Tikal

We had already booked in advance for our trip to Tikal through Mayawalk Tours for the next day. It was a short 7-8 minute walk from the hotel to reach their office where the van would pick us up. We only had a few minutes to grab a breakfast at POP’s. They had something called ‘jacks’ which we never heard off. It is fried tortillas that looked like a fluffy flat bread. I tried the ‘Chaya Pockets’ with these jacks. Chaya is a kind of spinach endemic to Central America.

It’s a little less than an hour to get to the Guatemala border from San Ignacio. The immigration process took less than 30min and we got transferred to another van as the tour operators from Belize cannot operate in Guatemala. From the border, it took a little over an hour to get to Tikal grounds including a short break on the way. The road leading to Tikal was pretty good compared to what we saw in Belize, going to Caracol. We passed through Lake Petan Itza and the view of a hill bordering this lake appeared very much like a crocodile in a side view as the guide pointed it out. Within a short distance after entering the Tikal complex, we encountered a huge Ceiba tree and a turkey that was even more colorful than a peacock. It is called Ocellated Turkey. 

The guide pointed us to an interesting tree called ‘All Spice Tree’ the leaves of which gave a pleasant aroma when squeezed. It seems that local steep these leaves to make tea.

 

In Tikal, several structures have been excavated very well and made suitable for visitors to climb up. Before we reached what is called the main plaza, we had opportunities to climb many such structures of which some were supposed to have been temples. It felt that the Chaya pockets that we ate at POP’s was a very much deserved and held us together in the treks we were doing in this enormous campus. The bird eye’s depiction of Tikal complex shows how elaborate the Mayan architecture was. While the restored structures show only the stones and mortars, the guide elaborated about red stain that covered these structures which was also shown in the depictions. The red stains had origins from a local flora species.

As you are walking through, you could see how lush green the area is, filled with bushes, shrubs and trees of all sizes. The forest like area has provided haven to range of flora and fauna as well. We could see a bunch of what is called a ‘Coatimundi’, belonging to raccoon family. They were so used getting fed by the tourists that we witnessed one of them sneakily climbing a snack stand, grabbing a pack of chips and sprinting away! 

We saw several howler and spider monkeys as well. In addition, we saw many birds like Oropendula, Collared Aracari, Pale-billed Woodpecker.

The central plaza was very well restored, preserved and maintained very well for the number of tourists that it sees. Tikal is one of the UNESCO heritage sites for a combination its biological diversity and archeological importance. The guide told us many stories about people trying to climb up the stairs of these pyramids only to slip and fall to injuries and sometimes, even death! Over the years, restoration efforts involved building separate set of stairs from behind these temples/pyramids which has given the access to the top. Also, since these stairs are either on the side or back, the fronts presented a clear view for the visitors.

After approximately walking and climbing for 4 hours, we headed out. We were 8 of us as part of this tour group. Conversation with one of the fellow tourists with whom I shared the seat with shared an interesting fact that he is an employee at UN Mission in Copenhagen. He is working with UN’s Renewable Energy section and works with governments of several developing countries. He was in fact visiting Belize on business and had combined a few days of vacation. We struck up some interesting topics on renewable energy, batteries, right-wing and left-wing governments across the world. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at a road-side restaurant before reaching the border. The food was so fresh and delicious (felt even better after the tiring hikes on the Tikal grounds!). It was very late in the afternoon by the time we reached San Ignacio.