Flores and Tikal!!!

The Road to Flores and the Town

We had booked a shuttle from Coban to take us to Flores, the biggest traveler hub before you get to Tikal. It was in essence a minivan with extra seats throw in, but no extra room. We were all crammed in like sardines and it had me in hysterics for a bit cause there were these four twig-skinny teenagers all smooched in the backseat (which I think was really only meant for 2 or 3 people max) and they're all complaining that they're touching eachother. I was sitting next to a 10 year old that thought he was 400 pounds and attempted to take up the entire seat. The whole situation was made better by the fact that there were only so many windows and the temperature out side was in the low 100s, with very high humidity. Shuttles in other words are a way for the locals to charge you more for what you could get if you took public transportation. Public transportation actually is better in some instances.

Six painful hours later and we arrived in Flores. Flores is the capital of the Peten, which is the name of the department/area that takes up the top third of Guatemala. Peten is 40% Maya Biosphere Reserve and boasts the largest concentration of Mayan ruins. The sad thing, is it's really hard to get to 90% of the ruins without purchancing some completely overpriced tour, except for Tikal that is. Tikal is the main attraction an therefore there is easy public and private transportation to and from it.

Flores itself is a small island that is connected to Santa Elena by a 500 m bridge. The island had a nice European charm with small cobblestone streets that run in circles around the island. The city was the capital od the Itzxa Maya until 1697 when the Spanish finally foreced the town (them called Tayasal) under their control. The town was to be our home base for the next day and a half.

Tikal

We booked the earliest bus that we could up to Tikal in order to be able to spend the most amount of time there possible. So 4:45 am saw us outside the hostel watching the sun come up and waiting for the shuttle to arrive. It was a pleasent hour and a half ride and then we were at our destination.

Tikal is considered by many to be the most renowned of all Mayan ruins. The site is dominated by five giant temples, multiple steep-sided pyramids, and thousands of smaller outlying buildings, many of which are in varying stages of being reclaimed by the jungle. The site itself is part of the Parque Nacional Tikal (Tikal National Park), and is home to multiple forms of wildlife in addition to the ruins. Of note are Spider and Howler Monkeys, Toucans, Parakeets, Osillating Turkeys, and the always loved, malaria carrying mesquito. We saw all of these animals and more. The latter one chased us across most of the park, especially when we went on some of the more overgrown and shadier paths.

Most people that come to Tikal run straight for the central area, with the five temples. The Great Plaza, is the center of the city and is in the heart of the central area. It is surrounds by four massive structures, including Temples 1 and 2, which stand opposite eachother. The Great Plaza was the center of ceremonial and religious activities for onwards of a thousands years. From this area you can spread any direction and run into more runins.

There are a few of the Temples that you're allowed to climb to the top of and get the lay of the land. Stairs that are almost vertical and have to be climbed like the world's longest ladder are attached to help with this process on some of the larger pyramids. The view is definitely worth it and you'll all just have to check out my photos when I post them on Facebook, because I can't describe it well enough here to do it justice.

Christie, Mustasheio, and I wandered every inch of the park, except for Complex H which was skipped due to hunger and the heat, as we passed it on our way to lunch and a shade break. We hit up every path and capture photos of many of the ruins and of the wierd and beautiful jungle creatures (there were florescent orange catepillars). The park is nice because you can pretty much walk around unmolested by guides, guards, and other people. There's so much to see and not the hordes upon hordes of people that were thought we all be there and so you get a sense at times that you're the only one around. It's very nice.

There are also two small museums that are attached to the site that you can visit. One is the lithic museum, where they have placed many of stealae and altars with beautiful carvings and pictorial language. The other is the Tikal Museum, which contains mostly pottery and jewelry that was found in different ruins around the site. There is also one burial that is on permanent display. Both museums are small and half most of their information in Spanish, but it's worth the few minutes and 10 Q to see them.

On that is the small of my visit to Tikal. Next up is Rio Dulce and Livingston, the Carribbean Coast of Guatemala.