Jan 14, 2013 - Tikal

The bus ride was semi-comfortable. The seats recline a lot, so you almost believe you are lying prone, or is that prone to lying ? It really was acceptable - have certainly been on worse. Arrived to Flores, on Lago Peten, at 05:30 and arranged a combi-bus ride to Tikal, about an hour away. Dropped off our luggage at our hotel in the Tikal Park, and off exploring we went. We were first greeted by a 'band' of about a hundred Coatimundi's; actually maybe should be called a symphony or choir. Tikal is huge; about six square miles of about 3000...

Mar 24, 2012 - Tikal

Today we travelled by bus to Tikal. We are staying at the lovely Tikal Inn. This is a beautiful place but because it is in the jungle there is no electricity. The inn has a generator but it does not run 24 hours per day. We only have electriciy for two hours in the morning and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Good think I have a flashlight.

Dec 30, 2011 - Tikal, Guatemala

William wasn't wrong, apparently he never is... We had a 5 am start for our journey to the largest Mayan site in Central America. We journied through the park as the sky lightened. As we left the van David, a local guide and expert of Tikal, told us it is approximately 16 square kilometers with about 20% of it having been excavated, however that is more than some of the ruins and sites to be found here in the area. We trekked to some of the celebratory sites as he explained the theory behind these identical areas throughout the site - they...

Sep 10, 2011 - Tikal of the Wild (haha)

Hey all! It took a while to get to the ancient Mayan city of Tikal, but fortunately for our backsides, our group unanimously decided to spend an extra Q70 per person (a bit less than $10) to charter a van rather than riding the 'chicken bus' as we have gotten used to doing. We arrived in the afternoon and found we had the city to ourselves, our guide Miguel said that it was because most tours only run in the morning and he makes an exception for GAP(our tour group). Tikal was inhabited for about 1000 years and abandoned long before Coumbus...

Jun 25, 2011 - Tikal

On the way to Flores our group decided to spend a bit of extra money and take a private van so that we could take a detour to the ruins of Tikal. These are probably the most impressive ruins I have seen so far and are really quite large. It took about three hours to walk all of the way through them as there are so many and some of them take a while to get to the top. I also had the opportunity to see and hear quite a few different Howler monkeys which are really quite cool. These monkeys sound absolutely ferocious from a distance as their...

Jan 26, 2011 - Tikal

After a couple of days in Livingston we took another boat up the Rio Dulce, another beautiful boat ride, to the town of Rio Dulce where we caught a bus north to Flores. This was our base for visiting Tikal, site of a Mayan civilisation, which has been partially recovered from the jungle. We camped overnight so that we could go in first thing in the morning and had the place to ourselves. It was eerily quiet, apart from all the birds and the amazingly loud howler monkeys. I am still trying to perfect my impersonation of a howler monkey for...

Sep 28, 2010 - Tikal

Another entry not here...arrrggg. .Our visit to Tikal was done in the rain, mostly drizzle, but it did get going more than a few times. Carlos hired an English speaking guide named Javier, yes ladies you can change the J to C. Very handsome young man with lots of knowledge about Tikal and the area. I managed to do take a fall in the first 30 minutes of our 4/5 hour tour. Down I went camera, and umbrella first and me falling nano second by nano second later. Weird how slow times goes when you are falling! The umbrella completely bent and...

May 22, 2010 - Tikal - Stadt der Mayas

Heute ging es schon frueh los ... Tagwache um 5, Aufbruch um 6, 1 h Fahrt nach Tikal, der alten Mayastadt im Dschungel, besiedelt von 600 v. Chr. bis 850 n. Chr. Unser netter Fuehrer, Miguel begleitete uns schon im Bus und erklaerte uns mal alle Basic Informations. Dann ging es los, durch einen Pfad rein in den dichtesten Regenwald. Wir waren dann in Summe ca. 4 h unterwegs, erklommen 2 Pyramiden (grandiose Bilder!) und beendeten die Tour dann am Central Plaza, wo uns auch prompt ein Platzregen erwischte. Da es aber eh extrem heiss und...

Mar 2, 2010 - Tikal - Day Trip

Made arrangements w/ San Juan Tours thru Dona Goya Hostel #1 yesterday for pickup and return - 60q ($8 US ea). Bus came at 5am we arr at park 7am and spent next 5 1/2 hours touring the site...spread out and huge temples etc. lots of jungle...very nice since we could go up just about all the ruins thus far uncovered. See pics. It was also very nice since it was overcast all day so very pleasant walking and climbing temples...altho jungle shades most of the pathways anyway. Tikal Info We met folks from Australia, Portland, Seattle, Canada, &...

Jan 31, 2010 - OBITUARY 2

At 1000 hrs on 31st January 2010, Snapper Jnr tragically passed away. Snapper Jnr had recently lost his big brother in a freak diving accident in the Caribbean. Only days later the rather diminutive Snapper Jnr was on assignment in the Guatemala jungle when he was overwhelmed by flash floods. Despite valiant efforts from his owner to revive him he was declared dead at the scene. The owner, Mr Button, was still in shock at the time of writing, but did issue the following statement; “Two bloody cameras in the space of three days! Two bloody...

Apr 13, 2009 - Tikal

We dove over the border after Easter in San Ignacio for a quick visit to Tikal in Guatemala. We just stayed here one night, at a lodge right next to the site. So we spent the afternoon and evening wandering around the site, first with a guided tour, then wandering around the last complex ourselves. It is a huge place and only a small portion excavated, The climbs up some of these temples (done on constructed wooden stairs to the side of them here, is more hair-raising than others, but the views over the jungle were great. Three of us stayed...

Feb 7, 2009 - Tikal, Guatemala

Today we took our long awaited trip to Tikal. Tikal is considered the premier Mayan site and the centre of the ancient Mayan World. We opted for the bus from Flores rather than take the bike since the skys were cloudy and we had no desire to ride in the rain, then spend 5 or 6 hours walking around in wet gear. It turned out to be a wise choice as we did hit rain both going and returning in the late afternoon. Tikal is absolutely spectacular and lived up to all the hype we had read or heard. It is a must see if you are ever in the area. The...