Jaguar Inn Tikal National Park

Driving from Belize to Guatemala was an adventure -- Woke up fairly naturally at 7am or so. Packed, then went for coffee and nibbles. Hit the highway around 8:30 or 9. A little trouble finding our way out of Belize City but roads were generally well-marked, and once we had crossed the river, we were fine. The Western Highway through Belize is nice -- though typically there is no shoulder, which can make passing people a bit hairy at times. Most of the landscape early on in the drive was flat,...

I arrived in Flores, Guatemala from Belize aboard an 11-seater Taca Air plane on Thursday 13th January and immediately drove to Tikal to stay at the Jungle Lodge in Tikal National Park. Tikal is one of the largest Mayan sites in the whole of Central America and covers six square miles. It used to be a thriving city almost 2000 years ago. It is still being excavated, but what is visible is very impressive indeed. The photograph I have shown from here is of Temple I in the Great Plaza - a very ...

Good bye Mexico. Amanda Speaking.

I've uploaded a few more pictures, so feel free to go back and look at older posts for photos.

Today we said our sorrowful goodbyes to Edgar and to the beach as we boarded a bus to the airport in Cancun.

Once at the airport, we felt a bit strange being back in civilization....especially since we still had sand in our flip flops and salt in our hair. Nevertheless, we boarded our plane which turned out to be a small propeller plane, and we...

Sat. 12th was another real early travel day (do you see a pattern forming?). We were up at 6am and walking to the bus terminal to get a bus or micro up to tikal. It ended up being microbus, boat, microbus, chicken bus. It was a long 9 and 1/2 hours of travel. But yes this time we actually took time and had lunch at a fastfood chicken restaurant. The boat was just a quick one to cross the river because there is no bridge. The last bus ride was the worst. It was completly full and because it wa...

We took a shuttle from San Igancio into Tikal in Guatamala. Border control went smoothly (after paying the exit tax) and after 3 hours we had reached Tikal. We made a quick stop at El Remate at Lago de Peten, a very picturesque spot. We opted to stay within the Tikal National park so we could do the sunrise tour the following morning. Tikal is definitely the most impressive ruins we have seen so far. What we liked about it was the fact that they had kept it within it's natural surroundings of...

I had visited Mayan ruins before, but it was long ago. I donīt remember any of it, not even the name. I have a few vague pictures in my head, but thatīs it. So when I discovered the ruins of Tikal hidden in the jungle of northern Guatemala, I was impressed. The Mayan civilization thrived here for hundreds of years, starting somewhere around 800-700BC. (I could be wrong on my dates-but it was a really long time ago) Sometime, after the discovery of the "New World," they strangely disappeared. ...

We got up at the CRACK of dawn this morning to try to get to tikal for the sunset. However, we were thwarted by the fact that the park didn't open until 6 am, plus it started raining. We had breakfast at one of the local hotels, a nice buffet, and then we headed into the park. We got a local private guide and headed up on the hill. Mary was with us, and so got a ride up the hill which was nice. It was fun, because the seats were wet so we all stood up as we went up the hill. It felt kinda lik...

Onward to Tikal! This is supposed to be the main highlight of the trip, especially for Rachel, who loves history and seeing ruins. We woke up early this morning and headed towards the bus station where we were to take a 4 hour bus trip to Flores, in Northern Guatemala, followed by a shuttle into the Tikal National Park where we would be staying. We were happily surprised to see a couple who we had met previously along our way also sitting at the bus station awaiting the same bus. Marie and Da...

The Tikal ruins are an incredible sight! The first occupants of Tikal arrived around 900 BC and for the next several hundreds of years the village started to grow and prosper. In time, Tikal became a superpower of the Mayan region, along with El Mirador and Nakbe. The ruins have 5 enormous temples and thousands of other structures. Approximately, 75% of the ruins have yet to be discovered and remain unearthed. The ruins are surrounded by the Parque Nacional Tikal, which is a protected area of...

I have spent the past two days doing nothing but reading in the hammock and eatting real fruit! After I met up with Florie we spent two days relaxing and exploring the jungle. For the first time since I left home I feel that I am recharging. Unfortunetly, the insane humidity and heat seems to keep zapping my energy. This afternoon we went for a canopy tour of the Jungle...the only problem was that it was during a massive rainfall. We got to walk on wooden bridges through the jungle at tree to...