GUATEMALA: Tikal>Flores/Santa Elena>Antigua

  Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

So............. Thursday 11th: rose early to catch the shuttle across to Northeastern Guatemala for this 5 hour guided tour at Tikal.

The bloke was very knowledgable and passionate which only increased the splendour of the place.... With miles and miles of covered jungle housing dozens of species of reptiles, mamals, insects etc and around 50% of world's tree types, only 2% of the ancient city has been completely cleared of vegetation. Will take years and years of work!!!! The 6 odd sauring temples are something else, which made me stay on for the evening sunset and early morning sunrise despite the clouds. So I camped out in a hammock at the on-site lodge with other people and reintered for sunset...ended up not so great but hearing the wildlife come to life in the peace and quiet was cool. roaring monkeys etc.-..... there was a huge downpour and storm that night which made the hammock experience all the more authentic... after 9pm, all lodgings and catering establishments close and electricity is cut-off completely so just moonlight and candelight henceforth till dawn....not much sleep but who cares... had to bargain with park keeper to let us in extra early for the sunrise which was distorted again because of the clouds.... took many more pics and discovered new areas before leaving the site for FLORES, an hour or so westernbound.

Friday: arrived here in Flores with a few travellers, an small island on lake Peten, connected to the mainland via a road causeway. very pretty with not much going on. Nice difference. Stayed in a hippy cheap as hostel. Were shattered so just relaxed and strolled before an early meal and well earned sleep in dorm.

Sat: after a lazy morning in the hostel confines, I spent the afternoon with a french dude hiking along the beautiful lakeside shores etc. cheap! We took this private small motorised boat escort all the way across to a tiny remote island off Flores where the zoo is, and the neighbouring animal sanctuary. It was completely dead with people so we loved being off the gringotrail even if momentarily. We saw all sorts of wildlife including raunchy jaguars a metre from our faces - highlight. Afterwards, we returned tot he mainland and over the bridge to Santa Elena where we roamed the dusty market streets. For some bizarre reason, a few games of pool randomly sounded incredibly appealing so and the only place which had tables was in the red light/dodgy district of the area. funny experience. Sunset was of course picturesque with silhouettes of mountains in distance and lake waters in front. That night, there was a local party in the main quare with live music and fod snack stalls. nice.

At 4:00 the next day I decided it wouldnt be best practical to see much more of huge and diverse Guatemala due to time and money restrictions. So, I got on a chicken bus and headed directly to Antigua, the old capital city in the southwest. A 10 hour bus ride with ample stops. This town is smallish, with narrow collbed streets omnipresent and bright colourful residential buildings with the odd few ruins and impressive churches amogst the lot. Zombified, I found myself a low budget hostel with few travellers in for once. Landlady was obsessed by her cats and kittens! Met this US guy who had already been arround for a few days and we signed up for the must-do hike up volcano pacaya... very much active volcano in Guatemala which had had eruptions in the last few years, and huge ones previously....

So at 6am on Mon 15th, we had a guided tour up to the base of the volcano where hot thick red lava was slowly flowing down. we saw impressive rock formations and climbed right up to the oozing lava to take photos (and burn our faces a little)...took some mini vids too.

Was a little cloudy and nippy up ther so we didnt go much further but he panorama of the city below was excellent. guides are officialy forbidden to lead groups up the crater due to imminent explosions..shame... Pm: got escorted up to the city's panoramic watchtower by the local police (apparently dangerous to go alone at any point of the day?!?!) ... great opportunity to encapture the colourful city from above with mountains in back and sauring trees. then wondered streets etc and ate local cuisine near main square.

Today Tues 16th, I am just chilling to get a better feel for the place and see ruins and churches etc plus market for souvenirs of the country. Tomorrow I leave from bustling and dodgy Guatemala City (2 million people) on the same international bus service I caught from Costa Rica all the way up to Mexico in April. i am having to eliminate Nicaragua and Venezuela completely from my schedule though not too upset by that... instead I will see a couple more sites in Costa Rica that I didn't get the chance to do the first time round, en route to Panama before I catch a flight to Ecuador on 25th.

Time is going incredibly fast....and money seemingly..... it has ben good to travel solitarily for a few weeks (though never really alone), but I am looking forward to the southern continent now and my next all inclusive group tour of Peru-Bolivia on 4th June.

Over and out.