Welcome to the Jungle

A three-hour drive landed us in the rainforest of Palenque. We were aptly greeted with a downpour that lasted only the 20 minutes it took all of us to get our rooms, unload our baggage, and get back to our huts.

Thankfully, I get a room to myself. It’s a good thing, too. It’s me and 19 guys on this trip (3 profs, 15 students, and our guide, Alonso). I’ll take my precious few testosterone-free minutes when I can get them!

The rooms were individual buildings scattered throughout the rainforest, connected by a narrow path that ran through the middle. And yes, there were a lot of hippies from many different countries. Our guide Alonso lives here with his wife and two kids. I am so jealous. Alonso works as an archaeo-astronomer studying how the mathematics, language, astronomy, and architecture combined to form the ancient Mayan culture.

My building was called the Birdhouse, and it was easily the coolest building on-site. It’s a two-story round building. The ceiling is plastered on the inside, with thatched leaves on the roof. The top level has screened windows around the entire wall (how many walls does a round room have?), except for where the bed sat. Not much privacy, but a great view. Mostly, I was just glad to have electricity and warm running water.

The room wasn’t as bug-filled as I had expected, either. There was an enormous Banana Spider – I named him Herbert – who guarded the outside of my screen, and I shared my shower floor with Ché the cucaracha. No mosquitoes, maybe another few cockroaches, but not bothersome at all.