2022 Guatemala

Guatemala

This visit to Guatemala was only one night as it was part of a longer trip to Belize and was focused around a visit to Tikal National Park. By no means do I feel that I now “know” Guatemala after such a short visit but how well do we really know any country after visiting it?

Please have a look at my page on Belize to learn more about this trip.

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Tikal – 1 Night

Walking across the border to Guatemala was pretty straightforward. Our Belize guide drove us to the crossing and pointed out our Guatemala guide waiting on the other side. It is a small fee to cross, around $25USD, so have that cash ready; it’s actually a fee to leave Belize, not a fee to enter Guatemala. Once you pay that, it’s a short walk to the Guatemala Customs – the entire process was less than 30 minutes.

One of the first things I noticed was that Guatemala appeared to have more money for infrastructure and the people were a little better off. The highway was in better condition and most people had “nicer” cars than those I had seen in Belize.

I do enjoy the relaxed pace of life here, nothing appears to be in a rush but things are done efficiently. After driving an hour or so we stopped at El Sombrero Ecolodge to put in our lunch order. A nice place on a beautiful lake, but to be efficient, you put in your order hours in advance so that they only prepare the food that is needed, reducing waste. I like that but … then I just kept thinking about what a great lunch I was going to have in a few hours. 🙂

While lunch was being prepared we toured the Yaxha Archaeological site, and with a different guide, got to hear a different perspective on Mayan history. It is always a good reminder that much of what we “know” about history is really what we “think happened” in the past. So hearing slightly different perspectives forces us to keep our minds open, take in all the information and realize that there are some things we still do not know, but might have a good idea (or theory) on the who/what/why. Our guide was very knowledgeable and I give him full marks for saying at times “we do not know”. I would rather have that than someone just deflecting the question or making up something on the spot.

Lunch? Yes, the lunch was excellent but I only managed to get a picture of my beer before the food came. Family restaurants (and lodges) usually have the best food and it’s often fun to watch the kids come to look at the funny-looking foreigners and try to understand their language.

After lunch it was back on the road towards Tikal National Park with a couple of stops along the way:

1. Canopy Zipline through the trees;
   • Always fun to see how it’s done in different countries.
   • Good safety precautions here, lots of ladder climbing in trees but worth the experience
2. Buy a bottle of the local rum – purely for scientific purposes
   • We (3 people) got a small bottle since we were here only one night – I will not say whether we finished the bottle and had to go to the bar or not. 😉

The next morning

The Tikal Jungle Lodge is a wonderful place to stay right in Tikal National Park, with plenty of nature all around. You even get a complimentary 4am Mantled howler monkey wake-up call, especially if they like the trees around your cabin. 😀 The walk from the cabin to breakfast took almost 30 minutes but not because of the distance but due to all the cute little distractions running around. A few Central American agouti and the numerous White-nosed coati that had little fear of humans made for very enjoyable start to the day.

The Tikal archaeological site is a wonderful place to visit but like most sites you should get a good guide, it really makes a difference. Not just to learn about the turbulent history of the Mayan people but also to understand the culture of the time. The right guide can point out things that are not readily mentioned and give great insights. These ruins, and many others in Central America, are in the middle of the jungle now, but at the time the locals had to harvest all the wood to build the temples and maintain their lifestyle. This soon left the area barren. This is one of the reasons, they feel, that these empires fell, they exhausted all the natural resources around them. The people revolted against their leaders and migrated to where nature was still plentiful. What’s the saying coming to mind? “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George_Santayana)

With many of the sites we have visited we noticed that there are some temples they allow you to climb, some have wooden staircases, and others are forbidden to climb. Often that is for safety, yours and the structures, so please respect that.

A parting thought on Tikal, as it is one of the largest archaeological sites in the region, it is amazing to see how much has not been excavated and that they do not plan to excavate as they feel it is important to show how nature has reclaimed it’s territory. This way as you travel through the land you can try to find signs of untouched sites and realize the vastness of the Mayan civilization, as just like them, we build on top of previous societies.

Best to get to these sites first thing in the morning, not just to beat the crowds, but also to beat the heat/humidity. A local stop for lunch and then it was the long drive back to Belize.

Thanks to our guide, Billy, for making this short visit to Guatemala so memorable and informative.

Logistics

Cheers, Nigel