Tikal National Park...Day 8

 Today we spent the morning walking around Tikal National Park. Before heading out, we ate breakfast. I ordered French Toast and due to extremely slow service most of us didn't eat until 8 am. We met our guide, Rony, at the main building which has a replica of the national park. Rony gave some background information on the park, the Mayans, and what we would be doing for the morning.

During the day we stopped at several temples for the students to climb. It was nice to see some changes done to the park since my last visit. Instead of insane stairs to climb at temple IV, they had added a better stair system to get to the top. We still had some insane stairs to climb but the views from the top were worth it. The day was bearable. With some cloud coverage, it wasn't as hot until we reached the central complex then the students got to feel what it was truly like in the tropics.

After the tour, some students bought trinkets from the vendors and we all ate lunch before heading back to Rio Mopan.

 Along the road back to the border, we once again entered the Waiting Place. This time, road paving. Needless to say this was at least an hours wait while one side of the road was being paved and traffic traveled on the other side of the road. We headed back to Melchor and stopped at the Boutique Antiqua and got to meet the entire Hernedez family. After loading up our purchases, we headed to Rio Mopan and to a very nice steak and potatoes dinner.  Last night in Guatemala. The kids headed back to their rooms to pack up their belongs and to put aside anything that they wanted to donate to the clinic.

Day 8: Moeraki Boulders, Yellow-eyed Penguins, and Royal Albatross

Being able to sleep in a little was a treat so after a quick and light breakfast, we headed out to the Moeraki Boulders. Winding along the coastline gave us some beautiful scenery. A little nervous at times with Twinning would try to take pictures while driving on the left-side of the road.We parked at the trail head to the beach and spent time with the Scottish red deer before heading down to the beach. Once at the beach, everyone scattered to view the boulders. The boulders are considered septarian concretions. They are made from the cementation of mud and silicon dioxide. When the cliffs erode, due to the poorly consolidated soil, they fall to the beach below. There are calcite veins running through some of them and you can see several stages of erosion due to the remains of boulders left along the beach.Lots of kelp along with other algae was seen on the beach. Picked up a mud rock that had evidence of a polychaete worm at one time. After spending time along the beach, we headed into Dunedin, a very hilly town along the coast and checked into the Adventurers Hostel. After dropping off the trailers we headed out to the Otago Peninsula. The harbor here was created by a linear fault. When several faults were parallel to each other a geological feature called a graben formed. Here on the peninsula, we'll visit Penguin Place, which is the home to the yellow-eyed penguin reserve and then off to the Taiaroa Head to see the Royal Albatross colony.While at the reserve, we traveled through tunnels to get up close to the penguins. There are 18 breeding pairs located at the reserve. They are very territorial and will squawk at anything that comes into its nest that isn't suppose to be there. The yellow-eyed penguin is one of the rarest penguins. It is only one of 18 species. The iris is yellow along with an area around the orbital cavity. They only live in a small part of New Zealand. There are only 1,000 living on the mainland but there are over 3,000 living about 700 km from South Island on Steward Island. This is because their habitat is intact. On South Island, there is a loss of their breeding habitat and due to the introduction of predators. The reserve helps by providing nesting boxes to the pairs. Since they are territorial, the breeding pairs need to be out of sight from each other. The landowner and a conservation group work together on providing a natural habitat for the penguins. Since the penguins breed in native forest, the conservation group is replanting native trees in the area. Foster parents are used to help raise the chicks. An egg is given to juvenile penguins and these penguins sit on the egg and raise it even though they aren't mature enough to breed. The chicks have grey fluffy down and it is used as a camouflage. The parents lie 2 eggs a year and they both take turns raising the chick. They feed the chick until they are 15 weeks of age. The young chicks then leave the home to hone their skills. They will hang out in a group when they first leave home. Usually they leave home in February and March and spend about 5 months in the ocean. They'll come ashore in August to breed. Penguins change their feathers once a year and it can take up to 4 weeks to complete the molting.
At the Taiaroa Head Reserve we viewed the Royal Albatross. Of course as soon as the word albatross was mentioned, those who enjoy a good Monty Python skit, started yelling "Albatross, Albatross for sale!" These magnificent birds spend 80% of their life at sea. Since they breed biannually, the non-breeding year is spent at sea. These birds do mate for life and can reach flight speeds over 100kph. At the reserve, the winds were over 40 knots and the birds love this because they need it for lift. Watching the chicks take off from the cliff was amazing. You can just hear them laughing and enjoying the ride. This is the rush that hang gliders feel. If the chicks don't make it the first time they try to fly they'll usually die. Rangers will collect them from the water and give them another chance at flying. Invasive plants and traps are being removed so that the chicks have a better chance of survival.After a recap, we turned in early. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Papatowai. Here we will be able to stay for a few days. Good thing because I was starting to hate the inside of the van.

