During the SSAST program of THE Ohio State University in Antigua, Guatemala, our group of Spanish teachers took a weekend excursion to the Petén region in the north of Guatemala to see the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal. After our plane landed in Flores, we hopped on a bus that brought us to our hotel just outside the park entrance of the ruins. The Hotel Tikal Inn www.tikalinn.com was the former residence of some of the archaeologists who had worked to restore the Tikal ruins. Nestled into the jungle that surrounds the whole area, it is a beautiful place with excellent opportunities to see wildlife right outside your room.
Going from Antigua where it was a temperate mountain climate to Tikal was quite a change. The heat and humidity of the jungle in July was shocking. We had been told to wear long pants and sleeves as protection against insects and sun so most of us were a hot mess when we got there. The pool was a welcome sight and we all jumped in within an hour of arrival. 
Unfortunately our pool time was cut short by a sudden thunderstorm that we enjoyed from the pool, staying in the water a little longer than we should have despite the nearby bolts of lightning. I blame the empty bottles of Gallo beer on the table next to the pool…
The next morning we left the hotel early to visit the ruins. I have visited many ruins in Mexico—Tenochtitlán, Uxmal, Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá, Cobá, and Tulum—but this was my first visit to one in Central America. The jungle setting was comparable to Cobá—a series of pyramids and temples peeking out of a sea of broccoli.
As we entered the site of Tikal, the howler monkeys in the trees were making quite a ruckus. We had been warned to be watchful of our purses and possessions as they were capable of relieving people of their goods. Luckily I had no interactions with them, minus listening to their morning howls.
Wandering around the ruins, I noticed that many of the temples and pyramids were closed off to people so that the steps could not be climbed—more out of concern for the structure rather than the safety of the people climbing. However, some pyramids had wooden scaffolding constructed adjacent to the temples that people could climb and still see the views from the top. I ascended one of these that was quite high and found myself with a temporary case of acrophobia at the top, making me summon help from strangers for any photo ops. 
The next temple did not seem so high, so I ventured up the wooden structure, but half way up I heard a terrible scream and saw a crowd gathering at the base of the tree next to the temple. 
My options were to continue climbing or go back down to see what was going on by the tree. I chose to keep climbing and I was glad I did. After I came down, I went over by the base of the tree where a small crowd still remained, some of the people pointing up the tree trunk. I saw one of the members of my SSAST group and asked her if she knew what had happened and as I heard the story, was VERY thankful that I was not involved.
The woman screaming had been standing under the tree when a huge yellow snake about six feet long fell from one of the tree branches. Right on her. As I was not there, I assume after her scream she passed out and was immediately rushed to a therapist and then home to cut down every tree in her yard as she would be unable to ever stand beneath a tree again. This is my theory of what happened, but my classmate went on to tell me about how the snake fell on the lady, fell to the ground, and then slithered quickly back toward the tree and up the trunk where it was now curled in a high branch with onlookers still pointing at it. Eww.
I wandered over to the trunk with the other pointers and was able to catch a glimpse of the serpent in question. That poor woman. I don’t know what happened to her, other than my own theory that I just shared. I knew I was glad it was not me. As I made my way back to the bus to return to the airport in Flores, I made sure I stayed away from trees and kept my gaze upward to be sure I was safe. My long sleeves and pants may have protected me from mosquitoes, but there is nothing that can protect a person from a falling snake.
Trippin' with Señora 