Flores
It was a shit show for us getting from Semuc Champey to Flores, a town in the northernmost and largest department (like a state) of Guatemala. We tried to save a few Qs by booking with one of the guys who swarmed our arrival bus instead of with our hostel. We thought we had booked a spot in one of the tour buses going on to Flores, but our promised spots did not exist come the morning we were trying to leave. We ended up having to basically sit on the laps of folks who had booked properly and get dropped off at the local bus depot in the next town. If I wasn’t with someone who spoke fluent Spanish I would have been screwed. We were kinda screwed anyway. Our all-day ride to Flores ended up being with at least 20 other folks in a 12 passenger van with no air conditioning. Oh, and Flores is out of the mountains so all day it was SWELTERING. It’s a story now. But that was a miserable day. Don’t be us. Just book it straight from your lodging.
ANYWAY. Flores is the next natural stop from Semuc. It’s this cute little island in the middle of a big ole’ lake. Very touristy, but you might as well embrace it. That usually means extra comforts. We were coming in at the tail end of peak season so some parts of it were ghosty, but I still recommend a night or two here. Very walkable. Plenty of good food options for all budgets around. A good handful of things to occupy your time on and around the island. And of course, it is the base for most folks to explore Tikal and the other Mayan ruins in the area.
For Flores itself though, 10/10 DO recommend staying at Ciao Cacao. The most affordable option, Luis and Philippa were the PERFECT hosts, the garden is a great place to spend some hammock time, the kitchen is handy, and you will have your own fan at night. THIS IS KEY. As you leave Semuc your elevation is dropping and by the time you are in Flores, the heat can get quite unbearable if it's not something you’re used to (I was only even a tiny bit used to it because of our month in La Blanca with mi amor’s fam). Some folks might be thrown off by the fact that your bed is a thick mat on the floor. Honestly? It’s not any thinner than most of the hostel mattresses we came across (except in Antigua which was a dream). Because of the heat and humidity, we wanted as little in the way of bedding as you could get away with so it was perfect. We slept just fine.
The point of Flores for us was as a jumping-off point to visit Tikal, but there are plenty of things to do there. I recommend exploring Ciao Cacao’s blog for more specifics. We visited Chechenal beach, El Mirador lookout, and dipped our toes in the water around Flores itself. Mi amor also spent an afternoon with other travelers at Jorge’s rope swing.
Tikal
Having learned our lesson well, we booked our tour of Tikkal straight from our hostel. 150Qs (about $20) for just transportation & park entrance, 150Q more for a guide. There is a sunrise option with a 3:00 am departure time. We opted for the “early bird” 4:30 am departure time. I do recommend wherever you book to opt for one of these early ones. It’s the most popular site in the country. Places we breezed through with no people in sight had large crowds and lines as we left. It’s not as hot in the morning. You can nap on the drive over, which takes about an hour and a half. The morning jungle with these ancient temples rising out of the mist is pretty epic.
Things to bring:
LOTS of water. Bring as much as you think you need then double it. It’s hot & humid in this part of the world. You will sweat. There are lots of stairs. You will be walking for hours. Tikal is an entire complex to explore not just that one famous temple.
A headband or scarf or towel or handkerchief. Again, SWEAT.
Healthy snacks. Maybe even a light lunch. Crackers and granola bars and fruit. The food to be bought is overpriced and not the healthiest. Your sweaty tired body will thank you.
YOUR PASSPORT. We clearly did not pay attention somewhere because we didn’t realize you needed to show ID to enter the park. Luckily we had our passports but that’s just because we had forgotten to take them out of our day bags.
We opted to go without a guide, which has its pros and cons. Pros, we got to wander around by ourselves feeling like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, climbing all over, taking our time, taking stupid pictures, and following monkeys. I mean a literal monkey we watched swing through the trees for at least 20 minutes as well as cute little coati’s snuffling around all over the place. They weren’t too bothered by tourists, so especially since we were there so early in the morning we could get pretty close to watch them be cute.
Cons, we definitely missed out on some important context. There is decent signage in some parts and the map helped us figure out where we were and what we had or hadn’t seen most of the time, but we missed a lot of stories and information that would have added historical depth.
Nevertheless, historical depth was felt. A note from mi amor, who was connecting with his family’s history and heritage for the first time:
Setting foot in Tikal made me feel like I was walking in my ancestors’ shoes. Seeing where my people once thrived had me stunned upon the view of the towering pyramids. The pride that I felt was indescribable. My people were once the most advanced civilization capable of creating an entire empire. Touching the massive stones that made up the pyramids and surrounding buildings left a jolt-like feeling in my fingertips. “How was any of this possible?” I thought. The will of the Mayans. And that will to strive is rooted within my essence.
Budget
WHAT WE SPENT
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