Ruins and Ruminations in Tikal

This spectacular Mayan ruin nestled in northern Guatemala’s dense tropical jungle is about as far from civilization as you can get, but the wake-up calls are every bit as efficient as in any big-city hotel.

At 6:30 on our first morning at the Jungle Lodge in the park, my traveling companion, Elliot, and I were jarred awake by a thunderous screeching, followed by loud bangs that sounded as though they were coming through the roof. We opened our bungalow door and witnessed half a dozen spider monkeys on their early morning breakfast run, thrashing in the breadnut trees, flinging nuts and dropping them on the tin roof of our cabin.

We had come to the park for its outstanding Mayan ruins and luxuriously intact rain forest, both of which have been protected by the Guatemalan government.

Tikal was a bookend to our late March diving trip in neighboring Belize. From Belize City we flew to Flores, a colorful tourist town on an island in Lake Peten Itza. (There’s also air and bus service between Flores and Guatemala City, about 340 miles south.)

There we rented a small SUV, beat-up but with precious air-conditioning intact, and drove the 50 miles northeast to the park. The road is well paved and winds through lush countryside dotted with small farms, humble homesteads and picturesque graveyards before entering dense forest.

You can do a fly-and-drive-in tour of the ruins in one day--many tour operators offer packages--but there is so much to see in the 222-square-mile park that visitors should plan on spending at least two days.

Our visit was at the hottest, driest time of year, with temperatures in the 90s. Hats and sunscreen were a must, as was a good supply of insect repellent, though we needed that less than we might have from June through November, the muggiest and buggiest months.

There are three bare-bones hotels in the park. The Jungle Lodge was the nicest, although the price, $70 per night, was high for Guatemala.

Our room, in a duplex bungalow with private bath, was clean and spacious. There was no air-conditioning, but most of the bungalows are built in the jungle’s considerable shade, and there are decent ceiling fans. The electricity went out several times during our visit, but the inconvenience was minimal.

Food options in the park are limited to the dining rooms in the hotels and the handful of informal cafes, or comedores, across the road from the visitors’ center. The Comedor Tikal served tasty tortillas, scrambled eggs with ham, fried plantains and beans for one memorable breakfast; the Comedor Imperio Maya, though with a more limited menu, served huevos rancheros with piquant salsa, black beans and tortillas, and fresh, light pancakes with a fruit salad. Lunches and dinners usually featured chicken or beef, with plentiful rice, beans and tortillas.

You’re better off taking all your meals in a comedor , though we decided to try dinner at the Jungle Lodge one night. It was a typical touristy fixed-price experience, and although the food--vegetable soup, pork chops or beefsteak, local squashes, grated carrots, mashed potatoes and white cake--wasn’t bad, it cost $15 for the two of us, about twice what the smaller cafes cost.

You should drink only bottled water here (as elsewhere in Guatemala); it’s widely available for about $1 a bottle.

After checking into our cabana around 3 p.m., we began the mile-long trek through the jungle to the Great Plaza. You see the plaza for the first time when you emerge from a dense forest into a clearing flanked by two enormous limestone structures, known prosaically as Temple I and Temple II, each soaring more than 120 feet. The temples face each other across a vast expanse that includes stelae depicting various Mayan rulers and gods, each stela with its own flat altar, upon which sacrifices--often human--were offered.

Tikal was a major ceremonial center as well as a thriving community, and one of just a handful of the most significant Mayan cities, which included its rival city, Teotihuacan in central Mexico.

Archeologists believe that building at Tikal began around 600 BC and have identified several periods of growth and expansion, culminating in the dazzling Late Classic period from 600 to 900, when Temples I and II were built. As many as 100,000 people lived in Tikal at its peak, and most of the structures in the central area of the park were either ceremonial temples or palaces housing noblemen; peasant housing structures have been identified in outlying areas.

Some time after 900, Tikal declined, along with Mayan settlements elsewhere, for reasons still not clear. The jungle overtook the temples until archeologists began the painstaking process of recovering the ruins in the late 19th century.

