Exploring Ancient Tikal in guatemala
After spending the afternoon walking around Flores we found something to eat and sat on the banks of Lago Peten Itza which is the second largest lake in Guatemala. We watched the sunset over the horizon and then retired back to our guest house for the night. We would be up early to drive to Tikal in the hopes that we would catch sunrise over the iconic Mayan temples that poke their way through the jungle canopy.
It was an early 3am start and the drive from Flores to Tikal is about an hour. We then walked into the jungle in the dark. The sound of the jungle made the walk eerie and we wondered what was out there watching us. We saw large silhouettes of ancient buildings in the darkness, the remains of a large civilization that had once dominated this area.
We climbed an ancient temple and sat at the top looking out across the dark jungle that was engulfed in a thick morning misty fog. The light started to increase and the fog thickened, the sun evaporating moisture from the forest was going to block our sunrise view across the jungle. For a while we could not see anything because of the fog. After waiting a little while we started to see shapes of buildings poking their way through the tree canopy. The Howler monkeys roared and that view made famous by the original star wars movie came into view. The tallest structure in the Americas until Columbian times rose from the jungle and the early wake up call was all worth it. Yes sunset wasn’t what we wanted but the fog mixed with the roaring Howler monkeys gave a song and dance like no other.
After admiring the view we eventually climbed back down and explored the Tikal complex. Tikal was a major Mayan civilisation and one that commanded great respect. The buildings available to currently see are just a small fraction of what has yet to be excavated. With an inner urban zone tikal is thought to cover 400 hectares with an expanded zone covering as much as 1,200 hectares. Tikal is one of the largest Mayan sites uncovered today and is an incredible place to explore. Ancestors of the original Mayans that lived in Tikal still come to worship at the heart of the city. Tikal was the capital of a larger conquest state that became one of the most powerful Mayan kingdoms to have existed.
Tikals demise is thought to have come from its own incredible success. Over population led to deforestation which created numerous problems which caused a rapid decline in its population and power. Tikal was then abandoned and eventually retaken by the jungle and almost all knowledge of its existence faded. There were brief encounters with the ancient city over the centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1850’s that expeditions were guided by local people to the site and excavation and vegetation clearing began.
When exploring a site like Tikal your mind explores all the possibilities that could have happened here, how many of the large surrounding mounds of earth covered by thick vegetation could be another building? Only around 15% of Tikal has been excavated, what has been excavated and can be seen shows how incredible the Mayan people really were.
