Tikal is
the largest ancient Mayan city found in the north of Guatemala. If you are in
Guatemala, it is one of the must-see places to visit.
We decided
to spend two days in Tikal and two days in Flores which is a pretty town
situated about 70kms southwest of Tikal. Many people fly or bus into Flores,
then take a day trip to Tikal. We wanted to be in Tikal for the sunrise and to
experience staying in part of the jungle, where you can hear all the animals
sounds early in the morning and sometimes even late at night.
temples. We found a taxi who would take us to Tikal. The drive was slow and tiring as the driver insisted on driving according to the minimum speed limit, but I suppose that is better than not arriving at all. We eventually arrived at our hotel – Hotel Jaguar.
The hotel
was comfortable but a bit behind the times with regards to technology and
electricity. They used generators and batteries, so the electricity was only
available at certain times of the day. From 9.00pm to 6.00am, there was no
power, so even the ceiling fans couldn’t be switched on and it was hot and
humid, even in the middle of the night. All part of the experience!
 |
| Mel standing outside our room at Hotel Jaguar. |
We were
glad we had chosen the hotel because we had arranged to go on a sunrise tour of
the Mayan ruins which started at 4.00am on Tuesday 14 March.
We met up
with our tour guide, Caesar who was originally from Guatemala but had spent
many years in New York City, so he was fluent in English. He was quite
entertaining too.
It was
wonderful and quite spooky walking along the pathway in the jungle, in total
darkness with the odd glint of moonlight when there was a break in the canopy
of trees.
Tikal was discovered in 1848 by Coronel Modesto Mendez and Ambrosio Tut. There is also the story that it was first founded by Mr Wrigley of chewing gum fame. He had sent out workers to find and gather the resin from some trees found in the area, as part of the ingredients to make chewing gum. – chicle. A few of the workers saw some scary and exotic faces and stone carvings. These were
 |
| At the Grand Plaza with Templo 1/Grand Jaguar in the background. |
investigated which led to the finding of the Mayan temples in Tikal.
The
National Park was open to the public in 1955 and it was recognised as a site of
‘Humanity Heritage’ by UNESCO in 1979.
Tikal in
Mayan means ‘in the lagoon’ but many still refer to it and know it as ‘the
places of the spirit voices’ or the ‘place that whispers’. The Mayan
civilisation dates from the year 800BC until 900AD.
Only 20% of
the 65 km2 has been excavated due to finances and the complexity of the whole
structures as Mother Nature has taken over and the roots of the trees have
embedded themselves into the structures.
Here are
two links explaining a bit about the Mayan civilisation:
Mayan Civilization:
Calendar, Pyramids & Ruins- HISTORY - HISTORY
 |
| A view from the top of Temple 4. |
Mesoamerica is a region that spans from central Mexico to
northern Costa Rica, where diverse cultures flourished for thousands
of years.). It was built in 740AD and is 70 metres tall. It was the last temple
to be built and stands majestically above and overlooking many of the other
temples, that is why it was perfect to climb up and watch the sun rise in the
east.
 |
| Sitting at the top of Temple 4 , - the very top is in the background. |
The howler monkeys are quite prolific in the area, and
you would be alerted that they were close by, by the rustling and the falling
of the leaves. We would look above us and sure enough, there they were eating,
lounging or playing around, swinging between the branches using their tails or
their long arms and legs.
 |
| Coatimundi feeding. |
lurking in the ground (similar to meerkats).
Jaguar do lurk in the area along with wild pig but
thankfully we didn’t encounter any while walking around the park, although Mel
would have loved to have seen one. Not sure what he would have done if he had
of seen one. We did eventually see one but sadly in a zoo – more later.
over 21kms that day according to our watches.
We were able to go up Temple 2 in the Grand Plaza,
Acropolis Central, Temple 6 and the Palace de las Acanaladuras.
All the temples were built in different time periods and
by different rulers. The whole Mayan dynasty was based on a feudal system and
the life expectancy was maximum of 30 years.
There is some speculation that the whole dynasty collapsed due to lack
of water and when the people left, mother nature took over and covered the
temples until they were discovered in 1848.
Mel and I felt quite old as many of the people were
actually backpackers. Anyway, we managed to see what we wanted to see and that
was a jaguar. We don’t usually like going to zoos, only if we know that they
are of an extremely high standard and the animals are looked after
appropriately.
We had read about the Zoological Education Centre of San
Miguel, so on Thursday morning, we took a water taxi across the lake to San
Miguel. We then took a tuk tuk to the zoo.
It was quite distressing to see the animals in such small
cages. The animals looked healthy and the cages were of a reasonable size
(except the vultures cage) but the cages were not well maintained and
everything looked tired and badly in need of a revamp.
We saw a jaguar – yes it was sleeping and had a very full tummy but it was sad to see that he wasn’t active and hardly had enough space to run, jump and play.
Flores had plenty of restaurants to choose from and in
fact we were spoilt for choice.
We left Flores on Friday 17 March. The bus left for the
Rio Dulce at 6.00am and we were back at the boat by 12.00pm.
Our next adventure will be starting on Sunday 19 March
when we travel to Antigua and Lake Atitlan in the south west of Guatemala.
Until next
time, take care and enjoy whatever you are doing.
Bye for
now.
Mel and
Caryn
sv Passages
If you want to see where we
currently are – press on the "Latest Location" link at the bottom
left of the page. This may not be accurate and is dependent on sites with
access to AIS (automatic identification system).
The view from our hotel window.
Mel enjoying the hotel pool.
Some of the colourful houses/buildings on Flores.
The Cathedral right at the top of the hill on the island of Flores.
Mel enjoying the boat ride back to the main island of Flores after our visit to the Zoo.
A spider monkey
The view from the zoo of Flores, with the Cathedral in the centre.
When we arrived back at the hotel, this is how our towels were folded. 😊