SPECIAL FEATURE: GUATEMALA
View of one of the various temples at the
archeological site of Tikal RIGHT: Hermano Pedro
church with the backdrop of Agua volcano, Antigua
From atop Temple IV it was easy to
imagine the surrounding jungle had been standing since the dawn of time, but when the Mayan civilisation was at its apogee, Tikal was a biological wasteland; they had essentially concreted over the rainforest or turned it over to agriculture. Scientists believe this radical shiſt
in land use changed the climate (sound familiar?) around Tikal and other Mayan cities, leading to droughts and crop failure. As the land withered, so too did the people. Fearing unrest, the ruling classes
proposed a radical solution: not green energy or sustainable living, but human sacrifices to the rain deity, Chaac. This wasn’t a new ritual, but, explained Mario, it became more common when the drought set in. “The sacrifices became more intense, but the rain never came,” he said. “People started rebelling.” We climbed down the pyramid and
set off on a short trek through the forest. Though the hiking had been relatively light, scaling Tikal’s temples had really
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taken it out of me. But the jungle is a place that preys on weakness — little beasties are drawn to weary explorers — so we moved quickly to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and ants, whose sustainable subterranean cities had long outlasted the shortsighted human one above.
NATURE PREVAILS As well as the folly of our species, Tikal stands as a testament to the resilience of nature, which started reclaiming the city when its citizens fled. First to surrender were the pauper
dwellings and maize fields on the outskirts of town. Then the jungle started nibbling away at Tikal’s civic architecture — sports stadia, plazas, places of worship — before finally consuming the pyramids and royal palaces. “Aſter 100 years everything had come
back,” beamed Mario. “Jaguars, pumas, snakes, birds — all the animals we have today.” The rainforest had swallowed Tikal. So much so that in 1525, the Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés,
THE RULING CLASSES
PROPOSED A RADICAL SOLUTION: HUMAN
SACRIFICE
is thought to have trekked straight past the Mayan city without even noticing it. Tikal has been wonderfully restored
since its ‘rediscovery’ in the mid-19th century, but I found myself yearning for something a bit more, well, lost — or at least less found. So the next morning I embarked
on a trip to El Mirador, another long- abandoned Mayan metropolis, which is a two-day hike from the nearest civilised settlement. It is, by all accounts, a gruelling trek, not that I would know: I took a chopper instead, cutting the journey down to half an hour.
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