Friday, March 27, 2015

celestial connections

Two years ago when we visited Ankor Wat we were struck by the similarities between some of the temples there, mostly Hindu and later a combination of Hindu and Buddhist, and those we remembered at Tikal from our visit in 1974. We wondered how the same type of structure with some of the same shapes and carvings, could be possible. Tikal was built over many years beginning in the last years BC and continuing for hundreds of years afterwards. The temples in Cambodia date from a much later time AD.
I had the same feeling this year as I walked through the many temples here at Tikal. Was there some kind of celestial connection that influenced two very different ancient cultures, many thousands of miles from each other, and separated by hundreds of years in time? This is most likely not possible but an active imagination can account for the eerie feeling one has that great minds and builders were somehow connected through time and space!


Our drive back from Tikal was shortened for those of us who had the privilege of spending two weeks at Finca Chacalte, an hours drive from Rio Dulce. We were dropped off at Rio Dulce, the town of the same name as the long river that winds through mangroves and forest to connect Lago Itzabal, the largest lake in Guatemala, to the Atlantic Ocean. We were taken by boat through a series of lagoons that branch off from the river. Along the river there are many homes and we saw people swimming and fishing with nets along the way. The river ends at Livingston, a Garafuno community on the Caribbean Ocean, and the only such community in Guatemala. The only way to access this town is by water. These people are similar to those that settled the coast as far up as Costa Rica. They are the descendants of former slaves who fled from British colonies to the south, coming north and eventually settling and working the sugar cane. Reggae music blares, and the culture is quite different from the rest of this country. Spanish and Creole are spoken. As we strolled through the streets I was reminded of Bocas del Toro in Panama, but on a smaller scale.


Rio Dulce


Fish drying in Livingston

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