Tikal was a major political and economic center of Maya civilization inhabited between 600BC and 900AD. The urban zone of Tikal is 400 hectares and has palaces, temples, ceremonial squares and various other structures. Tikal national park is part of Maya Biosphere reserve covering more than 21 thousand square kilometers or one fifth of Guatemala. Wondering through TIkal one almost feels like an explorer discovering sites not seen before. Jungle is everywhere, many structures are not excavated, wild life is plentiful and the area is huge. Tikal was a great addition to our collection of Mayan temples that we visited in Belize and Mexico.
Tikal’s otherworldly scenery impressed George Lucas so much that he decided to use it as a filming location for Star Wars Episode IV. Tikal’s Temple IV was the rebel base in the film. Temple IV has a great view over Tikal – with various temples poking out from the jungle. One can not only climb up to Temple IV but view sunrise over Tikal from there. We decided that we should experience that. If one is staying in Flores or other locations outside of the park it would mean a pick up at 3am. We chose to stay for a night at Tikal Jungle Lodge inside of the national park. The lodge is very nice with an excellent restaurant. It also arranges transport to and from airport and Flores.
We arrived to Tikal around midday and went to explore the site. The next day we woke up early to hike to the Temple IV for the sunrise. The walk is in the dark with headlamps. It is also an opportunity to see a variety of nocturnal wildlife.
Our sunrise was not too great unfortunately due to very thick fog. We could barely see the edge of the platform. Later in the day the fog lifted. But we did not get that perfect sunrise photo. Though I must say, even in thick fog the experience of sunrise over this beautiful and spiritually very important place for so many people (over time) was worth it.
In the jungles around the ruins there are all sorts of wildlife. We saw monkeys, birds and bands of coatis. We came across aracaris and toucans quite close in the trees and saw plenty of them flying around up in the canopy.
In the afternoon we headed back to Flores. All in all we were happy we decided to overnight in the park and felt that two half days was a good amount of time. Though one could roam around and explore Tikal and beyond endlessly!