Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Canopy Tours Tikal
( 5819-7766;
www.canopytikal.com
; admission Q235; 8am-5pm)
By the national park entrance this
outfit offers a one-hour tour through the forest canopy, with the chance to ride a harness
along a series of cables linking trees up to 300m apart and several hanging bridges. The
fee includes transport from Tikal or El Remate.
ADVENTURE TOUR
Sleeping & Eating
Staying overnight enables you to relax and savor the dawn and dusk, when most of the
jungle birds and animals can be seen and heard (especially the howler monkeys). Other
than camping, there are only three places to stay, and tour groups often have many of the
rooms reserved. One way of ensuring a room is to become a group tourist yourself. Al-
most any travel agency in Guatemala offers Tikal tours, including lodging, a meal or two,
a guided tour and transportation.
There's no need to make reservations if you want to stay at Tikal's
campground
(campsite per
person Q50, hammock with mosquito net Q85)
, behind the new research center. This is a large,
grassy area with a clean bathroom block and
palapa
shelters for hanging hammocks.
Along the right-hand side of the access road stand a series of little
comedores,
offering
bland versions of standards like grilled chicken or grilled steak (Q40 to Q50). All are open
from 5am to 9pm daily. Another restaurant is in the Visitor Center, with pastas and ham-
burgers among the offerings.
Picnic tables beneath shelters are located just off Tikal's Gran Plaza, with soft-drink
and water vendors standing by, but no food is sold. If you want to spend all day at the ru-
ins without having to make the 20- to 30-minute walk back to the
comedores,
carry food
and water with you.
Tikal Inn $$
( 7861-2444;
www.tikalinn.com
; s/d Q395/470, bungalow Q470/590; )
Built in the late '60s,
this resort-style lodging offers rooms in the main building and thatched bungalows along-
side the pool and rear lawn, with little porches out front. All are simple, spacious and
quite comfortable. The most secluded accommodations are the least expensive, in a hand-
ful of cabins at the end of a sawdust trail through the forest.
HOTEL
Jaguar Inn $$$
HOTEL
