Trying2beVegan

A little known fact for those who have never been to Tikal is that most of the ancient Mayan city is still ‘underground’ , hidden from view by the flora and fauna that has taken up residence above it over the past thousand or so years. Wherever you see a mound or hill within the national park, you are more than likely looking at the buried remains of some great ancient structure that has been reclaimed by nature.

Archaeologists from all over the planet, even to this day are still toiling to un-earth the remains of the city. Uncovering tantalising secrets of the past with each new discovery found among the ruins. The work of these hardened pros is a very slow and delicate process as the site has only been rediscovered in the last 100 years or so and nature has done its best to intertwine itself within the masonry. This makes the task of the conservation of the ruins that much more difficult.

Walking among the dense jungle that engulfs Tikal it feels like one is travelling back in time. The feeling reinforced by the impressively gigantic temples that dominate any gaps in the jungle. If one is brave enough to take the steep ascent up the rickety steps of the main temples including Temple IV which stands at a whopping 65m tall, provide a stunning panoramic view of the surrounding emerald canopy of tropical trees that now covers and surrounds the once thriving Mayan civilisation.

With so relatively little of the site actually being uncovered it is hard to imagine what the landscape would have looked like in the ‘golden years’ of Tikal with it being estimated that 100,000-200,000 people lived there at that time. Instead of the dense jungle seen today, looking out all those years ago from atop a temple you would be looking over an impressive metropolis, so vastly developed compared to other parts of the world at that time.

Tikal holds a magical feeling in the air and the natural sounds of the jungle add to the wonderment, with toucans calling and monkeys howling. Each step through the green shaded tunnels that the paths around the site create builds more and more excitement and turning a corner to an opening in the trees where you find a towering ancient structure does well to not leave one with any sense of anti-climax.

If you find yourself in Guatemala I think it would surely be a missed opportunity if you didn’t make the effort and take the time to check out Tikal. A well worth experience that is near guaranteed to leave you with a feeling of excitement and satisfaction.