Temples at Tikal

Amazing day. After spending the night in a jungle lodge, we headed out to the Tikal
national park.

We were prepared for forecast rain and took snacks and water for the day.

It began with some uphill hiking on very humid conditions, listening to the sounds off the nearby howler monkeys and watching out for the spider monkeys and native birds that live in this area.

It wasn’t long before we emerged from the lush jungle and suddenly found ourselves facing the first of the ruins - these were the living spaces and the marketplace of the villagers who lived here - all progressively built from 800AD.

From there it was hours of climbing endless staircases, exploring the temples and astronomical towers that have been excavated so far. Almost impossible to imagine these structures had initially been painted red!

Although it’s been 28 years since I was first here, not much has changed. We were still able to scale the ruins - albeit there are now staircases to get you safely to the top, and some even have railings at the summit) although most don’t.. The topmost ‘room’ where the rulers were buried have been fenced off, but otherwise I was free to retrace my steps and reminisce with the kids.

After climbing every single structure in the heat (but luckily no rain - even the clouds cleared!) we made our way back to the entrance to cool down over lunch before reboarding our transport to the airport.Read more