Flores, Guatemala

Near the Ruins of Tikal, Flores was a very friendly town!

It’s a great place to ride around in the Tuk-Tuks.

Flores, Guatemala – August 2016

Hola from Flores! In August 2016 I flew from Placencia, Belize to Flores, Guatemala.

Flores is a small island town on Lake Petén Itzá in northern Guatemala, and it’s the gateway to the ancient Maya ruins of Tikal. Here are a few photos from my visit.

A quick bit of geography: Flores is the island town itself, sitting in Lake Petén Itzá, and Petén is the department (Guatemala’s version of a state or province) that surrounds it. So the island and the region are really two different scales of the same place.

Small passenger plane parked on a grass airstrip behind a white fence, ready for the flight from Placencia, Belize to Flores, Guatemala — Getting ready to board the little plane from Placencia, Belize to Flores, Guatemala.

Aerial view from the plane window of the island town of Flores on Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala — Flying in over Lake Petén Itzá, with the island of Flores down below.

Plane wing over white clouds and blue sky on a flight to Flores, Guatemala — Wing, clouds and blue sky on the flight to Flores.

Lakeside walkway along the water on the island of Flores, Guatemala, with a small boat on Lake Petén Itzá — The lakeside walkway around the island of Flores in the morning.

Wide view across calm Lake Petén Itzá toward the shoreline of Flores, Guatemala — Looking out across the calm water of Lake Petén Itzá.

View of Lake Petén Itzá framed by a window and plants inside a restaurant in Flores, Guatemala — A lake view through the window, surrounded by plants.

Red-and-white water taxi boat named Irene crossing Lake Petén Itzá near Flores, Guatemala — A water taxi crossing the lake. Boats like this run back and forth between the island and the shore.

Colorful Petén letters sign by the lake under palm trees in Flores, Guatemala — The colorful Petén sign by the lake.

Restaurant tables under stone arches looking out on a green courtyard at a hotel in Flores, Guatemala — The restaurant at my hotel in Flores, set under stone arches facing the courtyard.

Stone arches and set tables overlooking a garden courtyard at a hotel in Flores, Guatemala — Another look at the hotel courtyard through the arches.

Busy street in Flores, Guatemala with a pickup truck, a bus and a large town sign — Out on the busy streets of town.

Man riding a motorcycle down a street in Flores, Guatemala — Motorcycles are everywhere around Flores.

Parade marchers in matching purple outfits carrying giant colorful kites in Flores, Guatemala — A parade came through town, with marchers carrying giant colorful kites.

Parade marchers carrying a yellow house float decorated with balloons in Flores, Guatemala — More of the parade, with a house float covered in balloons.

Tikal was the highlight of the trip. I climbed Temple IV, the tallest of the pyramids, and from the top I could see the other three temples poking up out of the jungle, just like in these photos. What the photos don’t show is how tall the jungle canopy trees are. They’re a lot taller than they look here.

It’s hard to picture building something this big by hand. Under its cut-limestone face, Temple IV is packed with about 190,000 cubic meters of stone and earth, all held together with lime mortar and plaster the Maya made by burning the local limestone. It was finished around 741 AD and it’s still standing more than 1,200 years later. Fun fact: the same kind of lime plaster is still used today in New Mexico and Arizona as a classic finish over adobe mud-brick walls.

Ancient Maya temples rising above the green jungle canopy at Tikal near Flores, Guatemala — The temples of Tikal rising out of the jungle, a short trip from Flores.

Feet up on top of a temple looking out over the jungle at Tikal near Flores, Guatemala — Kicking back on top of a temple at Tikal with a view over the jungle.

Red tuk-tuk taxi parked on a street in Flores, Guatemala — The red tuk-tuks are the easiest way to get around town.

Selfie of Mark smiling in the back seat of a tuk-tuk in Flores, Guatemala — Me, riding in a tuk-tuk.

Large double-decker bus parked at the station in Flores for the trip to Guatemala City — Catching the bus from Flores to Guatemala City.

That’s it for Flores… on to the next stop!