Tikal Mayan Ruins, Guatemala

Once leaving Caves Branch I decided to head to San Ignacio to do some day drips. On my list was Tikal, ancient Mayan ruins just over the border into Guatemala.

I took a day trip with local tour operators Mayawalk Tours. They helped us crossed the border without any hassles and took us to the ancient city ruins set in lush overgrown jungle. We learned that only 20% of the city has been excavated. Seeing each building was quite an adventure in itself, as we needed to take walk along trails in the jungle. Sometimes seeing Spider and Howler monkeys as well as native foxes.

Some of the pyramids and other buildings could be climbed, and it was a lovely view from the top of one of the largest buildings looking across the jungle and seeing the tops of 3 of the other tall buildings. I was reminded once back on the ground that this was the same scene that was used in the original Star Wars 'Episode 4 - A New Hope'.

Some of the buildings were partly excavated and party reconstructed to show tourists how the ancient ruins were when they were discovered, then excavated, and then repaired. It was interesting to see, but knowing that the buildings were reconstructed took away from the magic a little. It was very cool to see how the jungle took over to a point where the buildings were almost impossible to see. It could be just a mound of dirt to the untrained eye.

See my pics of Tikal here…
Bridgette’s Flickr – Tikal

See my other Flickr pictures here…
Bridgette’s Flickr – Sets