Instead of my usual pithy blog entry, I've decided to go a bit long on this one. In Feb 2008 we spent 6 days in the jungle of the Peten region in Guatemala. That's a bit unusual, even for us. So to give it some room to breathe, I've created a multiple page thing. (Make sure your click the Read More to see it all.)
And if you don't really care to know any more, but like the pretty pictures, I've got the Mirador Trek Photo Album up which has many more photos than are in the narrative.
So, why? Well there are four ancient Maya cities that few folks ever visit. No roads lead there. Your choice is to walk, to ride an animal (mule of horse), or to fly via helicopter. I am no equestrian, and our experience in Namibia leads me to avoid the flying (because it avoids the journey). Hiking, that's a mode we're familiar with.
The cities are Maya Pre-Classic. Archaologists called it Pre-Classic because they though it was just a lame warmup to the prime time Classic Maya (like Tikal or Copan). Turns out, the Pre-Classic cities were as large and advanced as the Classic. They've recently discovered this because the cities are hidden in the jungle where no one lives.
Because of the newness of these discoveries, information devilishly difficult to come by. I've got a Resources page with some of the stuff I found, for those of you looking.
We booked the trip with Henry Sanchez of Onca Travel, a travel agency in Flores. I had hoped that Henry would be leading the trip, but not. And the guide we did get did not speak English. Hilarity ensued, or not.
The hiking was about 70 miles, per my handy GPS. That's just straight trails form camp to camp. Random wandering and exploring added another 20 miles.
So what follows is a day-by-day narrative, mainly pulled from my notes. Enjoy.
