El Petén - Guatemala - page 527

A visit to the site involves an arduous jungle trek of at least five days and four nights (it's
about 60km each way), with no facilities or amenities aside from what you carry in and
what can be rustled from the forest. During the rainy season, especially September to
December, the mud can make it extremely difficult; February to June is the best period to
attempt a trek.
The trip usually departs from a cluster of houses called Carmelita, 82km up the road
from Flores. The Comisión de Turismo Cooperativa Carmelita ( 7861-2641;
www.turismocooperativacarmelita.com ) , a group of 16 Inguat-authorized guides, can make all ar-
rangements for a trek to El Mirador, with optional visits to the Preclassic sites of Nakbé,
El Tintal, Wakná and Xulnal. Travelers who participate in these treks should be in good
physical shape, able to withstand high temperatures (average of nearly 100 degrees) and
humidity (average 85 percent) and be prepared to hike or ride long distances (up to 30km
per day).
On the first day of a typical six-day itinerary, you'll hike six hours through mostly agri-
cultural country to El Tintal, where you'd camp for the night. On the second day, after a
look around El Tintal, you proceed through denser forests to El Mirador and set up camp
there. The next day is reserved for exploring El Mirador. On Day 4, you hike four hours
southeast to arrive at Nakbé and camp there. The next day the expedition begins the return
south via an eastern trail, stopping for the night at the site of La Florida. On Day 6, you
head back to Carmelita.
For a five-day trip, the cooperative charges Q2760/2800/3680 per person in groups of
four/three/two persons; six-day trips cost Q3280/3380/4520. The fee includes tents, ham-
mocks and mosquito netting; all me- als and drinking water; Spanish-speaking guide;
mules and muleskinners; and first-aid supplies.
Two buses daily travel from Flores to Carmelita. In Carmelita, Comedor Pepe Toño (
7783-3812) is about it for accommodation, with two very basic thatched huts containing five
lumpy, mosquito-netted beds each, and primitive bathroom facilities. Some local families
may also provide lodging; ask around.
It's also possible to get here from Uaxactún, a longer but gentler approach, since there
are fewer bajos (seasonal swamps) and it's less affected by agricultural clearing so you're
underneath the jungle canopy from the outset. Hotel El Chiclero ( Click here ) offers a six-
day tour at Q1000 per person per day. The first leg of the journey you're driven in a mon-
ster truck to a campground at the former chiclero camp of Yucatán, a five-hour journey.
The next morning the group is outfitted with mules and proceeds to another camp, La Le-