This awe-inspiring city of towering temples and ancient ruins set in almost 60,000 hectares of a lush tropical jungle teeming with a plethora of flora and fauna is the highlight of Northern Guatemala, and I could not wait to visit.
My friend Melissa and I (we’d met in Nicaragua) planned to do this trip together. We met up in Antigua and took an overnight bus to Flores, joining a troop of tourists making the same pilgrimage. The 9-hour trip included a change in Guatemala city (the capital of Guatemala), a place we’d all been told to avoid due to the high crime rate. We spent a surprisingly comfortable night on the bus and arrived at Flores early, at 5am. Despite this we were tired and had to find a way to keep ourselves occupied until our rooms would be ready at 10.
Flores is the gateway town to Mayan ruins in the region (Tik’al, Yaxha, El Mirador etc). It’s actually an island, on Lake Petén Itzá, connected to Santa Elena town via a causeway. It’s very small and you can walk a loop around the island in half an hour or less. It’s a pretty town, and we enjoyed walking along its cobbled streets, past colourful red-roofed colonial houses, with lake views beyond. That morning, we sat by the malecón (promenade) and watched the sunrise over the lake.
Flores is dotted with hotels, lodges and cafes and restaurants serving delicious food and breathtaking views. At cocktail hour the streets and restaurants become busier as everyone heads west on the island, to watch the beautiful sunset. There are mom-and pop souvenir shops (some with good quality handcrafted goods) and also a couple of supermarkets and an ATM. There is a compact Parque Central dominated by a church, the town hall and a bandstand surrounded by trees.
Later that day, we took a lancha (boat) across the lake to San Miguel, a small village on the north shore of the lake. We’d intended to hike up to ‘El Mirador (del Rey Canek)’ for views of Flores but got caught in a storm so waited it out, enjoying drinks at one of the cafes along the shore. This means we also missed checking out ‘Jorge’s Rope Swing’, a restaurant/bar famed for providing the opportunity to dive off a swing/platform into the lake.
The rest of the day was spent eating delicious food and chilling in hammocks at our hostel. We stayed in Los Amigos hostel which is probably the most famous hostel on the island. I loved the decor, colourful hanging lanterns, murals and tapestries on the wall and the interior courtyard, brimming with tropical plants and vines, swings and hammocks. It also held a restaurant and lounge. By far the star of the show were the turtles swimming in, and sunbathing along, the indoor pond. The only downside of my stay was being in a dormitory for two nights, and that was no fun! Stinky feet, snoring noses and shared bathrooms just don’t do it for me.
We set off early the next morning (5am) for a guided tour to Tikal National Park, located an hour’s drive from Flores. I’d recommend a tour because the park is huge and although only ten percent of the site has been uncovered, it is easy to get lost or miss out on important ruins. The trade-off is that you lose a bit of the magic of the adventure. I’d have loved to have spent hours playing explorer and wandering beneath the jungle canopy, looking out for jaguars and pumas, anticipating the discovery of uncharted territories and hidden ruins. I settled for a 4-hour well run tour that started after a pit stop for breakfast at a cafe just before the park entrance.
Tik’al is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was once the capital of a kingdom in the Ancient Mayan Empire. Inhabited for 17 centuries, from 800 BC to 900 AD, at its peak it had over 60,000 denizens. It is thought that overpopulation combined with rampant deforestation and exploitation of its natural resources led to famine, mega-droughts, epidemics and its eventual downfall. The city was abandoned in the 9th century and the site was gradually reclaimed by the jungle. It was re-discovered 900 years later, in 1848, and proper excavation of the site began in the 1960s.
Tik’al means ‘the place of voices’ and there is a mystical aura to this ancient site. It was fascinating to learn how the very essence of Mayan architecture and city design was rooted in astronomy and mathematics. For example they oriented their ceremonial buildings to trace the motion of the Sun, Moon and Venus; and included observatories that perfectly aligned to capture sun rays during equinoxes, and highlight important features beyond. The number of steps or platforms in their pyramidal shaped temples held significance, linked to numbers or dates in their calendar. The Mayan calendar was incredibly accurate, and has correctly predicted modern astronomy events.
We wandered through an array of impressive pyramids, temples and plazas, in various states of repair/disrepair, under a dense canopy of trees and vegetation. Ocellated turkeys, monkeys and agoutis roamed around us. We started off exploring the temples in the periphery. A climb up the 70-metre (230ft) tall Temple IV, also known as ‘Temple of the Double-Headed Serpent’, and the tallest temple in Tik’al, revealed sweeping panoramic views of the park and the tops of Temples I, II and III. Apparently Temple IV is also well-known as the filming location for Yanvin 4 in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (just remembered I meant to check this out in the movie!).
We continued on to Mundo Perdido (‘Lost World’), a complex covering 60,000 square metres and containing 38 structures including a 30-metre tall Great Pyramid with stairways on all 4 sides. Due to the fragility of the steps on the ruins, wooden staircases have been constructed and attached to some structures, to enable visitors to climb to the top. The breath of the archaeological intervention that has been carried out in order to reveal these structures from beneath centuries of decay is mind-blowing.
Temple V was equally impressive but the Gran Plaza was one of my favourite sites because it gives one the best sense of how this ancient civilisation lived. It is the central site at Tikal and holds a main square framed by Temples I & II and surrounded by North & Central Acropolis (a maze of ruins, residences, courtyards and smaller temples). I could have gotten lost exploring this complex…and in fact did!
In the excitement of strolling around the complex, I lost track of time and missed meeting up with my group. I ran around for a few minutes, becoming increasingly anxious and finally decided my best bet was to walk back towards the main entrance (I had no map, and our tour had started in the opposite direction). Thankfully Melissa realised I was missing and she and the guide came looking for me otherwise, I’d probably still be roaming the park!
I adored visiting Tik’al. It was one of the highlights of my trip to Guatemala, and I only wish I could’ve spent longer at the park. My recommendation would be to go on a half-day guided tour but stay behind to further explore the site on your own and take a shuttle back to Flores. Even better, you could book to stay at a hotel in Tik’al. There are other types of tours on offer including sunrise and sunset tours, which I imagine would be pretty spectacular.
Whatever option you go for, be sure not to miss a visit to this mysterious, magical and enchanting corner of Guatemala; it was an unforgettable experience.