One of my favorite trips in Guatemala was to Tikal, a large complex of Mayan ruins located in the northern jungles of this amazing country. Bruce and I traveled there in 2017 by shuttle. Actually it was a 9 seater van holding 10 backpackers and us. And it was a grueling 10 hour drive. I wanted to take our friends there, without being tortured, so we opted for a one hour plane ride from Guatemala City to Flores and an hour drive from Flores to Tikal. Our driver, Eduardo, picked us promptly and we were on our way.
The plane was small, but big enough to provide beverage service. It was a new plane, very clean with fairly comfortable seats. The airline was TAG airlines which I never heard of before I booked our flights.
There were a few hiccups with our arrival in Flores.
Our driver was waiting for us and he drove us to the Banco where we could buy our tickets into Tikal. From what I read, if you went into the park after 3pm one day you could go in the next. We also wanted to go in for the sunset and sunrise. We were told we needed to buy 3 separate tickets which came to 350 quetzals apiece. This actually was only $44. But it seemed like we were getting snookered.
After all the business was taken care of, we had a lovely ride to Jungle Lodge in Tikal stopping for a moment by a beautiful lake just beyond Flores.
Bruce and I stayed at Tikal Jungle Lodge two years ago and loved it. The hotel is little cabins with double beds, netting for the beds, luxurious bathrooms complete with a large soak tub. Many birds nest among the foliage and the hotel is walking distance to the entrance to the park.
We decided to get a quick bite to eat before setting off into the park. The hotel has an outdoor restaurant serving everything from pasta to fish. Up at the front desk, we met this English speaking man, Tony or Antonio, who was to become our guide. If you remember Clint Eastwood’s movie “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” he reminded me of Eli Wallach’s character, Tuco, quite the character and a bit of a scammer. Unfortunately, we all forgot to take pictures of Tony, which was a major miss for my blog.
Tony gave us a brief tutorial from a diagram on the wall in the reception area.
Afterwards, Tony walked us to the park entrance where we handed over our sunset tickets. After that Tony left us on our own. It was still early and light so we could see where we were going.
Our our first sight was the back of Temple I. As we walked around we came upon the Grand Plaza. Temple I rose out of the earth in all its grandeur.
We spent several hours wandering around looking at the amazing structures.
Everytime we came upon a group of people with a guide, the guide would ask where our guide was. Obviously we were not supposed to be wandering around the park in the dark. So we said our guide was Tony and he was somewhere around. Finally, we needed some guidance in finding the Temple where we could see the sunset. One guide was very helpful and we followed him.
As we climbed the stairs at the Temple, we saw a family of spider monkeys.
I think seeing the monkeys was more fun then seeing the ruins. But we also did get to see a pretty spectacular sunset.
And then there was more!
Then we descended the staircase trying to hustle out of the jungle before it became too dark.
It had been quite a hike up as you can see from the stairs down. We almost made it out before total darkness, and thank goodness Keith had a GPS. One of the guides came back looking for us. That was good to know if, in fact, we had been lost.
The next morning we were woken by Tony at 3:45am so we could get an early start to Temple IV. Coffee awaited us in the lobby and a box lunch. We also had a group of 7. Off we went fueled by coffee in complete darkness only with tiny flashlights as our guides. We stopped along the way and he translated the carvings on one of the Mayan monuments.
We made our way in the dark surrounded by the cacophony of jungle sounds. The harsh, guttural call of the howlers intermingled with the squawking of parrots made our hike seem ever the more enchanting.
We made our way up to the top of Temple IV in the dark and waited for the sunrise.
Sunrise never came. It was far too misty and cloudy but it was still worth the early morning adventure.
We left Tony in the Park with the others and made our way back out. We stopped to check out some of the sites.
Our ride ice to the airport was scheduled for 11am so we packed up and hung out on the front porch.
The flight back on TAG Airlines was not quite as luxurious. It was quite a bit smaller and no beverage service. The airport also charged us an airport tax when we got there in order to leave. I think there are some hinky things going on but, when in foreign countries, we comply.
After our return, we ate dinner at the Porta Hotel. I had pork, Bruce had fish and Keith and Terri had vegetarian dishes.
It was a marvelous trip and great fun with friends!
#Jungle Lodge Tikal #Porta Hotel Antigua #TAG Airlines
thefouramigosblog 