I do not consider Peten, Flores a resort in the way I do the Four Seasons, the Hilton, etc., but I love the little Island village.  It is a place for me to "resort to."   I hope you learn to love it as I do. The rooms will never cost more than $30, you will only have bare necessities, but there is a "peace" there that money can't buy.

 

One can walk across the village in some fifteen minutes.  There is a man-made causeway connecting the island to the mainland.  The airport is between the island and Tikal, so it is convenient to stay here, go to the ruins, stay there a night, return back to the island for a night before departure.  That way one can experience the beauty of this "hidden mecca of peace," as well as enjoy a night in the jungle facilities (which are very adequate, and are within the park and are safe to stay in).  Don't forget to take one of the boat rides  around the island in the early morning, and also one at night.  The cost is only a few dollars, and both present the beauty of this sleepy village in a different romantic way.

We continue that trip with facts about the jungle area and the Mayan Temples. Located in El Peten just a few hours through the jungle from Belize, Tikal is the most impressive and magnificent Mayan ruin in Central America . Believed to have been one of the most powerful cities in the ancient Mayan world, Tikal was inhabited between roughly 600 B.C. and 900 A.D ., and was home to 100,000 people at its height. Today, a wildlife preserve covering 220 square miles of lush rainforest surrounds the ruins, and visitors commonly see monkeys and several species of tropical birds that inhabit the trees around the ancient city. The ruins are 66 kilometers from Flores on paved roads. It is recommended that you take at least 2 days to see the ruins.

 

 

One of the photographs show at John's Notes page, is the Great Plaza. The Great Plaza, the East Plaza, and the Plaza of the Seven Temples all have ball courts. In the Plaza of the Lost World , pyramid 5C-54 is one of the oldest pyramids with a core which is believed to have been built around 500-600 B.C. Southeast is a causeway that leads to the Temple of the Inscriptions , completed around 750 A.D.

 

An official expedition to Tikal was not made until around 1848, although the locals probably knew about the site for years. It was declared a national park and countless other archaeological studies have been carried out.

The ruins of Tikal include more than 3,000 structures extending over six square miles and including palaces, temples, ceremonial platforms, ball courts, terraces, plazas, avenues and steam baths. The ancient Maya began building Tikal around 600 B.C., and for the next 1500 years the area was an important religious, scientific, and political center.

(Information from: http://www.enjoyguatemala.com/tikal.htm).

 

Today descendents of the old Maya, or the Indigenous as they are locally referred to, account for more than 50% of the Guatemalan population. Their present culture is vibrant and thriving, best shown by the many traditionally dressed woman and children seen along the streets in the entire country. Weaving is one of the outstanding Maya craft, an ancient art that has survived uninterrupted for centuries and is now becoming famous all over the world. The Maya women also make baskets, pottery and wood carved of animals, saints and brightly-painted toys and chests. I spent time with an authentic Maya family who runs a shop in the Peten area of Tikal. I took the brother-in-law on what was perhaps his first fishing trip with casting rod and reel with the use of lures. The fish I caught provided them with a meal for that day.

 

A visit to Tikal ranks right along with my visits to the exotic ìuncovered-volcano-ashî city in Italy of Pompeii , and mysterious Petra in Jordan. I have visited both.  Now is the time to plan those summer trips.

Happy Traveling.

“To The Ends Of The Earth And Then Some.” E-mail jones@photoandtravel.com You may e-mail travel questions to me.