Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
vices of the local Carmelita guides. Matthias, one of the friendly owners of
Los Amigos
Hostel
(tel. 5584-8795 or 5521-2873,
www.amigoshostel.com
) in Flores, organizes trips
using local guides for $200 per person for two people and says he is happy with his current
selection of guides after much trial and error. Recommended by readers is
Henry Sánchez
(tel. 7821-0115 or 5751-3241, sanchezhenry5@ hotmail.com).
Part of the current administration's plan to bring more visitors to El Mirador under the
banner of
Plan Cuatro Balam
involves the construction of visitor facilities. These include
two new tent platforms, a kitchen, eating area, hammock lounge, showers, and toilets. Fa-
cilities at Carmelita have likewise been improved with a visitor information center, a gift
shop selling maps and souvenirs, and toilets.
Nakbé, El Tintal, and Wakná
Part of the proposed Mirador Basin park, the smaller sites of Nakbé, El Tintal, and Wakná
areimportantlinksinthechainunveilingthemysteriesofearlyMayancivilization.
Nakbé
is thought to be the earliest of Petén's Mayan cities with settlement as early as 1,000 B.C.
and several thousand inhabitants by 400 B.C. Its layout is much like that of El Mirador,
with triadic temple structures in two groups separated by a causeway. Its tallest structure,
the Western Temple, reaches a height of just under 46 meters (150 feet), making it about as
tall as Tikal's Temple I. It was completed in 500 B.C. A large stucco mask has also been
unearthedhere,onthesideofoneofthetemples,muchlikeatElMirador.Theexcavations
here,underthedirectionofRichardHansen,arestillintheirearlystagesbutmorefindsare
sure to follow.
OnthetrektoElMirador,21kilometerssouth,you'llpassbythesiteof
El Tintal,
which
isalsosimilarinconstructiontothelargercitytothenorth.Ithasbeenbadlylootedandthe
temples here remain unrestored. There are excellent views of the surrounding forest from
the top of its highest temple, including a glimpse of El Mirador far off in the distance. It's
sure to motivate you to continue the second leg of the journey. Trekkers usually camp here
the first night en route to El Mirador.
Rediscovered byLandsat imagery asrecently as1998,
Wakná,
isanother Preclassic site
buried under the forest cover of the Mirador Basin. A ground crew led by Dr. Hansen con-
firmed the site's existence but unfortunately also found evidence of looting. A deep trench
had been dug into a tomb allowing looters to cart off the priceless artifacts found therein.
RichardHansen'splanstorestoreandprotecttheMiradorBasin'ssitesmaypreventfurther
plunder of Wakná and other sites within the proposed park.
Río Azul
Occupying a remote corner of Guatemala near a border shared with Mexico and Belize,
the Middle Preclassic site of Río Azul was rediscovered in 1962. The population reached
