Exploring the Ruins of Tikal

Woke up feeling semi-refreshed, after the shower debacle of the previous night (and being woken up by angry howler monkeys, or as Simon likes to call them, the neighbor’s CPAP). My skin is LOVING this climate, I gotta say. Hair? complete opposite—it’s frizz city.

Anyway, we got moving & went to the only source of food for miles - the lobby restaurant. I had my first taste of Guatemalan coffee, and OH MY GOD RUN DON”T WALK and get yourself some! It’s insanely delicious. I can never go back!!! Also had a nice breakfast (avocado is becoming a diet staple here) of avo toast, eggs & bacon.

On the subject of guide vs. no guide: Clearly I was persuasive (or somebody hates reading LP guidebooks), because Simon came back to the table triumphantly to announce we were about to embark on a full day with Fernando, our private tour guide with 33 yrs experience in Tikal, starting at noon.

What we saw today was an out of body experience like I’ve never had in all my travels.

Tikal is the largest Mayan Ruin site in the world, yet only 8% is uncovered. We saw HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of structures today…and walking through the jungle from spot to spot, I noticed it was quite hilly. Well, Fernando informed me that the jungle is in fact flat, and those “hills” are all yet-to-be-uncovered ruins (but there’s some issues with both money and who’s in charge of those decisions). Mind. BLOWN.

We got an amazing sense of what life would have been like, a lot of folklore and religious anecdotes, as well as history lessons from Fernando, who was fantastic and really knows his stuff (even if he self-admittedly can’t walk & talk at the same time!) He’s of Mayan descent himself, so this is literally his ancestry.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that no matter where we went in the park, (I think because of Covid? Either that or this place is SERIOUSLY underrated) we were the only people we saw the ENTIRE DAY. It was incredible. No crowds. No people. It was like we had the park shut down for a private tour.

We climbed on several temples (omg steep and zero safety barriers) which are sprouting out of the jungle, as the animals live harmoniously with this massive piece of human history.

There’s not much I can say other than to show you some photos and to tell you to absolutely get there if you can. One of my favourite places I’ve ever been in the entire world.

Absolutely magical incredible day.