On to Tikal

A lot has happened since our last blog entry. After our most adventurous day at the Semuc Champey, we dragged ourselves into the hotel restaurant for a quick dinner and fell into bed exhausted. Next morning, the shuttle picked us up for our trip to Tikal and who was on board, but of course Umberto.

It had poured rain all night and it continued to rain all the way to Flores, the small town just south of Tikal. The road was good…paved no doubt for the tourist traffic between Coban and Tikal. We passed through small villages that were obviously very poor…lots of cattle and horses but no vehicles. The terrain along the way was very hilly and covered in dense foliage, though the constant rain gave the landscape a dreary look.

Five hours after we set out, we arrived at Flores, as small town with little to offer other than hotels which are much cheaper than the three jungle lodges at Tikal itself. Umberto was staying here overnight, and the four of us switched buses for the remaining hour’s trip to Tikal. As soon as we got down from the bus, we were being “hustled” by a travel agent for our next leg from Tikal. We were offered an onward trip from Tikal to San Ignacio in Belize, so we dug out our money and bought our tickets. It was only a couple of days later when we were checking our funds that Robb realized he was missing about 130 US dollars….that amount being the change from the $200 he’d given the agent for our tickets. Robb had put the change in a pocket as we were in a hurry to get on the next bus, and likely some fast fingered Florisian pick pocket slipped it out in the hustle and bustle of the bus station. Oh well…

We arrived at Tikal and checked into the Tikal Inn which turned out be a lovely quaint hotel with an inviting looking pool and gardens, surrounded by towering jungle. Tikal is a nicely developed area with a large visitor centre, park and crocodile lagoon. One interesting thing about all the hotels in the park is that each has its own power generator and as a result there is only power (and hot water) in the hotel a few hours in the morning and again in the evening….lights out at 10:00 whether you’re ready or not with the blackness of the jungle night descending on everything. This wasn’t a problem for us as we were out most of the day and were certainly ready for bed well before 10:00!!

Shortly before 5:00 in the evening we set off for a brief exploration of the ruins as the entry was free at this time of day, (only an hour of light remained.). Tikal is the ruins of a major Mayan city and covers a huge area of approximately 10 square miles, although only 20% of it has been uncovered. There are clusters of excavated ruins scattered through the jungle and hidden by the dense foliage until you suddenly enter a clearing and are upon them. A well maintained series of trails leads to the various complexes.

It was somewhat eerie walking through the jungle in the fading dusk on the almost-deserted trails. Each of the complexes is named or numbered and our first encounter was with Group G, a series of small buildings which were probably living quarters. We then made our way to the Gran Plaza where Temples 1 and 2 face each other across a large square now covered in lawn with more ruins bordering on the north and south. It was quite an impressive site. These particular ruins dated from about 150 BC to 700 AD. We climbed a steep wooden stairway up Temple 2 to a height of about 38 metres. The view of the plaza and temples was stunning. As we walked back across the plaza we were delighted to see several coatimundi, very cute raccoon-like creatures which abound in the jungles of Guatemala, and several colorful wild turkeys that actually look more like peacocks without the long tail feathers. By this time it was getting dark, so we high-tailed it back to the park entrance hoping to avoid an encounter with a jaguar or other wild creatures that come out at night.

At Tikal there is a tour to view the sunrise from Temple 4 setting out from the hotel with a guide at 4:30 am (supply your own flashlight!!). Rose was the only one in our group willing to rise before dawn and walk through the ink-black night to climb the long staircase to the top of the 64 metre high temple. In any case, we were all awoken at 4:30 by the electrifying sound of the howler monkeys.

It is hard to describe this sound echoing across the early morning darkness. It sounds something like a cross between a lion’s roar, the growl of a dog, and a little “mooing” thrown in! We had been warned about this strange sound, but we were still surprised to hear this cacophony of weird howls reverberating from the surrounding trees. We were even more surprised when later that day, we saw just how small these monkeys are. Big voices for such small creatures! This early morning wake up call happens every morning, though we managed to go back to sleep the next morning after being awakened.

The weather in Tikal was again unusually cool which made it perfect for walking around. We didn’t have to contend with the usual 35 degrees and high humidity which is typical here.

Rose returned from her jungle tour about 9:30, just as we were setting off on our tour. She said she’d had an awesome experience, especially the bright stars overhead and the sounds of frogs, birds, monkeys and other jungle creatures. The sun rise through the mist over the jungle was a beautiful sight. Just as we were setting off, Umberto walked into the hotel having arrived on an early bus from Flores. (We are forever running into people we know along the way). He was heading back to Vancouver after his half day in Tikal, so we said goodbye to a congenial traveling companion.

We had an excellent guide who must have had a degree in archeology and Mayan studies as he was extremely knowledgeable and gave us a very informative tour for almost four hours. We walked for what seemed like miles (and probably was), along the jungle trails, visiting a number of temples and complexes, including the Gran Plaza, Temple 5 and Mundo Perdido (Lost World) a huge pyramid at the far end of the site.

On the way back for lunch, we had one of the most memorable sites of our trip so far. As we approached the exit, our guide pointed up to a tree just off the path and there sitting in its lower branches was a Harpy Eagle. Harpies are the largest eagle in the world and have magnificent plumage….almost like a mane around their neck. Our guide was very excited by this sighting as he said only about five such encounters happen each year in the park. With our binoculars we were able to observe this rare bird for several amazing minutes.

After a mediocre (or worse) lunch we relaxed for a while around the pool. Robb was keen to view the sunset over Tikal from the prime viewing spot…the large pyramid of Mundo Perdido. None of us girls were very enthusiastic. Darien and Sue are somewhat nervous of heights and Rose had done enough climbing for the day so Robb set out alone about 4:30. Sue had some misgivings, imagining him falling off a temple or getting lost in the dark and being attacked by a jaguar. Of course he returned safe and sound though it was well after dark. He had climbed Temple 5, up an extremely steep and dangerous staircase, and had then gone on to climb the pyramid to watch the sunset over the jungle with a number of other climbers. He found the walk back to the hotel a little spooky, realizing how easy it would be to become lost in the maze of trails. He had enjoyed his adventure just the same and we were both relieved to see him back at the hotel about 7:00.

Tikal was very worthwhile and interesting, though we had heard so much about it that it could not have lived up to our expectations. The grandeur of the temples was amazing but the ancient Mayan capital didn’t seem to have any mystical quality to it as we had experienced at Uxmal in the Yucatan peninsula. I think we were also a bit jaded by having seen several other Mayan sites. Overall, however, Tikal was not to be missed.

The next morning the weather was overcast, but that was okay as we were traveling to Belize – first stop San Ignacio just across the border. We continued what was becoming a habit of leaving things behind on this trip. We didn’t realize till we were leaving San Ignacio that Rose had left her brand-new new beautiful snorkeling set in its own pack on the bus as we were rushed off the bus in San Ignacio.
Next update in a few days.