Tikal Jaguar Temple

Tikal – Mayas ruins in Guatemala

I woke up in the middle of the night. There were sounds coming from outside. The sounds of crickets, frogs and some other creatures inhabiting the bushes of the Tikal – Mayas Ruins in Guatemala that I am not even able to name. They were playing their concert all at a time. A concert that never stops.

I lit up the flashlight and put it on my head. I made sure no bug was using my flip-flops as a bed and went to the bathroom. And as I have expected – I saw cockroaches having a party on the bathroom floor. However after seeing the light and me coming in, they all escaped. Was I afraid of them? No, I even was prepared for their presence. I read many opinions about the hotels in Tikal and in all of them it was mentioned that they are cockroaches.

The windows were opened and had a mosquito net. They might have prevented some mosquitos to enter. However the cockroaches found their way in, through the gap under the door.

Yes! Tikal is undoubtedly one of the places that we didn’t want to miss when living in Colombia although it has never been on my bucket list. I simply didn’t know much about Guatemala. Since a friend of mine was living there we dropped her a visit just after I found cheap flights (generally speaking, flying in Latin America is very expensive compared to Europe). It is important to mention that we have visited Guatemala during the best time (in my humble opinion) – during Easter. You can read HERE  how beautiful Easter celebrations are in Guatemala.

In addition I wanted to wake up at 4AM to go up the Temple IV and see the sunrise from there. We got some tips on what we should and should not do. One of them was to be careful what we step on, as what may look like a tree root, can turn out to be a snake. In order to avoid it, our guide was walking first, lighting up the path. In addition we had to walk in the middle of the path avoiding the sides. As a result I thought: ”Do I really need to see the sunrise?”

On our way we heard a gorilla roaring. It seemed that he was so close. But he was about 4 km away. The sound was scary but as well amazing that we all started to record it. However my imagination made me worry. I was imagining the gorilla swinging from tree to tree in our direction. Therefore I asked the guide what happens if we ”meet” him on our way in the dark bushes. He assured us that it won’t happen.

All in all the mist and clouds made it impossible to see the sunrise. But I still remember the gorilla sound in the morning in a dark jungle – such an unforgettable experience.

Tikal  – Mayas Ruins in Guatemala – a place somewhere in Central America so far away from civilization in an never-ending jungle where only a tiny part of it is opened for tourists.

 

6 thoughts on “Tikal – Mayas ruins in Guatemala

    1. Never thought of comparing Peru to Guatemala :-). However what I find interesting is that in both of them women are wearing traditional clothes. Maybe not in the big cities but in small towns. There are high Andes in Peru perfect for trekking and there are so many volcanoes in Guatemala which are great for trekking too. I find Peu safer than Guatemala also.

  1. Did you ever discover what it was that you heard roaring? Pretty sure there are no gorillas in Guatemala. Great statement about the cockroaches, I love a traveler that isn’t afraid of bugs. Even with the sunrise obscured your photos are breathtaking!

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