GUATEMALA – FLORES

December 13-17,2023

We arrived in Flores in the morning. A taxi driver approached us. I showed him the address and asked how much to take us there. 50 Q each. Fat chance! I told him I will ask the tuktuk. Ok, Ok, 35 Q each. I think I’ll ask the tuktuk. Ok, Ok, 25 Q each. We were tired so I agreed. Then he proceeded to add 2 more passengers to the taxi and headed off in the opposite direction of where we were staying. He was totally confused by Google Maps. Oh Jeez, this is going to be a gong show! He dropped the two other passengers on the island then took us all the way back to our guesthouse – being directed by Pierre with Maps. Then insisted on 35 Q each. I was too tired to think straight and paid him. Stupid me! NOTE TO SELF: ALL taxi drivers are crooks!

The hostess greeted us at the gate. We flopped into bed and slept until afternoon. The guesthouse was a lovely loft with a small pool (which we never used).

When we woke up she asked us if we needed help with anything. She saved us hours of internet searching by acquiring transportation, entrance fee and English speaking guide for Tikal the next day. She also got us bus tickets for Belize. Perfect! She brought us to the bus to Tikal the next day. She even packed us a small lunch. How sweet!

TIKAL

The guide was really good, in that he spoke excellent English, gave a good history of the area, had a crazy sense of humour and gave everyone lots of time to wander around to explore and take pictures. We started with the Grand Plaza and Temple 1. The one that everyone associates with Tikal. We learned that it is NOT the highest temple in the 20,000 acre park – Temple 4 holds that honour.

He told us that the best view for taking a picture of Temple 1 was from Temple 2, across the plaza. We climbed the 102 wooden steps up to the viewing platform and took some amazing photos. We went over to the North Acropolis and had a look at the 2 metre stucco jaguar face.

There were lots of coati (Guatemalan raccoon) running about brazenly approaching tourists and scrounging for food.

We were fortunate enough to witness the yearly Rabin Ajau festival, the Mayan “Daughter of the King” pageant. It is not an ancient pageant. It is a pageant to empower Mayan women as agents of change. They focus on spiritual beauty, intelligence, leadership skills, and knowledge of cultural and historical traditions.

There were women kneeling in front of Temple 1 and others moving forward, on their knees, with baskets in hand or on their heads. The ladies were elaborately dressed in traditional Mayan outfits. There were other women preparing a huge fire-pit with small bowls. I assumed they were for the numerous candles laying about.

When we returned about an hour later the fire-pit was ablaze with flames 4-6 feet high. The elaborate dressed ladies were walking around the flames, tossing something in that caused the flames to shoot higher. I asked the guide what they were burning. At first he said “Last year’s pageant winner. This is Mayan and they do need a human sacrifice, after all.” LOL. In reality, it was all the offerings they were carrying earlier.

Just as we were leaving, we encountered a group playing drums, flutes and cymbals and a huge xylophone with 2 men carrying it and 3 men playing. There were characters dressed in costumes and masks. Women were carrying more baskets of stuff. Some carried flowers. All were dancing in time to the music. There was smoke, like from incense or purifying sage. It was all very mystical and magical to witness.

Going back to the actual tour of the site, we passed by Temple 3. We would not even have noticed it if the guide had not pointed it out. It was covered in trees with only the top sticking out. He said this is what Temple 1 looked like before it was uncovered and restored. Archaeologists have determined that it is not worth the time or effort to dig this out out. As he so humorously put it, “It would take them 1000 years with their little trowels and old toothbrushes.” When we were in Honduras we met Jackie, who is an anthropologist & archeologist. She said that sometimes the tree roots are the only thing holding the structure together.

Temple 4 was nearby. As already mentioned, it is the tallest Temple. It is 64 metres high (196 steps to the top) and was the tallest structure in all of North America until Chicago built something to top that a thousand years later. An impressive record to hold for a being built in 741 AD. From there we got a good view of the other temples sticking up above the trees. It was a bit surreal to see, and I can only imagine what the early explorers thought when they saw it.

We went up another Temple (149 steps) and looked around a bit more before heading back to the parking lot.

SIDE NOTE: We met a lady from Rhode Island on our tour of Tikal. Wendy was 73 years old. Her daughter convinced her to sell her house, move in with her and to travel the world “like she’d always dreamed of.” She was such an inspiration! She had a stiff knee and hobbled along, but she still climbed every temple with us and never complained or held us back. She was amazing!

Back in Flores we stopped for chicken dinner at Pollo Campero, a huge franchise similar to KFC – only better and much cheaper. A huge Latin Salad (salad, whole chicken breast, cheese, and veggies) and 2 big pieces of chicken cost $12. It was almost too much food – and we had not eaten all day!

I must still be tired, because I was really off my game when we stopped for some fruit, and he charged me 70 Q ($12). Yes, that was still cheap by Canadian standards, but by Guatemalan standards, it was a rip off. I scolded myself later, and promised to pull up my tourist panties and quit being so gullible.

The next day we had no plans, which was fortunate because it rained quite hard. We had a covered patio area, so we just sat outside and relaxed.

The next day we caught the 8:00 am bus to Belize City. It was a 4.5 hour trip, including the hour at the border and through customs, where we could also exchange our Guatemalan money for Belize.

The bus ride: The funniest thing we saw was a car wash standing all alone beside the road. What made it funny was it had rained hard the last few days, and the road directly in front of the car wash was a huge mud puddle.

The bus stops along the road are large and have the name of the stop in big letters on the front – no confusion here. We saw lots of homes on stilts. When we asked someone why they do that, they replied it is for air circulation and to reduce the dampness inside the house.

There were dilapidated houses and nice houses.

The landscape went from jungle to tall trees to fields as we got closer to the coast. The roads were wider and nicer.

School houses were long low buildings, almost like a lean-to with a covered veranda. Depending on how many buildings, they were organized into an L shape or box shape.

The people went from brown to black skin; I assume it is from the slave trading days. The road signs were in English. The exchange rate is 2 Belize dollars to 1 US dollar and they accept either currency. Petrol is 12.34 Belize / US gallon