Petén
The vast tropical lowland jungles of the Petén department share borders with Belize to the east and Mexico to the north and west. It is home to most of the major Mayan sites in Guatemala and many visitors exploring the Mayan sites in all three countries tend to fly direct from either Mexico or Belize into the international airport at Flores. Most of the major Mayan sites are located in this department.
FLORES: This former Mayan ceremonial centre is built on an island in the middle of Lake Petén Itza. None of the Mayan structures survived the arrival of the conquistadors who built their main plaza, church and government building on the top of the hill in the centre of the island. The town’s hotels, restaurants and shops are laid out below. A causeway connects Flores to the mainland town of Santa Elena, where the banks and main shops are located. Buses run throughout the day from both Santa Elena and Flores to Tikal, passing through the pleasant village of El Remate, which has a couple of lakeside restaurants, lodgings and language schools. Also accessible from Flores is the Cerro Cahuí Biosphere – a 600-hectare (1482 acres) nature reserve that contains cedar, sapodilla, indigo and mahogany trees, orchids and ferns as well as fauna such as white-tailed deer, armadillos, spider monkeys, hawks, parrots and toucans. From October to April, hundreds of migratory birds settle in the reserve.
TIKAL: The spectacular Mayan ruins of Tikal (City of Voices) encompass vast pyramidal temples, ball courts, causeways, plazas and public buildings that extend over some 16 sq km (6 sq miles). While there are about 3000 known structures, many more lie buried under dense jungle vegetation. First occupied in about 800 BC, this great city was eventually abandoned around 1000 years later. Copies of some of the more elaborate friezes, stelae, sculptures and bas-reliefs are found in the Sylvanus Morley Museum, which is near the entrance. At least two days are recommended to see all of the archaeological sites. Visitors can stay in the park lodges, in Flores, Santa Elena or El Remate, and guided tours around the ruins can be arranged both for the evening and at sunrise. The site is located in the heart of Tikal National Park, where there are over 50,587 hectares (125,000 acres) of rare forest (kapoka, breadnut, mahogany and cedar) and tropical vegetation. Wildlife that can be seen there includes howler monkeys, tropical birds, reptiles, red coates, racoons and white-tailed deer. Tikal National Park is itself situated in the much larger Mayan Biosphere Reserve.
Other Mayan sites in north Petén: Several Mayan sites are currently under excavation, one of the most impressive of which is El Mirador, about 4km (2.5 miles) from the Mexican border. Also in the northern part of the department, Uaxactún (Eight Stones) shows how developed the Mayan civilisation had become by the ninth century AD. Building E-VII-B was used for determining the precise dates of the equinoxes and the solstices. Ixlú was an important lake port, situated in between the Petén Itza and Salpetén lagoons. Further east, on the edge of the Yaxhá Lagoon, Yaxhá (Green Water) is an extensive Mayan site of terraces, plazas and causeways. North from here are the smaller sites of Nakum and Naranjo.
SAYAXCHÉ: This town in the southern part of the Petén department provides a good starting point for exploring other major Mayan sites. Ceibal, southeast of Sayaxché, has a small observatory that was designed to pinpoint the location of galaxies, planets and stars. It is also where some of the finest post-Classical stelae (AD 900 to 1523), carved with large anthropomorphous clay figures, were recovered. Other impressive stelae representing battle scenes were found at Dos Pilas. Southeast from here, the post-Classical site of Aguateca was once an important ceremonial centre.
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