After a glimpse of this amazing site that first afternoon, we decided the next morning--after our spider monkey wake-up call--to hire a guide for a closer look.

First we toured the Museo Litico, in the visitors center, where displays show the excavation of Tikal as well as some stelae and other carvings from the park. Admission is free. (The Museo Tikal, near the Jungle Lodge, displays burial items, including carved jade, pottery, incense burners and decorated bones. A visit to this museum, which costs $1.50, makes a nice late afternoon activity after a day at the ruins.)

At the information booth in the visitors center, we met Manuel, a 27-year veteran of the park, whom we hired to take us around the park for 41/2 hours for $40.

Hiring a guide was a smart move. Manuel knew details that even the best guidebooks don’t provide. In the Central Acropolis near the Great Plaza, for example, he gave us a tour through a palace home, pointing out where the living room and bedrooms had been, where the nobleman of the house would have received guests and offerings from peasants, and where indentations in the rock platforms suggested beds, which would have been cushioned with piles of feathers and jaguar pelts. He also mentioned that Temple I was closed to climbers in 1982 after two tourists fell to their deaths. (Temple II is still open, and many tourists say they wouldn’t miss the experience of climbing it, though there are occasional mishaps; Manuel once fell down 10 steps on Temple II, breaking his tailbone.)

Manuel also pointed out other areas of the plaza, including the ball court next to Temple I, where prisoners were forced to play a ceremonial game to the death.

The North Acropolis, which, like most parts of Tikal, was razed and rebuilt many times over the centuries by the Maya, was one of our favorite areas, with its stunning burial sites and enormous carved stone subterranean death masks, catacombs and tunnels. Archeologists have identified 100 structures here, the earliest dating to 200 BC.

Farther west from the Great Plaza is Temple IV, at 212 feet the highest building in Tikal and, it is thought, the tallest aboriginal structure in the Americas. This temple, which has been only partly excavated, is also the only one with ladders built along its side, making an ascent relatively easy.

We climbed to the top of Temple IV just as the sun was setting over the jungle canopy below us, and the view from here--of the tops of Temples I and II and the other tall structures as well as of the luxurious forest--was glorious.

You can walk all the way around the top of the temple on a ledge about 15 feet long on each side, and although the small ceremonial rooms are blocked off, as in the other temples, you can still peek into them from a good vantage point. We enjoyed the sunset with about 15 other hardy souls.

The other major ruins in the park include Temple V, in a years-long restoration, and Temple VI, also known as the Temple of Inscriptions for the singular markings along its roof comb. (Temple VI is remote, about a mile southeast of the Great Plaza, and it has been the site of assaults on tourists, including a rape and robbery of a German couple while we were there. It is best to visit in a large group or avoid it altogether. We decided not to chance it.)

Just as fascinating as the ruins was the lush jungle, including chicle trees (also known as sapodilla, a tropical evergreen whose sap is used in making chewing gum), giant ceiba (silk-cotton) trees, tropical cedar (sisal) and breadnut trees, among dozens of varieties.

One of Tikal’s striking features is the decision made early on by Guatemalan authorities not to restore all the structures but to leave most of the jungle intact. This means not only protection from the intense heat as you walk between sites but also another rich experience with the wildlife of the jungle.

We saw dozens of parrots and yellow-tailed blackbirds, several species of woodpeckers, wild turkeys, herons, kingfishers, spider monkeys, agouti pacas (large guinea pig-like rodents) and roaming herds of coatimundis (raccoon-like mammals with long snouts).

There are also sightings of jaguars, several types of toucan and the region’s signature howler monkeys. We heard their unmistakable fearsome roar one night in our hotel room. There are popular predawn bird-watching tours that can be arranged at the visitors center.

After leaving Tikal, we capped our trip with an afternoon and evening in Flores. The town has plenty of shops offering Guatemalan weavings and cloth work and restaurants featuring simple fare as well as some fancier menus.

