Five days in Flores : Our first stop in Guatemala

Crossing the Belize-Guatemala border with Ben and Grace went without issue. We grabbed a taxi in San Ignacio that took us to the border. Coting $5BZD each.  There is a legitimate exit fee to be paid on leaving Belize of $40BZD each. We then headed through the Belize Customs without hassle and made the short walk, through what we guess must be a kind of no-mans land, to the Guatemala border.

At the checkpoint we complete entry cards and prepared for another border agent battle, similar to when leaving Mexico. We’ve read that even though is no official fee or tax required to enter Guatemala but there are some border agents that will still insist on taking cash before you can pass. Unlike Mexico however, we immediately stood down as there were no bogus demands for entry fees and thankfully the whole process was pretty quick and painless. Crossing a border on foot is a pretty cool experience but we did have heightened senses as we had no idea how the process would go. Here at least, crossing into Guatemala was a breeze!

With fresh stamps in our passports (another one for the collection!) we then went to exchange the remainder of our pesos. The guys scattered around the border office, clutching huge bundles of cash actually offered a pretty reasonable exchange rate (slightly improved when Mark unashamedly ‘worked the room’ pitting the guys rates against each other). We ignored the expensive offers of a shuttle at the office, even when they insisted that it was too far to walk with our bags (it’s not!) and walked across the bridge and into Guatemala proper. Other blogs implied that there will be collectivo buses waiting for you on the other side of the bridge, however this isn’t exactly accurate. We wanted to be a little more precise incase anyone else makes the trip and panics when they cross the bridge and are presented with very little at all, except a couple of guys offering expensive private taxi rides. You actually need to cross the bridge, pass the waiting pricey coaches, walk down the road and take the first left. There will be a carpark full of the collectivo mini-buses waiting there. The carpark is even equipped with free toilets and random showers.

With the bags strapped to the roof, we made the 3 hour ride to Santa Elena, the adjoining town to the island of Flores. The 4 of us squezzed onto the back seat as we hurtle along the potholed roads, overtaking everything on the roads regardless of oncoming traffic. Ben (a professional driver in his working life) audibly tensed at each death defying overtake, whilst he and Mark both kept an eye out for any of our bags, just in case they fell off the roof. (This does actually happen to one of us later on our Guatemalan travels)! Total people count in the collectivo at one time reached 24 and we definitely got air after one particular fast approach to a dip in the road. Once in Santa Elena we grabbed a tuktuk from the bus station over to Flores. Ben and Grace opted to walk it and reported that even in the midday sun it’s a pretty do-able, half hour walk if you want to save yourself the tuktuk fare of 10 Quetzales. Also affectionately referred to as quavers by us.

The four of us opted to stay at the popular Hostel Los Amigos on the island of Flores. The Tuktuk took us over the bridge and struggled up the cobbled hill with us and our giant bags. The hostel isnt the cheapest option on the island but is a well set-up and cool looking place, with an enclosed garden and vines drapped over the bar area. We opted to stay across the road from the main building in a quieter room with a rooftop seating area, complete with hammocks and a view of the lake, plus free chilled water dispenser (which is more important than it sounds when you have to otherwise buy all your drinking water). We settled into the place with its relaxed, although very gringo-trail atmosphere. The menu is full of great tasting food and giant fresh smoothies, even if they do come with tourist inflated prices. A couple of small tortoises and friendly stray cats (one without ears) roamed under the tables which made Grace super happy. 

The main reason for stopping in Flores is it’s the best jumping off point to visit the incredible Tikal ruins. But before we make that excursion, we decide to have a day exploring Flores (its not very big!) and hired canoes to paddle the lake. We hired them through Los Amigos, each double canoe costing 70Q for the day (about £7). The four of us launch our two canoes into Lake Peten and head in the direction of a rope swing which others had told us about. It was a stunning afternoon paddle and was great to be on the water, even if we could see some ominous black clouds moving rapidly over the horizon and closing in on us. Digging the paddles in, possibly finding our rythm from the outrigger paddle experience in Hawaii, we perfectly timed our arrival at the swing, the heavens opening just as we were tying up the boats. As the epic rain was thrown down onto the lake, we watched on from hammocks, under the shelter of the rope swing’s palaba.

