Thankfully the shuttle trip to Flores wasn’t too packed so we had the luxury of 3 seats between the 2 of us. Our guide upon arrival in Flores was a perky little local lady called Libby who talked non-stop for the 30 minutes she was with us. She even walked Deryn and me to our backpackers, through the windy cobble stoned streets. Flores is a little Island in the lake of Peten Itza, that has flourished into a tourist hub as a gateway to the Mayan ruins at Tikal. Unfortunately our hostel Ciao Cacaowas just too small and cramped, and after 9 hours in a van, just not what the doctor ordered. So we checked right out and moved to the much more comfortable Hotel Isla de Flores. It was lovely, even with a roof top pool overlooking the town.
We spent 2 days in Flores, organising our trip to Tikal and our onward shuttle to Rio Dulce. I managed to track down a Burger King in a local mall so combined the feed with a haircut and a shave – again unfortunately not the cut throat variety. Obviously not a thing in Guatemala. Flores was stinking hot – not quite as bad as Cartagena but still tough to be outside in the heat of the day – so a fair bit of time was spent in the room or up top in the pool. At dusk literally thousand of black and white birds perch on the telegraph poles – mostly near the lights – to spend the night. Walking underneath is a real risk!
Our shuttle to Tikal was a breeze, just under 90 minutes before we had checked into our backpackers room in the upmarket Jungle Lodgeinside the Parque National Tikal. The Lodge was beautiful but the backpackers facilities were a lot less so – still at $50 v $350 it was to be expected. We had the use of the pool and other facilities mind. We paid our entrance fee to the park (Q250 – $A50 each) and the additional Q100 for the mandatory guide for the sunrise tour . We had a leisurely afternoon by the pool with spider monkeys swinging amongst the trees and some exotic birds hanging around before we hans a early dinner and bed for an early 3.45am rise.
The entire UNESCO World Heritage Site of Tikal is impressive. One of the many spectacular attractions is the city’s Great Plaza, home to palaces, ceremonial buildings, stelae, carved altars, and the two giant pyramids known today as Temple I and Temple II. Tikal was the capital of the Mayan culture from around 400BC to 900AD, after which it fell into ruin probably after a severe drought as it had no direct water access. It was discovered again in the mid 1800s and became a World Heritage site in the 1979. At its peak it was home to up to 90,000 people and covered an area of 500 sq kms. The main area we explored was the religious center which covered 12 sq kms. Tikal National Park measures more than 575 square kilometres! Our guide for the tour was a local lad who has the weirdest American accent from his years of watching American TV. We walked through the main square to temple V to watch the sun rise over Tikal. Temple V is 57 meters high with great views of the other temples poking through the roof of the jungle. Unfortunately the weather did not play its part and the views were pretty average – but to be expected when you visit in the middle of the rainy season. We then spent the next 3 hours exploring the rest of the site. It was special because we basically had the place to ourselves.
The Howler monkeys scared a few of our group not having heard them before. The site was also full of Coati – an animal we first encountered at Iguazu Falls. It was weird walking around seeing all these hills covered in jungle knowing they were temples or buildings underneath. The amount of work and time that goes into uncovering a building or temple is incredible. They believe there could be literally thousands of buildings / temples in the area yet to be uncovered. Technology is speeding up the discovery process but the removal of jungle still takes years. South and Central American has been a joy in learning about these ancient civilizations – the Aztecs are next.
The rest of the day was spent like most days in Central America this time of year – enjoy the sun until around 4 until the storm rolls in. Always preceded by an incredible thunderstorm. We spent the night again in Tikal before returning to Flores at 11am the next morning. 30 of us in a 29 seat mini bus. We returned to our fancy hotel for one night before grabbing an 8am shuttle for a 4 hour drive to Rio Dulce and the imaginatively named Backpackers Hostel before grabbing a boat to take us to our remote hostel called El Hotelito Perdido. Rio Dulce was full of mangy sea dogs – the human type as well as the canine – because it’s the only place in the Caribbean where you can get covered for cyclones – the canyon is a natural barrier, stopping cyclones from causing damage. Hence all the boaties from the Caribbean spend 4 months of cyclone season in Rio Dulce in differing states of accommodation – ranging from in their boats on a mooring to luxury riverside houses with private moorings. Quite a scene.
