Flores & Tikal

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We left the Roundhouse and headed to Flores. As there were a number of people heading to Rio Dulce the hostel organised to take everyone on their boat. Unfortunately they left without us. When I heard the boat leave I ran downstairs and asked the volunteers if they just left without us, they looked at me a bit stunned and then tried to call them. Luckily they remembered us and turned around and came back and got us. The ride to Rio Dulce was much nicer than the public boat, as it was really calm and the boat sat higher in the water.

From Rio Dulce we took a public bus to Flores, unfortunately when we got on it was full so we had to stand. After nearly two hours someone got off and I got a seat, and about an hour later Gary got a seat for the last 45 minutes of the trip. We finally made it to Flores to find that the bus station wasn't in Flores and we needed to take a taxi to our accommodation. We agreed a total price for the taxi and were off, it wasn't far to our hostel. When we arrived the driver said the price we agreed was per person, we told him no it was a total price, took our bags and went inside. He didn't follow us or create a scene so was obviously just trying it on.

Flores is an island peninsula near the town of Santa Elena, it's a very pretty setting and has become popular with tourists due to it proximity to the Tikal ruins. On our first evening we enjoyed a pretty sunset but unfortunately this was followed by two days of rain so we kept delaying our visit to Tikal and decided against the 3:30am sunrise tour of Tikal.

We eventually decided we couldn't wait any longer and had to visit Tikal and just hope the weather would be kind to us. We decided against taking a tour and just followed the one in our Lonely Planet guidebook so we could go at our own pace.

We took a shuttle to the Tikal ruins which are about an hour from Flores and deep in the jungle. The plazas have been cleared but all the tracks between the different temples are through the thick jungle. As we decided against a tour we were able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the jungle. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were hungry and eating any patch of skin the repellent missed. We were also lucky to spot monkeys and coatis.

We climbed temple four which is the highest temple in Tikal (65m) and has a great view overlooking the jungle with a few of the other temples sticking out. For any Star Wars fans, this is where the moon planet of Endor (Ewoks) was filmed. Health and safety was pretty nonexistent at the top with no barriers around the edge. It was a great spot for lunch and a few photos.

Next stop Mexico

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