Date of Entry: January 27th 2017
Date of Writing: February 14th 2018
Tikal, it’s a highlight of Central America, not unlike Machu Picchu in Peru, and there’s a lot of different ways to do it. You can spend a day or several days. You can stay in Flores about an hour away, or in one of the three hotels beside the ruins, you can do guided tours or explore alone (at least during the day), and there’s a secret last option we’ll cover in the Day 2 entry, which trust me, is a pretty damn cool one.
I arrive in Flores a bit tired out and I have already organized and paid for my trip to Tikal. I’ve opted to stay in the campgrounds at the Jaguar Inn and have booked myself a tent for two nights a few days before while in Antigua. If you want to book a tent complete with sleeping bag and pillow you can do so here, it’s only 15 usd for 1 person and I highly recommend this option because of the doors it opens for early and late tours of the ruins and a little secret you’ll see in the next entry.
Either way In Flores I’m collected and brought briefly to a tourist agency where I cross the street and buy some snacks in town to carry me through the next three days, then were led a few blocks at a run to catch the last bus to Tikal this agency is running today. I have all my baggage but it’s hardly the first time I’ve had to run through intense heat with all my bags. Ahh the joys of backpacking.
After a hot hour our guide buys my ticket and manages to get me free sunset entry for the first day through some sort of trick which only works because I’m staying at the actual ruins. I’ve met a few people who are staying at one of the other hotels Including Ed form England and so we all go get checked in and agree to meet up in a few minutes to go explore the ruins together.
I’m welcomed to my already set up tent complete with an air mattress type sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and pillow and put close to a clean and nice bathroom I’m happy with my choice. I pack myself a day bag and then leave everything else in my tent heading to the Tikal Inn just down the road where Ed and a swiss guy Maurus are staying. They have rooms, and a pool, which is awesome because I’m more than willing to mooch off them for pool use. We also book a sunrise tour together for the next morning through their hotel. Then we sunscreen up and head out to go explore the ruins for the afternoon. I’m super excited as both my brother and my father have visited here and both rave about them. Before we get to go in though a small Toucan perches on a branch above us. That’s got to be a good sign. This sets me birdwatching and I also find a parakeet and a few other birds.
At the entrance I snap a photo of the park map which might be of use for anyone going. While you can’t get too lost inside there are quite a few trails and this is the jungle, so it’s good to have the map.
We choose to first go to some side ruins near the entrance and our glad we did since there we seem to be completely alone. That is until I notice some branches moving in the trees and as we come to the first set of ruins we’re joined by some new friends, a couple of spider monkeys, a type of monkey I’ve not seen since I was 16 in Costa Rica. They are awesome and we watch them play scrambling up hillsides to try to follow them and get a photo or two. What a great introduction to Tikal.
Eventually we bid goodbye to our monkey friends and continue along the trail, myself very much looking forward to seeing my first Mayan Pyramid. I don’t have to wait long as we round a corner on the jungle trail and there it is, a huge clearing filled with this magnificent pyramid, in remarkably good condition for how old it is. I want to climb it. but that’s not allowed at this one, and I try to hold myself back knowing that for the next 2 weeks or so I’ll be living in the Mayan world almost non stop. We also see an old friend from Costa Rica and Iguazu falls, a Coati, who roam the ruins freely looking for food from tourists.
From there we head towards the main plaza of the ancient city of Tikal and i’m once again wowed, two huge pyramids on either side with tons of buildings on either side of me. You can immediately feel how big this city must have been all those years ago. Like in Machu Picchu I find it amazing to just find a spot to sit and imagine what i must have been like, replacing the hordes of tourists with little mayan people in my mind. Ruins have always been a very creative place for me.
We walk to a few more small pyramids behind the main plaza but as the sun starts to set we head back there and find a perch up on one of the side buildings to watch the sunset behind the pyramids of Tikal, the burning ball of fire sinking low behind the canopy and colouring the sky in the most beautiful way.
The sunset just keeps getting better as we sit up there chatting about our travel experiences, plans and lives back home to. But most of our attention is given to climbing around the ruins and searching for the single best viewpoints of the sunset. It’s so damn beautiful and seems to take me back in time to the height of Tikal, bustling with energy, people rushing to finish daytime work as the sun dissapears.
Eventually we’re called by the guards whistle and told it’s time to leave the park, which is okay, the sun is just about gone by now and and I’m happy because I still have all day tomorrow including a sunrise tour and a very special surprise I’ve been scheming to make come to fruition.
We get back to the hotels just outside the ruins and even though it’s night time I take a swim before dinner, which I eat with my two european friends at their hotel, to help excuse my use of the divine pool. Then it’s back to my tent for a surprisingly cozy and comfy sleep considering I’m in a tent. It’s going to be a very full day tomorrow.
