A short visit to Tikal
Author: Shirlz
Thursday, 19 June 2014
I caught the 9:30 bus to Flores this morning, getting jostled along in the mad scramble for a place.The bus was already half full and seats were at a premium. I was becoming resigned to having to stand in the crush for the 4 or 5 hour trip when the kind conductor cleared some baggage off a place right in front for me. I felt quite flattered and then realised it was the seat reserved for the old and/or disabled. Well, I wasn’t going to complain and I had a great view of the road ahead. Wonderful green hills on either side with occasional villages.
Sometimes the view was a trifle heart-stopping as the driver courageously passed anything in front, sometimes on sharp curves and steep hills. It became even more exciting later on when there was a cloudburst which lasted for a few hours and we powered almost blindly on with non-functional windscreen wipers and rapidly fogging-up windows. The conductor did his best to keep a patch clear for the driver using some scrunched up newspaper to wipe the windscreen. When not busy with this little job, he was avidly reading a news article about all the latest road crashes and injuries sustained. I closed my eyes and breathed slow deep breaths.
Just before Santa Elena the rain stopped and soon we arrived at the bus terminus. A short ride across a causeway in a tuk-tuk and I was in Flores. In the distant past it had been the site of a Maya town but now no evidence of this is visible and the tiny island is almost completely taken over by cheap and colourful hostels and hotels. I easily found a friendly and reasonably priced room in a small hotel right on the lake. The manageress very efficiently sold me a ticket to Tikal on a minibus leaving at 4:30 tomorrow morning. Well, why not?
The island is on Lake Petén Ixtá about 60km from the entrance to Tikal with its ancient Maya temples so it makes a convenient stopping place on the way there. It doesn’t take long to walk all the way round the island and as it was already happy hour I found a good spot next to the water and treated myself to a gin and tonic.
Friday, 20 June 2014
An early start and by 6:30 I was strolling along a track through the jungle of the archeological site. I don’t like crowds so preferred to potter about on my own without a guide and a herd of tourists. I had a handy little map of the general layout and at that time of the morning there was hardly anyone else about which gave me a better chance of seeing some wildlife.
After ambling along the track for a while I came upon the first of the temple sites and was truly amazed and impressed by its sudden appearance towering up above the top of the trees. Steep steps going up in the classic design.
Later I arrived at the main plaza where two gigantic stepped pyramidal temples face each other on an exact east-west axis. The stone steps are off-limits but a wooden staircase has been built at the back of the higher of the two and I climbed dutifully up and enjoyed the spectacular view.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the enormous park in a leisurely fashion discovering and admiring site after site. Always impressed as they were suddenly revealed in their cleared patches of jungle. The massive, tall Ceiba trees were almost as impressive as the temples.
By late afternoon I had developed some monster blisters on my feet as I had decided to wear ‘proper’ hiking shoes. My poor feet weren’t used to anything more serious than flip-flops. Fortunately I had a pair in my pack ready for just such an emergency. The heavy hiking sandals were dumped in a garbage bin (they were at least 10 years old so I didn’t feel guilty) and I carried happily on, flip-flopping along the path.
The park closes at 6pm so I headed back to the visitors centre where there are some restaurants and hotels. One of the hotels had a campsite with tents for hire and I decided to spend the night there and pay a bit extra to be allowed into the park at 5 am to watch the sunrise from the top of Temple IV which also has a specially made, easy to climb wooden staircase giving access. I thought it might feel significant as it was the day of the summer solstice. Rather unfortunately it turned out to be a misty drizzly day and the sun sneaked up in a very unspectacular way. No refund was offered.
I didn’t feel too disappointed as on the way in, walking along a narrow muddy path with the guide (compulsory for the sunrise visit) while it was still dark we heard the horrifying bloodcurdling roar of howler monkeys which must have been directly above us in the canopy. It went on and on. I had heard their roar before in Brazil but never this close. Some delightful little spider monkeys were also swinging about high overhead.
I was able to get a convenient bus back to Rio Dulce at lunch time and not long before sunset I limped happily back over the bridge to my beautiful little boat, feeling inspired to find out more about the ancient Maya civilisation.
Tags: Flores. Maya, Tikal
July 26th, 2014 at 14:47
hello shirly,
i was just reading up about boats, thinking about your boat, (we met in chaguaramas and took the plane to england in december.) and i came across your site here. it’s nice to see her and your travels!
August 16th, 2014 at 03:50
Its been a while – everything ok ?