Blogs from Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 50

Dad and son spent 3 weeks studying Spanish in San Andreas on beautiful Lago Peten Itza. We also volunteered with the Volunteer Peten group and did a little sightseeing and swimming between lessons. We stayed with a local family. Edit Nov.2008 - This blog entry continues to top the hits list if you have any questions just ask! ... read more

The wonder of Guatemala, the most talked about Mayan ruins in existence, the largest, the most impressive this is Tikal. In its day the city of Tikal was the most important in the entire region. Most of the buildings were built in the 700's, but archaeologists have found evidence of habitation as far back as 130 BC, roads or something. Tikal stretches though out several square miles of jungle. We arrived just after 3pm , booked a room at the Jaguar Inn, which the Lonely Planet describes as overpriced... an odd statement considering that it is the cheapest option for those staying in the park (other than camping). After dumping the packs we head to see the cool stuff and watch the sunset. We wandered around the main park through the impressive grand plaza, spent a ... read more

It seems in Guatemala they are serious about their "no fly zones" around major Mayan artifacts like pyramids. I was in a DeHaviland Beaver (re; Ford truck w/ wings) doing a materials audit for the major petroleum corp. I worked for when the pilot mentioned (in Spanish) about our passing fairly close to one of the largest Mayan pyramids in S. America and did I want a look?? In my broken Spanish translation he made shooting gestures and I said "Sure! I'll hang out the window and shoot some pictures!" What I didn't know was he meant that any ground troops in the area would be shooting at us as their way of encouraging their "no fly zone" which was whatever was the range of their rifles around the pyramid. Funny how the are worried about ... read more