Ola again,
Feeling refreshed after a few days in Paradise we decided to do something cultural for a change and visit the ruins of Tikal, in Guatemala. From Belize City, we took an express bus as we thought it would be easier to cross countries as part of a bigger group. Three hours later we reached the border, where we were unceremoniously relieved of $15 each to leave Belize and another $3 each to enter Guatemala (how we appreciated the easiness of traveling within the EU then!). We headed for the beautiful little town of Flores, an island in lake Peten Itza (do you see a pattern surfacing here)? The village is very lively, with the small houses painted in bright colours matching the clothes worn by the locals. And Guatemalans are just so nice and always helpful! We dined at a local restaurant, overlooking the lake at sunset. And I tried a local fish, called "Blanco" ("White"), hummm...
The next day we took an one hour ride to the Tikal reserve. I now regret us not getting a guide there as there is so much to see. Basically Tikal encompasses some 20 sets of ruins (whose name should be changed since they are in particularly good condition) in the middle of a vast protected area of florest. The site was rediscovered in the 1850's and there are so many pyramids that some are still being recovered now. It was great to wonder in the forest and every so often bump into a magestic pyramid! Absolutely worth a visit (btw, thanks for the tip Alon!). We also got a glimpse of the wildlife: we were resting under a tree when something it our heads - a monkey was having fruit for lunch high above us and practicing its aim by spitting the pips at us. We still haven't seen the rare jaguar though, so we have to content ourselves with the plentiful leaf cutter ants. Not the same kind of scale I know, but still very impressive in numbers, strength and tenacity!
Due to time contraints we left Guatemala in the next day, and made our way back to Belize.
At this time Dean had become a serious threat and we kept a close eye on its movements. But that will be in our next posting...
Bye for now,
Vania
Feeling refreshed after a few days in Paradise we decided to do something cultural for a change and visit the ruins of Tikal, in Guatemala. From Belize City, we took an express bus as we thought it would be easier to cross countries as part of a bigger group. Three hours later we reached the border, where we were unceremoniously relieved of $15 each to leave Belize and another $3 each to enter Guatemala (how we appreciated the easiness of traveling within the EU then!). We headed for the beautiful little town of Flores, an island in lake Peten Itza (do you see a pattern surfacing here)? The village is very lively, with the small houses painted in bright colours matching the clothes worn by the locals. And Guatemalans are just so nice and always helpful! We dined at a local restaurant, overlooking the lake at sunset. And I tried a local fish, called "Blanco" ("White"), hummm...
The next day we took an one hour ride to the Tikal reserve. I now regret us not getting a guide there as there is so much to see. Basically Tikal encompasses some 20 sets of ruins (whose name should be changed since they are in particularly good condition) in the middle of a vast protected area of florest. The site was rediscovered in the 1850's and there are so many pyramids that some are still being recovered now. It was great to wonder in the forest and every so often bump into a magestic pyramid! Absolutely worth a visit (btw, thanks for the tip Alon!). We also got a glimpse of the wildlife: we were resting under a tree when something it our heads - a monkey was having fruit for lunch high above us and practicing its aim by spitting the pips at us. We still haven't seen the rare jaguar though, so we have to content ourselves with the plentiful leaf cutter ants. Not the same kind of scale I know, but still very impressive in numbers, strength and tenacity!
Due to time contraints we left Guatemala in the next day, and made our way back to Belize.
At this time Dean had become a serious threat and we kept a close eye on its movements. But that will be in our next posting...
Bye for now,
Vania
1 comment:
So how old those pyramids were? (I'm pretty bad at Latin American history)
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