Flores is a crowded little island on Lake Petén Itźa, Guatemala, popular with motorbike hoons and tourists with spectacular sunsets and a vibrant night life to offer. You can walk around the whole island in about 15 minutes, watch kids dodge traffic then leap into the water and try not to make any sudden moves around the security guard in the supermarket toting the semi-automatic weapon.
Our full day started with the passionate and excellent guide, Juan, showing us the amazing Mayan city of Tikal. It apparently features in a Star Wars movie but a long, long time ago in a galaxy right here, it was an important city supporting a population over 100,000 people at the same time that Constantinople was still called Constantinople and was the biggest city in the “western world” with a population of half that.
With no natural water courses or lakes nearby, the quarries left from limestone removed for the temples were sealed and used as reservoirs. Only three percent of the buildings are uncovered and yet it took us a few hours to venture over all we could access. Tikal also has the distinction of being a UNESCO site in two categories, cultural and environmental, and the only national park with three bars, which of course meant some of us enjoyed three beers while climbing the giant steps.
My camera didn’t play along so I don’t have any photos but google has plenty, just search for Tikal. Or Star Wars 😉
Lunch was enjoyed with views over a blue lake and the swim was refreshing after the hot and humid temple climbing.
Back in Flores Matt had the bright idea to swim to an island an estimated 800 metres away from Flores in return for a case of beer from Andrew. Challenge accepted and Amy, Matt, another tourist sitting on the jetty and myself took around 25 minutes to make it across the water. Jason followed some time after and even he said it was further than he expected…and he’s a professional diver. Matt and I swam to another jetty around 150 metres to the side and walked home while the others swam back. Dressed in just our swimmers, no shoes and negotiating traffic, hard concrete and shattered glass all the way, we were a sight to behold and the staring was constant. I guess it’s just not something the locals see everyday. We could only laugh.
The sunset threw out vivid orange, pink, red and gold as the sun sank behind the distant shoreline, showering the waves with a column of twinkling diamonds.
