Report from Tikal

Our friend, the small tarantula

Some signs for a few animals around Tikal



The grand plazza at Tikal


Temple V at Tikal

March 12/06

At breakfast this morning we inquired as to the distance / driving time from Rio Dulce to Tikal. The answers we received were typical… 2 /1/2 hours from one person, 8 hours from the next! We also asked about accommodation. One fellow told that there was a selection of hotels within 5 k of Tikal. This was counter to the information in the guide book, but locals must know, right?

Well it was a great road and it was a 3 hour ride to Tikal. The hotels that were suppose to be 5 k from Tikal were at least 25 K distant… but the camp ground inside the park itself were as advertised in the Lonely Planet guide. Since we reached Tikal earlier than anticipated, we had the afternoon to explore the ruins. Tikal is very much worth a visit.

For those who are driving / riding here, there are two entrances to the site. You must pass through both of them. One entrance is almost 20k from the site of the ruins. This is where you by your entry pass. The second entrance is located just prior to the ruins. It is just inside this entrance that the campsite, parking area, information area, restaurants and 3 in-park hotels are located.

As we rode into the parking lot we were approached by a fellow on a typical small motorcycle with a cooler mounted on the back. It is not uncommon to be approached by vendors selling their goods, but this fellow appeared to asking something else. After a bit of back and forth we realised that he was asking if we had some spare gasoline. He had to ride 30K home and he didn’t think he had enough fuel. I had brought a small siphoning hose with me so within a few minutes we managed to transfer enough fuel from my tank to get him back home. He offered to pay us but we refused to accept payment but he was selling chocolate dipped frozen bananas which he offered us in payment. They were very good.

Before visiting the ruins, made arrangements to camp. We were permitted to ride the bikes across the grass and park beside or camping area. One our concerns was the security of our bikes, luggage and camping equipment while visiting the ruins. As it turned out security is not an issue. The camp ground is monitored by park staff. We simply made sure that our passports and documents were securely locked in our hard luggage and walked to the site of the ruins.

We spent a few hours walking around and climbing over the ruins. They are awe inspiring. Many of the ruins have yet to be uncovered completely. Some are partially uncovered. It is interesting to see the work in progress and to see some of the sites where little work has been done. These sites are still consumed by the jungle.

By the time we returned to the campsite the sun had set. We quickly set up the tents and walked over to one of the hotels for a drink. When we returned to the tents it was dark. One of the camping staff came over with his flash light to see where we were camped. He showed us something interesting, frightening to some. Close to where we camped was a small hole in the turf, about the diameter of a silver dollar. He shone his flash light down the hole and the only word we understood from his explanation in Spanish was… “tarantula”. Sure enough, there was a big tarantula down the hole, staring out at us. Shining the flash light around the area we spied another one out walking around, but apparently smaller than the one in the hole. (see photo) Tarantulas are not poisonous, but that was little consolation to Linda. It made her forget about the snakes for a while though!