Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Part Four: Day Three, visiting El Mirador (plus days four and five)



Again the voices of the jungle woke us before Santiago did, announcing that the day would soon begin. It was nice not having to pack our bags: we were going to spend another night here at our campsite. Today would be dedicated to looking at the complexes of El Mirador.



El Mirador was established in the Middle Preclassic between 1000 and 350 B.C.E. and became the capital of the region a few centuries later replacing Nakbé, about thirteen kilometres southeast. Had we wanted to visit that site we would have had to choose the six-day tour; the thought of hiking 35 kilometres in one day precluded that for us since we would have had to make the decision before we started. It sounded like a lot, and once we had hiked the first two days we were glad we had decided against it: five days were enough, and there was a lot to be seen and learned without Nakbé. The zone reached its greatest times during the Late Preclassic period (between 350 B.C.E. and 250 A.D.) when El Mirador became its capital. It alone consisted of 35 triadic groups (groups of buildings organized in threes), astronomical commemoration complexes, ball game courts and several palaces. Many were decorated with massive stucco figure heads and panels.



Headlamps switched on, we started for the nearest pyramid to watch the sunrise, surrounded by the sound of monkeys howling and birds starting up. It had rained a bit during the night, and the sky was still partly cloudy, clearing somewhat while we were waiting for the sun to rise. It did, at about 6:30, briefly lighting up the underside of a wall of clouds. Soon it was light enough to see what Santiago had shown us on a map earlier: lines of Maya roads elevated from the rest of the jungle canopy, connecting the different parts of the city, and other major Maya cities. How amazing to imagine what it was like when this was a place bustling with activity, when we could have seen the buildings that were now hidden from view by the jungle, observed the thousands of people going about their daily work!



We went back for breakfast once the sun, still somewhat veiled, had cleared the horizon. This time porridge, pancakes and fruit awaited us: our 'day of rest' promised to be a sweet one indeed.



After breakfast Santiago first took us to the Jaguar's Paw temple, decorated with two jaguar symbols to the left and right of a wide staircase. He explained that the Maya had used stucco tinted red, cream and black as well as white – it must have been a stunning sight. The sculpture to the right was well restored already, the jaguar face easily visible with its ears decorated with a circle, the symbol for fire, and the claws on both sides of the head. The top of the building had been used for living quarters.



Around the year 150 A.D. the population of the area diminished considerably, but about five hundred years later it again was settled heavily, and building resumed. New constructions were built in part over existing ones, or old buildings were dismantled, the material used for new ones. The thought that for five hundred years it would have looked like what we saw now, and then had risen to new heights, only to diminish again, is hard to grasp.



The Great Acropolis is mainly composed of great pyramidical buildings and ample courtyards, with spaces for political-religious ceremonies, a canal water system that drained into massive, stucco-lined reservoirs, and an inner causeway, this, too, a massive construction. As we could see at an archaeological excavation site it was between one and four metres deep – unimaginable like so much else we saw.



Next, Santiago showed us a well restored panel with a great number of symbols representing the Maya worldview, thought to possibly be a part of the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas (?). One interpretation of the panel suggests that it depicts the hero twins from this Maya myth who swim after avenging their father's death in the underworld. Other researchers identify symbols of rain, clouds, and water, essential elements of Chaak, the god of rain. We could easily recognize the serpent, clouds, a bird resembling a pelican fishing, and the figures of two swimmers on top of each other.



Now, all that was left was a visit to La Danta, the largest pyramid constructed in the entire Maya area, where we were going to see the sunset. It was only a little after noon, and we were given 'time off' until three – oh! the luxury of stretching out for a nap in the middle of the day, either in one of the hammocks strung around the campsite or in our tents. We all gladly used the opportunity.



And then it was time to see the most impressive construction of all, La Danta. The inhabitants took advantage of a natural hill, on which they constructed a massive platform, 300m long and 280m wide, which reached a height of 22m. In total, La Danta reaches a height of 77m above the base of the complex. It includes several buildings located over two stepped platforms. It is estimated that 2,800,000 cubic metres of material was used for its construction - to me, an unimaginable amount! - all moved by hand, without the use of either animals or the wheel. The Acropolis of La Danta is the most important of the compound, and this is where we were headed for the sunset.



At the foot of the last pyramid Santiago shushed us: a couple of toucans had just flown overhead. Soon there was a group of ten, twenty, thirty of them – a beautiful sight, their yellow beaks glowing in the late sun. As quickly as they had come they were gone, their strange croaking voices diminishing in the distance. 
 

As in El Tintal a couple of days earlier the sunset was spectacular, made more so by a few well positioned clouds. Again we needed our headlamps on the way back. Sudden excitement behind us made us turn around: Sabdy had spotted a huge tarantula! Soon after the beam of Santiago's headlamp caught a 'baby' coral snake, the most poisonous snake of the Guatemalan jungle. We watched it wind sideways into the undergrowth, reminded by both incidents that we were in the wild, and were not to forget it. We reached the camp safely, without seeing or hearing either snake or jaguar.



We had seen what we had come to see, awed and so very thankful for the opportunity to experience what few people will even now. Two more days of walking were ahead, but we would no longer stop to look at anything beyond what was on our path. 



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