody to be seen anywhere and far more scary noises than I could count, I think my freaked out meter had blown before I even got to the tree. That and I really wanted to see the sunset over the tops of the trees with the pyramds of Tikal poking out of the jungle.

The way up was kind of like a a series of ladders that were sometimes just nailed into the side of the tree with a view posts and sometimes held on by wire. Neither of which looks stable and it also looked like it had been there for quite some time, which I couldn’t decide if I thought that was better or worse but I kept climbing. The top was a little platform that was anything but straight. If I didn’t hold on to something I was pretty sure I would just slide right off. I took in the view for about 30 seconds and then immediately descended for fear the whole thing would come crashing down any minute. Which, honestly, I kind of thought it might.

It was completely scary but at the same time, I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that this was just out there for people to climb on. Whether it was actually safe or not, who knows.

I love a good sunrise but I’m often not awake for the show so when I got the opportunity to watch a sunre over the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, I was all over it. Sure it meant meeting the guide at 3:45am with a flashlight but how often does one get to sit at the top of a an ancient pyramid and watch the sun rise out of a misty jungle?

Getting ready that morning was a little bit challenging since we had stayed the night right in the park where electricity was only turned on for a couple hours each day and those hours were not when we got up, meaning cold shower and dressing by flashlight. But the owner of the establishment, obviously having just woken up himself and was still half-naked, met us in the lobby with coffee.

We met our guide along with some biology students (who we’d made friends with the previous night while searching for tarantulas) and set on our way, just a few spots of light moving through the jungle.

It’s a weird feeling to be walking through a tropical jungle in pitch blackness because the animals are at their most active at this time and very vocal. And very close. There were noises all around and roars from the howler monkeys in the trees were no less scary than a Jaguar as we slowly made our way through the darkness, careful not to step on the leaf cutter ants that made trails of green across our path.

We were headed for the pyramid at the far end of the archeaological park, Temple IV. It was a pretty good distance and the misty low light of pre-dawn made it especially exciting when we would pass ruins among the trees and not realize it until we were right next to it. We felt like we were the only ones in the entire park, and we pretty much were.

When we reached Temple IV, we climbed all the way to the top and sat on the top steps that overlooked the Petén and some of the taller ruins poking out of the deep green jungle vegetation. Among the many different sounds of birds, large roars rumbled below us as the sun slowly rose out of the mist. It got larger as it rose and change from yellow to orange to red and the whole sky was full of color. Absolutely breathtaking, and completely worth getting up at 3am. I’m pretty sure ruins were meant to be seen by the golden glow of the rising sun.

Before moving on to other topics, I thought I’d post a couple other plants that I found fascinating in Latin America due to some unique qualities. This time these plants were spotted in Mexico City.

I wandered by this crazy plant (shown above) from the mint family while touring the campus of UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México). It was growing out of one of the many cool outcroppings of lava rock seen all around the beautiful campus. It is Leonotis nepetifolia, Klip Dagga, but I like to call it Orange-Legged Spider Plant. It looks like a bunch of spiders all tethered by a stalk – the only thing keeping them from leaping onto one’s shoulder!

This next plant, above, was found growing around the Monumento a la Revolución. While the latin name is Lantana camara but often called “ham n’ eggs” due to it’s interesting combination of flower colors.

photos via Lisa Town