Tikal

We took the early shuttle from Caye Caulker to Belize City and then caught the express shuttle across to Flores in Guatemala. The bus ride was really comfortable and the border crossing was really easy. We had to pay an exit fee of BZD37.50 that included a processing fee and a conservation fee. Upon entering Guatemala there is an entrance fee of US$3. No one knows why you have to pay these fees but we were warned by the bus company to pay the fees otherwise you might not get the correct entry stamp which could lead to a hefty fine when exiting the country. So with the fees paid and our passports stamped we entered Guatemala.

The scenery almost immediately changes. Huge mountains filled with tropical vegetation spread out for miles. Children, cats and cattle hang out on the side of the highway. We were headed for Flores, a small island in the middle of a lake near the town of Santa Elena. The bus drops you off in Santa Elena where you have to get a smaller shuttle onto the island. This shuttle is free but the company that takes you also has a salesman on the shuttle that tries to sell you bus tickets or tours for about four times what they actually go for! Always ask a couple of people what they have paid before you settle on a tour company.

We had heard about Los Amigos hostel from our friend who has visited Guatemala before and decided to give it a go. When we arrived the private rooms were all taken so we decided to spend our first night in a dorm room with aircon for Q75 each. The hostel is really cool and the vibe is awesome. It was a good place to experience our first night in a dorm. The main reason why we were in Flores was to visit the Tikal ruins that are just a short drive away from Flores. We wanted to do the sunrise tour, which starts at 3am so we decided to put it off for one day and just relax the following day.

We spent the next day doing some admin and we checked into a private room that had become available. The cost for the private room was Q150 so for the two of us it cost the same as a dorm room for two people. We booked our 3am tour through Los Amigos for Q95 each. We found Los Amigos to be the cheapest tour company for tours and bus tickets. The next day we woke up at 2:30am, something we are not used to doing and won’t do again in a hurry! We got up and met our group at the shuttle bus at 3am. The drive from Flores to Tikal took about 1.5hrs because we needed to fetch some other people at different hostels and fill up with gas. We got to the gates of the national park and each paid the entrance fee of Q250 (the fee is Q250 before 6am and Q150 after 6am). We were then lead to the tallest temple (temple IV) and sat for about an hour waiting for the sun to rise. You sit in silence so that you can listen to the howler monkeys waking up. It is quite something and at times felt like we were in Jurassic Park because the monkeys sound a lot like what we can only imagine a dinosaur would sound like; and there was an eerie layer of mist over the entire forest. The sun eventually did rise but because of the mist we couldn’t really tell where it was and the other temples were all covered. If it is clear though apparently it is a spectacular sight.

We spent the next 4hrs or so exploring the city and taking pictures of the animals. We spotted a spider monkey, toucan, parrots and even a tarantula! The Mayans built this city from 400BC to 900AD and at its peak it is estimated they had a population of 120,000 people. They used limestone from the area and made cement using the gum from local trees, water and sand. It is incredible to think about how they built these structures with nothing but manpower. There were temples, palaces, pyramids, residences, admin buildings and monuments. Our guide explained that one temple took 50 years to complete – that’s some dedication!

At around 10:30am we left the park and were taken to the shuttle buses to go home. By then we had been awake for 8hrs already so we were dead on our feet and slept the whole ride home! All in all we really enjoyed the experience even though it is quite expensive with the entrance fee. We would recommend you go early though as there are only small groups of people and the animals are all out. When we left the bigger tour groups were arriving and we can imagine it getting quite packed during the day.

That night we decided to go out for dinner in the town. There are restaurants that line the lakefront with happy hour cocktails. We enjoyed some margaritas while watching the turtles coming up for some air. We ate some street food for really cheap. The stalls sell burritos, tacos and an array of desserts. We went to bed early as our bus for Lanquin would leave the next day at 8am. Our first 8hr bus was not something we were looking forward to but we were excited about the river village we were headed for.