....deep in the lush, sweaty jungle surrounding Tikal, our machetes chop and hack through the dense, thick foliage.... mosquitoes swarm and descend on our bare skins with relish, feeding and sucking. The muddy pathway oozes a rich, brown goop over our boots, as we desperately swat at big, black buzzing things from the back of our necks. We trudge further on, all the while watching the leeches crawl their way up our legs...the sun has been swallowed up somewhere, high above us by the dark, green dank vegetation. We ran out of food yesterday and we are sure our guide is lost....
(Yea...OK...enough of that fiction...let's get on with the reality and we will get back to Tikal later! Ha-ha)
We leave Antigua and head north (or east?) to Coban....
...we are assured (when we booked)...that these long haul shuttles are roomier, with fewer seats and more leg room for gringos than the smaller vans we've used so far...yea, yea, right!!
Van picks us up at our hotel with only a handful on board...the 6 hr ride looks promising with all the space....hopefulness is soon turned into harsh reality, as we spend about the next hour or so, driving around Antigua picking up more passengers. Soon, we are 16 tightly squeezed in travellers...even the little, flipdown seats that fill in the aisles are used...smelly bodies, long legs...Ahhh! Close your eyes and meditate...just as we are finally settling into the zone, the van suddenly slows.
What's ahead now?!! Not chickens, pigs, horses, dogs or cattle, but a downed power pole with wires across the street. No problem! He just drives over them and keeps going...everyone breathes a sigh of relief when we actually make it across safely!!!
...we head to Coban, through traffic, rain, mountain passes...our goal is actually Semuc Champey (which is almost another 3 hrs beyond Coban on a rutted, dirt road)....Semuc is supposed to be a gorgeous series of limestone pools, set deep in the Guatemalan wilderness..., there's also a cave system that you can explore using just candles....seems mystical and draws the tourists to it.... like moths to a flame..
...arrive in Coban late that afternoon and look for a room and info about Semuc Champey... we are worried about all the rainfall we've driven through, flooded fields, muddy creeks and swollen rivers that may cause problems for the Semuc Champey system (and us)....sure enough...we find out the region is closed due to high waters... A bit disappointing...
So, we stay in Coban for the night...with the Christmas decorations and music playing in the town square....beautiful tall Christmas tree, lights and ornaments, along with festive Christmas music... "It's the most wonderful time of the year...." piped in around the square and church...
...we move on the next morning to Flores in pouring, pounding rain, and in yet, another crowded van. Yvonne and I score the front seats beside the driver...not bad, but a bit tight with our 2 packs crammed in and around us.....
...we pull into a gas station, undercover, out of the rain while the driver puts our packs on top, underneath a thick tarp, along with the rest of the luggage while we all have a quick lunch and stretch break then off we go...
(It was a good choice to leave Coban and move on...as we run into some travellers days later, who were stuck for 3 days waiting for the raging waters at Semuc Champey to abate....)
...we drive through cascading, torrents of the wet stuff as we head to the island town of Flores, near the Tikal ruins....
...we wind our way up and over mountain passes, through a number of small, desolate, muddy villages, detour around local markets and suddenly come to a river......
...there isn't any bridge to cross over the rain-swollen waters, instead there's a barge, ferrying traffic back and forth...
The high waters have wiped out whatever on/off ramp we were to use, so a bulldozer is frantically building a muddy, earthen ramp in between barge landings...
...somehow we get on and off without getting stuck and drive on to Flores...
Flores is a beautiful, little village set in/on Lake Petén Itzá. Joined to the mainland by a short causeway the little town is a handy base to explore Tikal and the area..
....we luck out and book into a nice, cosy, quiet lakeside hotel.. we manage to score the 'penthouse' with a massive terrace that provides a superb vantage point overlooking the Petén Itzá Lake with its smaller islands and for viewing the sunsets...
...after several days of long hours cooped up in the vans travelling, we decide to hang out in Flores...
...we explore the town...about a 30 min walk around the malecon, view the town's Christmas tree (these trees must be government issued as they seem to be exactly the same in each town), and soak up the sun.
We take a panga for a Lake tour and swim at a local beach in the amazingly warm waters of Lake Petén Itzá... sit on our concrete beach slab in between swims...
Like much of Guatemala, Lake Petén Itzá has struggled with rising waters resulting in elevated lake levels. As a result many of the homes, businesses and roads are flooded and have had to be abandoned...for the moment...
...we could stay here longer, rather than in Antigua or Lake Atitlan...
...after several days in Flores, we move on to the world famous ancient city of Tikal.....this is a must see, we are told, as one's visit to Guatemala would not be complete, if you didn't get to Tikal...
So we book into the Tikal Inn.....one of only 3 hotels/lodges allowed in the park...it offers walk-in closeness, food and drink available... but at 3 -5x the prices as in Flores. Ouch!...
....arriving before the room is ready, we leave our packs at the desk and head out to spend the afternoon exploring the site..it is a big park, most of it still untouched...many people run around in 2-3 hrs having come in from neighbouring towns and leave.....best to have a day or 2 to wander, take your time, deal with heat, humidity, rain etc...
...we walk, climb pyramids, spot spider monkeys, wander down overgrown, jungle lush pathways and listen to the roar of the howler monkeys....they make big noise in the park...like a bull walrus or lion....
As soon as we start down the jungle paths we come across a massive ceiba tree with branches reaching like the hairy legs of a tarantula dwarfing us at its base...It is considered to be The Tree of Life by the Mayans. We hear that it is a protected tree and cannot be cut down. The park is filled with them.
...as the afternoon wears on, the day crowd leave the park we climb the 202 steps to the top...soon, we are alone, sitting near the top of the massive 65 metre pyramids, high above the jungle canopy... The Temple of the Two-headed Snake although we could not see any indicators of the snakes anymore. What a view!
...with only the whisper of the wind as a backdrop, the sounds of the jungle are easily heard; birds chirping/squawking, howler monkeys, howling, in some far corner and...... then the rustle of tree tops, below us begins....several spider monkeys make their way across the canopy... swinging from top to top, stopping to eat the nuts/ berries, we watch and spot them...amazing!!!
...soon they are gone, quiet wraps around us, a stillness as we wait for the sunset and moonrise (a full moon at Tikal - must be good karma there, somewhere?)...
....however, clouds block the setting sun and obscure the rising moon....we leave and head back to our jungle room before darkness and the impending rainfall descends....at 9:45 after the power is out, we head outside to see the full moon. We are in luck as the clouds part long enough to see it in this pitch black zone.
.....the Tikal Hotel is like a small all-inclusive or a tired seniors home way past their prime....generator power only runs for several hrs morning and night, meals are taken in the decorless dining room, while organ/folk music plays through the speakers....not quite the elevator kind, but close enough.
...tour groups come and go over our 2 nights there....staff hover, wait to serve the guests....the pace is slower here, than jungle rot ...a better choice may be to stay in El Remate, located approximately 30 min or so from Tikal and on Lake Petén Itzá...
We awake to another massive rainstorm during the night, after breakfast, we wait out the lingering showers...things eventually clear up and we head back into the park....
....we climb, explore new sections, spot more spider monkeys, coatis cross the road and colourful turkeys are wandering about. The weather is cooler, less humid, and perfect for exploring... amazed, once again, at the ability to create these massive structures...how did they ever do it.. (must have been the aliens, huh?)
...later that day, we plan to escape from the jungle, Tikal and even Guatemala...it is time to move on....
Adios mis amigos,
Shayne y Yvonne
Additional photos...
Adios!
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