The boat trip to our hostel took 2 hours because it was basically a tourist boat with visits to the old fort, Gringo Bay and the hot baths as well as gawking at the humongous homes along the rivers edge. One has to assume there was a fare amount of narcos money around….
It was 4.30 by the time we arrived at our hostel and we were both sweating profusely. Our garden bungalow had a bathroom, tiny lounge and hammocked deck downstairs and a mosquito encased double bed upstairs. It was lovely. And very warm. However we soon cooled off in the river and sat down to a lovely vegan curry with all the guests and the owner at 6. Unfortunately the dining area was too hot, combined with that and the fact that our Polish hostess (a lovely lady but a stickler for rules so we gave her the nickname Gestapo) would not let me drink my rum there as a “Guatemalan” had got drunk a few years back and tried to sleep with a female member of the staff. Not sure why that was my fault. Anyway, I paid for one of her rums before we headed to bed and sweated our way to sleep.
The usual thunderstorm and rain was a bit late arriving that first day so we were wakened around midnight to a massive storm. We were woken again at dawn by an amazing cacophony of bird song. We had no choice but to rise early and go for a swim to cool down before grabbing breakfast. This began our daily routine – swimming and then chilling in the hammocks reading. I finally got to finish Middlemarch. Also part of the routine was to cover yourself repeatedly in bug repellent to try reduce the amount of insects feeding on you. It reduced the feeding but by no means prevented it. Deryn was thrilled with my twice daily rundown of the sites and severity of my bites.
The first day we grabbed the kayaks for a 5.5km paddle up the Rio Lampada (the river we were actually located on – it fed into Rio Dulce) to look at the waterfall. We took the hostels smelly dog Rasta who loved riding in the kayak but hated water. It was a lovely kayak but unfortunately we could not find the waterfall. It was still a delightful afternoon. The next day we grabbed a boat to the Ak Tenamint village (a local tourist school) where a guide took us on the 10km walk to Livingstone – the only Guatemalan town on the Caribbean coast. I had a bit of a dodgy stomach so found it hard work – particularly given the heat – and did I mention bugs? Another guest, a lovely German called Anja who was working at a German school in Guatemala City joined us which made a good companion for Deryn. We ended up seeing the most wildlife we had seen in Guatemala – owl eyed butterflies, chameleon, crickets and even a baby boa constrictor.
Livingstone itself was a bit bland but we grabbed a swim before chilling in the Happy Fish restaurant to wait for our 4pm boat ride back to the hostel. We were a little bit disappointed in the ‘canyon’, as we similar type waterways are a dime a dozen in NZ. On our last day we grabbed the kayaks with Anja and paddled to a nearby restaurant – El Viajero- on the Rio Dulce for a late lunch and a few drinks. The restaurant had a swing into the river – which I managed to break – and a couple of waterslides that propelled you 7 or 8 meters into the river. It was a really fun afternoon, capped off by paddling home as the sun was going down over this beautiful part of the world. We finished with a nightcap and gazing at the stars.
When it came to pay the bill we only just had enough to pay it and to cover our return boat journey – the extra day had mucked up our budgeting. It was sad saying good bye to Perdido and Gestapo (and Dopey) but I was also relieved to be escaping the bites and the heat. Deryn not so. The boat journey back to the town of Rio Dulce was uneventful and it wasn’t long before we were on our air-conditioned and curtained bus back to Guatemala City. The ride from the bus stop in Guatemala City to our hotel – Barcelo– was a rip off at Q100 for a 5 minute ride. A lesson to lock in a price before getting in a rust bucket. The hotel was lovely with an amazing shower and decent pillows. It’s the small things that give you pleasure when on the road. We pigged out at the buffet, which while pricey at Q160 (A$32) each, well worth it. I for one enjoyed the air-conditioning. We went to sleep reminiscing over the 6 months of travel, the magic of Guatemala but also the building excitement of soon seeing all our family and friends and of course, Courtney and Dallas’ wedding.
Sean, have loved reading your blog – quite inspiring! I’ll send it to Jim so we can plan our own escape.