We ended up hanging out on the lake side for hours, giving the rope swing a try and enjoyng a swim in the sun warmed lake. Mark’s very awkward high board dive (video available on request) was hardly worthy of a GB team 2020 entry but it was great fun to watch – less fun for Mark! It involved Mark taking a dive from the pretty high board but a second after jumping, deciding he didnt really fancy it anymore, and oddly trying to paddle through the air. Time flew by and after a dog tried to eat Graces dress and a few beers were downed we paddled back as the sun set over Flores.

We also booked our trip to Tikal through Los Amigos hostel and chose the ‘Sunset’ option which cost 110Q as well as the further 170Q park entrance fee each. Sunrise is also a very popular time to see the ruins, to witness the burnt orange sun peak between the Mayan temples, plus sunrise is renouned to be substantially less touristy. However, in addition to the 3am start, we read online the sunrise can often be more cloudy than sunset. So setting off at midday from Flores we took the 2 hour bus ride into the national park and to one of the largest and most famous ruined cities of the Mayan people. 

Arriving mid-afternoon we expected it to be initially busy, but as it turns out the weather is even more influential than time of arrival. It was very overcast as we pulled up, but the silver lining to the cloudy sky was that we had the entire site to ourselves!

With only six of us in the group, our guide gave us what felt like our own private tour of Tikal. This is the first site where we’ve opted to have a guide and to be honest it is worth it, partly because the site is so huge they can literally stop you from getting lost, but also to provide some extra detail to the history of the site and the people who lived there. The towering temples are imposingly beautiful and as we made our way round, walking amongst the impressive structures we were constantly impressed with their stature and precise architechture, orientated by the Mayan calendar and moving position of the sun. The rain did eventually give way, meaning wildlife started to emerge, we saw vibrant coloured toucans and a pack of coatimundi’s running between trees hunting for food. 

Wildlife at Tikal

As dusk approach we climbed the winding and creeky wooden staircase of the temple, erected to keep tourists off the stone walls, which were frankly to steep to climb anyway! 

As we climbed, the forest opened in front of us and as we edged above the trees canopy we are taken aback by the breath-taking sight of just endless rainforest as far as the eye can see. Although not the clearest view, the wispy mist of the recent rain evaporating gave the entire forest a mystical and really magical quality. Sitting on the steps at the very top of the structure we take a few minutes to just take in the incredible, unobstructed view.

Soon after arriving in Flores we headed to eat at the street food stalls. This set of gazebos set up along the river bank are a nightly occurance, popular with tourists and locals alike. This was a great alternative to the yummy but sightly pricey food at the hostel, offering three tacos, loaded with your selection of spiced veggie and meat mixes, for 5 quetzales – the equivalent of 50p! On more than one occasion we visited the stalls, which also offered “jugo freca” or fresh juice served from huge contains and in various vibrant colours. Their collection of home baked cakes were also incredible, the ladies happily cutting us huge slices of banana or chocolate cake if we had enough room after at least two round of tacos. Ben fed his huge appetite and ate loads and we enjoyed watching him get the sweats after applying a mound of yellow habanero salsa to his tacos.

On a side note, having read several forums about a high frequency of card skimming in Guatemala we were nervous to withdraw cash, but as the money we exchanged the border was swapped for delicious food and two mojitos for £3 it was unavoidable. Having said that, we touch wood and so far have had no issues with our cards, best tip is to use machines locals are also using, ideally inside banks or supermarkets. There are two main ATM companies and if your lucky enough to find a manly blue and yellow machine they are free to withdraw money from. Otherwise youll be taking money from the prevalent “5B” machines, where you’ll have to swallow the £4.50 transaction fees (most expensive we’ve experienced on the trip so far).

B&G are heading off to see more of Central America before they start their seasonnaire jobs on the snow covered mountains of the French Alps. On their last night we shared a cheap bottle of red from the supermarket, whilst Ben tucked into his tuna and tortilla chips as we all played cards and listened to Whitney Houston – Ben and Grace’s favourite (Mark orignally wrote Tina Turner here – shame on him). It was sad to say goodbye to this awesome, pair at breakfast the following morning. We wish you guys happy trails and fun in the French snow! For us we stayed at amigos for a couple more nights ahead of starting two weeks of volunteering at the wildlife sanctuary ARCAS, which is coming next…