Tikal Guatemala Visit

Visited Tikal in September 2018, its hot and humid in September dress accordingly.

I had booked a tour online, they had canceled on me as they didn't have enough people for the tour. I headed to Belize border town with Guatemala called San Ignacio. There are several tours that leave everyday and I was able to book a tour to Tikal easily in San Ignacio.

The tour van was comfortable and had A/C. They took care of all the border crossing fees, entrance fees to the Archeological site, came with a guide and they took care of lunch.

The cost was $135 USD, which I thought was a bargain. The starting time was 6:30AM and drop off around 5PM same day.

Get a tour company and avoid all the hassles of doing it yourself.

Although everything for the trip was paid for, I did change 10 USD at the border to Guatemala Quetzal, in September 2018, 1USD = 7.5 Guatemala Quetzal. The reason being I'll need local money for water and drinks on a hot day full of hiking. I did buy 2 bottles of Gatorade for 30 Guatemala Quetzal.

From San Ignacio to the Guatemala border is 20 minutes ride and about an hour to Flores Guatemala. The van drive stopped by the lake in Flores. And a coffee restroom break at a roadside souvenir shop.

September is low tourist season and once we arrived in Tikal National park, there were very few tourists. The group I was in spent the hot day exploring the Mayan pyramids. The Pyramids with a room on top is a temple, the Pyramid which is flat on top is an Observatory.

Some of the Pyramids are still covered with dirt and have trees growing on them, the guide explained the issues that could arise by taking the trees out could cause damage to the structure. With all the technology we have, I thought it was the cost involved in restoring and upkeep as Guatemala is not very rich, I could be wrong.



The Tour van stopped on the road and everyone got out to take pictures of the monkeys on the trees.



Above Picture National tree of Guatemala 'Ceiba'




Do leave me some comments.