Day 8: Zermatt to Interlaken

After somewhat of a sleepless night, thanks guys for the snoring!, M and I headed down to breakfast. Breakfast consisted for toast with jam, yogurt, granola, cheese, and meat cafeteria style. I tried the yogurt but really couldn't stomach the really sour taste. I don't know if it was the flavor I chose or what but I just couldn't eat it. I'm really not a yogurt person anyway but I've been taught to try things at least once and to eat when I can because I might not know when I'll be able to eat again (Doc McLaren's travel rule #1). I settled for some granola and milk, a tea, and a few slices of cheese. Many people were up getting ready to start their day in the little sleepy town of Zermatt.

As we walked down the hill towards the station, we were able to see more of Zermatt than the night before. Morning construction trucks were putting their way up the hills. Since Zermatt doesn't allow automobiles, all vehicles in the area are small, electric cars/trucks. It was taking several trucks to bring building supplies to the construction site. The cement truck was hilarious to see. A small blue truck with a small mixer in the back along with bags of cement. No fun for whoever had to add the water and start the mixing process. Shortly after the convoy of trucks passed us we came upon a skier. Zermatt must be picturesque during the winter months when all the snow is covering the town. You would expect to see people decked out in their ski suits heading to the slopes. In August, it's not something you would expect to see. So seeing this guy wearing a ski suit and lugging his skis was kind of funny to see on the sunny, warm August day. There is still snow up on the mountains so I guess when in Rome...While we continued our walk to the station, we came across the cemetery. This is a mountaineers cemetery. Many tombstones marked the lives of individuals who died on the mountain. I guess if you have a final resting place, the city of Zermatt isn't so bad.All the chalets nestled at the base of the Swiss Alps makes Zermatt a beautify town to see. I would love to see it during the height of the winter covered in snow, but since I don't ski and really hate the snow and cold weather, I don't think that's going to happen.

We hopped the train and headed slowly down the mountain on our way to Visp. Looking back at the Alps was a sight to bestow since the morning snow was shinning off the snow cap mountains. From the station at Visp, we boarded another train to Interlaken. It is a really touristy place. This town is known for its extreme outdoor sport activities. We had reservations at Balmer's herberge hostel. It is considered the oldest, private hostel in Switzerland. It kind of has a reputation for being an "Animal House" establishment. Since we arrived a little early in Interlaken we weren't able to check into our dorm room. This time we were able to get an all-girls dorm room that slept 6. Because we couldn't get into our rooms, we had to park our backpacks in storage area for the time being. We decided to hit the town and see what Interlaken had to offer, grab a bite to eat for lunch, and go from there.As we walked to the center of town, there was evidence of all the types of outdoor adventures you could do while staying in Interlaken. Overhead, paragliders could be seen riding the thermals or even skydivers enjoying that rush of adrenalin as they floated back down towards earth's surface. I can say I was very tempted to go paragliding or skydiving but after checking out how much CF (Swiss francs) it would cost me, I decided against it. There are times I wish I wasn't so careful about money. So instead of spending money on 30 minutes of a pure adrenalin rush, I decided I could buy a nice Swiss watch for a sixth of the cost and have it longer.
The town was crowded with people on holiday. We walked all around town to kill time. We spied some nice historical buildings, crossed over several interesting bridges, stared at beautiful blue glacial water (all because of the glacial fleur), watched skydivers land in the park and wished I was one of them, passed the casino and water park, drooled at the chocolate shop, hit the post office for stamps and to mail out postcards, and grabbed lunch from Migros. Lunch consisted of cheese and crackers, a tomato and some prosciutto. After walking all over town, we headed back to Balmers to eat lunch. While eating lunch we met, Samet. Samet is a Turkey citizen on holiday. He was waiting for his white water rafting expedition to take place. Since he was waiting, he joined us for lunch and we chatted about our journeys so far.After collecting our bags and checking into our rooms, we mapped out where we wanted to go the next day. We decided to go to Lucern and then try Lugano. Happy hour started at the hostel so we were able to meet more of the backpacker staying at Balmer's. During the summer time Balmer's has a village along the edge of the river where people camp out under the stars. Several people were heading off to go bowling, while others were enjoying the happy hour. We decided to grab dinner at a Thai place we walked past on our way into town. I grabbed some coconut soup with chicken and a spring roll. I had to have something other than cheese and bread/crackers. While we were eating dinner, Samet returned from his adventure and joined us. He had a good time but stated often how cold the water was. We continued to make small talk and found out that he was heading to Lugano also. For him, it was to relax on the beach. For M, it was to get gellato. Since we were catching a very early train, I called it a night. Looking back, I don't know if I would have stayed in Interlaken for the night without doing some sort of outdoor activity. By not doing an outdoor activity, spending several hours walking around town was enough for you to see the sights. I would have traveled on to Lucern and stayed there so that you can have an early start in the morning and be able to cram a lot more in your day.