One Final Adventure: Flores and Tikal

05/12/09-07/12/09

From Lanquin, we took an early shuttle to Flores, a long 9-hour drive away. Anna and Leanne had taken the same bus, so on arrival in nearby Santa Elena, it was time to say our goodbyes. They were heading to Finca Ixobel, where they had both worked together previously, and we were going to base ourselves in Flores, an island in the middle of Lake Peten Itzá, in order to visit the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal. Although we were tired from the journey, we decided to go for a walk and check out the town. We didn't get very far though as Vic managed to notice that a Real Madrid game was being shown in one of the restaurants close to our hotel, so we went in for a drink, and ended up having a light dinner there as well. By the time we had finished, we had gone off the walk idea and decided to head back to the hotel....we had a 5am start the next morning to visit Tikal.

As can be expected when you have to be up at 5am, our driver arrived half an hour late, and having paid everything up front, for a little while we were worried that we had been conned, but eventually he arrived and we were on our way. Tikal is about a 2-hour drive away but most people just do a day trip from Flores, as the hotels in Tikal are extremely expensive. When we arrived, we were pleased to find that there was somewhere we could have breakfast before setting off on the 4 hour tour of the ruins! Unfortunately the weather was awful: cold and raining, and so the majority of us all invested in a bright yellow poncho, only for the rain to stop ten minutes in to the tour.....typical or what?

Tikal is absolutely huge, and one of the most famous ruin sites in the whole of Central America. There are parts that we didn't even manage to see on the tour as it takes hours to reach them! Similar to Palenque and Yaxchilan, Tikal is based in the heart of the jungle.....obviously the trees have been cleared from around the temples and pyramids, but there still exist huge expanses of jungles in between the towering monuments, which provide homes to a whole host of wildlife including keel-billed toucans and toucanets, among others. You can also see turkeys and coatis wondering around in several areas of the site, and our guide even managed to spot a huge tarantula, which people took turns in holding and having their photos taken! I wasn't one of them, and neither was Vic, but I did manage to get at least one good photo! The tallest temple in Tikal, Temple IV, scales to a height of 70m and from the top you get a perfect idea of just how deep in the jungle Tikal is. As far as the horizon, you can see nothing but trees, with a few temples sprouting out in the distance! Our guide told us to sit at the top of this temple quietly and enjoy the sounds of the countless birds that live in the vast carpet of greenery below, but with twenty other people up there at the same time, sitting in silence is pretty impossible, although I did hear a few birds....Appropriately, Tikal is commonly known as 'el lugar de sonidos' (the place of sounds). We climbed up to the top of a few more temples after this one, Temple V being the most difficult to climb, as the stairs were more like a ladder, i.e. very steep, so to get back down you had to climb backwards! It offered another wonderful view though, being the second tallest temple in Tikal at just over 60m.

After an early start and busy morning, we spent that afternoon relaxing at the hotel and going for a walk around town. We were planning to go back to Antigua for our final week, so we had to find out the best way of getting there. It turned out that several agencies offer a bus service to Guatemala City with a connecting shuttle to Antigua, but they don't leave until the evening, so we decided to leave the following evening. It wasn't a very comfortable journey, as the bus was really cold, and the roads were very windy so we were constantly sliding from side to side. It was a relief to arrive in the capital. We had to wait a while for the shuttle, but once it arrived, we were in Antigua in no time. We headed to our usual hotel, hoping that it would be fine to check in so early in the morning. Luckily, it wasn't a problem, and so we were able to catch some sleep before going for breakfast. And so began the final week of our trip.....it's unbelievable to think we have been away for six and a half months and that we have been to so many places and done so many amazing things! We are so glad to have done it though and we're already looking forward to the next time....wherever it may be :)