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Flores is a tiny town on an island on Lake Peten Itza. I could tell as soon as we arrived that I would like this little town with it's cobbled streets, tiny coloured buildings and lakeside location.
We were dropped off at Los Amigos hostel (this hostel was great - it had a mini jungle in the middle with tables, chairs and hammocks around it, as well as a good food menu and decebt bar) and without really thinking things through booked ourselves onto a sunrise and sunset tour of Tikal.
Having settled in we realised just what this meant. We had to be up to get a 3am bus to Tikal National Park, we would spend the day trekking there right through to about 8pm. Rough.
We got an early night and managed to make the bus. We got to Tikal at around 4:30am, paid the Q150 entry fee and an additional Q100 under the table park ranger fee for letting the guide and group in before the official 6am opening time and had a quick coffee before making the 40-minute journey to Temple IV to watch the sun come up. I could tell our guide Luis was going to be a legend. He told us proudly in his interesting english accent how he had been on Survivor Guatemala and lasted up to day 24. Not long into the journey he stopped and knelt down next to a rock he fiddled around for a few seconds and before I knew it he was walking towards us with a massive tarantula on his hand. We took some photos but I was too chicken to have it on my hand.
We got to temple IV at 5:30am. We sat for 30 minutes in near silence, hearing only the sounds of jungle insects. Then, as the first rays of light appeared on the horizon, the birds started to sing. What started as just a few tweets here and there soon became a crescendo of noise. This wasn't the end of it though. It was slightly un-nerving to hear the first of the Howler Monkeys. They let off a terrifying growl that resonates across the forest. It was incredibe hearing so many of them growling in unison. The sun rise was stunning. I could see the outline of a couple of the larger temple ruins protruding from the jungle canopy in the distance, but these were soon bathed in light as the sun rose fron behind the clouds.
After seeing the sun rise, Luis took us on a tour of the main ruins, talking us through the significance of various plants and trees. At one point he spotted a Howler Monkey and was able to mimic the noise it makes so well that the monkey responded in kind each time he growled. Amazing. We saw Spider Monkeys, Tucans, Parrots and even a Boa Constrictor.
After the tour finished, we spoke to Luis who arranged for us to meet the afternoon tourguide (Boris) at Temple IV, at 4:30. So, having finished the first tour at 11am, we had a good few hours to explore the jungle ourselves. We walked and walked, taking in the ruins and wildlife before heading to Temple IV as instructed. We waited and waited but no one showed. At around 5:45pm another guide came up and told us he hadn't seen Boris all day. We were also told that the last buses to Flores left at 6:30pm. We pretty much ran through the jungle to get back to the entrance, with the light fading rapidly as we did so. Once we reached the entrance there wasn't a bus in sight. We were a little panicked, not wanting to be stranded in the middle of nowhere. We finally saw a chicken bus and asked if we could get to Flores. Luckily the driver lived there and he was going back that way, so he gave us a lift back for a fee of Q25. The hour-and-a-half journey was pretty excruciating. It may have been the first time he had driven a bus because there was a loud crunch at every gear change and he almost hit several other motorists. Terrifying, but we got back in one piece.
Nothing exciting to tell for the following day - just sorting internet, laundry etc etc, as well as trying (and failing) to get our money back for the sunset tour that we didnt get. Next stop was Semuc Champey, a mere 9 hours away on the bus....
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