Small town of Flores is a popular base for exploring Tikal and many other sites in Peten region of Guatemala. The old part of town is located on a tiny island which is connected by a short causeway to the coast and the main Flores city. There is plenty of accommodation and many restaurants with delicious food on the island.
The vibe on the island is very relaxed and happy. The streets are narrow and cute and very clean. Art and creativity seems to be everywhere – like those toucan planters made of used tires below.
Water level in Peten Itza lake fluctuates a lot and lately has been rising. Some say it is a regular cycle. Some say it relates to climate change. Some say drainage is not working as it should. When we were there in December of 2023 lower side of the island and its Malecon (main waterside promenade) were under water. Amazingly people just seem to have moved on to higher floor (or built an extra floor?). A fair bit of more recent building happened around the lakeshore (not on the island) including quite a few guesthouses. Some say that local people always knew that water comes up and down and hence never built on the lakeshore. But then with tourism newcomers bought land and built on the shore and now are under water.
We hired a boat and went around the lake to see some wildlife and more of the coast areas.
The scenery is beautiful. The lake has many little and not so little lagoons. We went into a couple covered in beautiful water lilies and with iguanas sitting on trees warming up in the sun. Lots of water birds around too.
On our little boat trip we stopped at the ARCAS Wildlife Rescue Center. It was very informative about the challenges and scale of wildlife trafficking in Guatemala and the region. The center receives between 300 and 600 animals per year. It is, sadly, one of the few places other than a zoo where one can see jaguars or scarlet macaws in Guatemala. It is a large sanctuary with many animals waiting for their chance to get back to the wild.
We also went to see one more Mayan site. After all the Mayan ruins in Belize, Mexico and TIkal we just could not stop. Every tour agency in Flores sells a tour to Yaxha. A major site it was the third largest city in the region in its day between 250-600AD. The site is huge, covered in jungle and is only partially excavated. It has 500 structures, including 9 temple pyramids! Walking through trails which used to be causeways connecting various parts of this ceremonial center, one can only feel amazement and awe at Maya civilization.
The tours are mostly afternoon tours and include a sunset view over the lake Yaxha from the top of one of the pyramids named (not very poetically) structure 216. It is the tallest of the structures with fantastic view of the lake and the site.
Wildlife on the site is plentiful and during our visit was very active. Spider monkeys were feeding and hopping around trees. Howler monkeys were in an extended howling match. It was a special experience to stand right next to Mayan pyramids, listen to and watch howling monkeys and trying to imagine what was it like in around 500AD.
The distance from Flores to Yaxha is 70km and it should not take more than 2 hours to get there. The group tour takes a fair bit longer though as the bus drives around to pick up all the visitors in Flores and in the area. It is not exactly a chicken bus – as Guatemalan public buses in rural areas are known, as it is a modern comfortable bus. But it does take a while and they do fill the bus, including by picking up friends who need a ride to Flores and are ok with standing. If time is a constraint maybe it is better to get a private or smaller tour. We had time and did not mind the slow trip and got a few laughs along the way in that high density transport.
We really enjoyed our stay in Flores. It is a very relaxed happy place to base oneself at to explore Tikal and other wonders of Peten region. After our daily explorations it was highly enjoyable to join the locals and tourists watching sunset and drinking Gallo (english translation “rooster”) – excellent Guatemalan beer.
From here we flew back to Guatemala City and headed to explore highlands of Guatemala in Antigua and lake Atitlan.