We decided to splurge on La Luna, a popular place with great, moody atmosphere. The food--garlic-fried whole fish, and beef in a black pepper cream sauce--was good, though it took more than an hour to arrive because the fish, we were told 45 minutes into our wait, was still being defrosted. The cost, especially considering the wait, was steep at $22, and you would probably be better off at one of the myriad other restaurants flanking Flores’ narrow, winding streets.

That night we stayed at a lovely small hotel, La Casona de la Isla, with a romantic setting overlooking Lake Peten and a brightly illuminated amusement park on the opposite shore. The hotel had a charming outdoor bar and pool accented with waterfalls. The room was small but air-conditioned and clean. Best of all, it cost only $37.

And in the morning, the only sounds that awoke us were the motors of a few small distant pleasure boats--a quiet affirmation that we had returned to civilization.

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Guidebook: On the Road to Guatemala’s Ruins

* Getting there: From Los Angeles, the easiest route to Flores is through Guatemala City. Connecting service is available on TACA and United. Restricted round-trip fares to Guatemala City begin at $528. Restricted round-trip fares from Guatemala City to Flores begin at $110.

The bus from Guatemala City to Flores costs about $10 and takes about 12 hours.

Flores and Santa Elena have several rental car agencies. We chose a local outfit, Rentautos Garrido in Santa Elena, telephone 011-502-926-0092. A slightly beat-up Suzuki mini-SUV cost us $50 a day, the cheapest going rate. Tikal is about 50 miles from Flores on a decent paved road.

If you don’t rent a car, every hotel in Flores and Santa Elena can direct you to the local buses going to Tikal (about $5 round trip). Even more convenient are the minibuses that meet all flights and stop at all major hotels ($5.25 round trip).

* Tikal National Park: It costs about $7 per person to enter the park, and 35 cents is collected each day you enter the central area where the ruins are.

* Where to stay: In Tikal, the best hotel is Jungle Lodge, tel. 011-502-476-8775, fax 011-502-476-0294, originally built to house the archeologists excavating the ruins. Duplex bungalows have two double beds, a private bath and (limited) electricity for $70, double occupancy.

The two other hotels within the park are the Tikal Inn, tel./fax 011-502-594-6944, and the Jaguar Inn, tel. 011-502-926-0002, fax 011-502-926-2413. Camping under decent shade is available for $4.50.

In Flores, there are several charming, reasonably priced hotels, but you can’t go wrong with the Hotel Casona de la Isla, tel./fax 011-502-926-0523, on the island’s north side. The open-air bar and swimming pool area are right on Lake Peten Itza. The rooms are small, but all have private baths and cable TV, and most have air-conditioning. Doubles are $37.

If you’re in the mood to splurge, consider the grand Westin Hotel Camino Real Tikal, Lote 77, Parcelamiento Tayasal, San Jose Peten, Guatemala 17002, tel. (888) 625-5144 or 011-502-926-0208, fax 011-502-926-0222, https://www.starwood.com/westin, a luxury resort on the north shore of Lake Peten, about 30 miles from Tikal. Rooms are $120, with meals extra, though at off-peak times you can bargain and get meals included.

* Where to eat: The choices in Tikal are limited. The best food when visiting the park may be at the informal cafes, comedores, across the road from the visitors center. They serve good local cuisine in portions large enough to feed two for about $4. Look for Comedor Imperial Maya, Comedor La Jungla Tikal and Comedor Sagrado de Jesus.

Most of the hotels in Flores have cozy bars and restaurants that keep long hours. Try the Mayan Princess Cafe, at Calle 10 de Noviembre at Avenida la Reforma, or the restaurant in the Hotel Casona de la Isla. Expect to pay $4 to $7 for a full meal.

For a grander experience, check out the popular La Luna, at Calles 30 de Junio and 10 de Noviembre, which serves ambitious, nontraditional food. The prices are high by Guatemalan standards ($10 and up for a meal, not including drinks), and the service can be spotty.

* For more information: Guatemalan Tourism Institute, Embassy of Guatemala, 2220 R St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008; tel. (202) 745-3873, Ext. 103, or 745-1906 or (202) 745-4952, Ext. 103, fax (202) 745-1908, Internet https://www.guatemala-embassy.org/eg0604.asp.