The first day of our 10-day jungle trek started at 5am with Walfre (our guide) picking us up in his sweet Toyota.

Along the way we bought cigarettes with which to “bribe” the guards at each ruins site. (This turned out to be more of a nicety than a bribe.) We also stopped for breakfast at a comedor típica. I peeked into the kitchen.

Vince played ¨Welcome to the Jungle¨on his iPod as we drove farther into the endless green canopy. Bienvenidos a la jungla became our trip slogan.

We picked up our guide’s assistant, Juan Carlos (blue shirt on the left), and the muleskinner, Miguel, in the village of Carmelita. Loaded gear and people on the mullas and off we went.

Tourist’s route. At least they’re honest about it. I read that Guatemala gets 60% of its income from tourism.

Jim fell in love with the pimienta plant, a.k.a. allspice. His mule was also named Pimienta.

Other highlights of the day included:

• Getting my first mosquito bite. Malaria, hooo!
• Falling off the mule after it ran me into multiple low branches. Jim fell off too as his mule hit a mud pocket.
• Checking out some authentico chicle trees.

After 5 hours of walking and riding we reached our first ruins site, Tintal. We set up our hammocks, trying to avoid the mule poo everywhere. My sweet hammock is on the right.