Tikal
Departure: 7:00 am -
Drive time: 2 - 2.5 hours
See the Photo
Gallery for more or watch the Tikal Slideshow
Tikal is a really spectacular site and
about the best Central American ruin there
is. There are lots of temples to climb with
amazing views of the nature reserve around.
You walk on jungle trails so you are shaded
from the sun for a lot of the time. You
almost always see coatimundi, spider monkeys,
howler monkeys and ocellated turkeys in
the park. It is really a great overall experience.
If you have extra time do the overnight
trip.
Interested in this
tour? See our rates,
or include this tour in one of our packages.
Tikal: "Place of the Voices"
- the most spectacular of all the Mayan
sites
Though it's over the border in Guatemala,
so many of our visitors like to visit Tikal
that it's one of our most popular tours.
Tikal is only about two hours by road from
duPlooy's - If you're this close, why not
take the opportunity to visit one of the
wonders of the Maya world?
Tikal exemplifies the greatness of the
Maya civilization. Almost completely enveloped
in thick verdant jungle, the site has lain
practically forgotten since the abrupt demise
of the Maya culture in approximately 900
A.D. In the mid-19th century, Tikal was
rediscovered by a Guatemalan magistrate
from Flores. Over the years, many others
have followed these initial expeditions
to Tikal. Some have contributed vastly to
the pool of information on the site while
some have carried away invaluable pieces
of the puzzle.
The knowledge and skills of the Maya were
primarily to be found among the higher echelons
of society; the priests, nobles and the
well-to-do were the only ones to have access
to the advantages of Maya civilization.
The peasantry lived simply on the land and
did not share in the lifestyle of the city.
This goes far to explain how, when the priests
and nobles left Tikal, though much of the
population remained for a long time, the
civilization was lost and soon forgotten.
| The forest surrounding the archaeological
sites of Tikal is a National Park protected
from hunting and the removal of plant
or animal specimens. The park covers
an area of 222 square miles. Within
the park the area of Central Tikal,
covering 6 square miles, is thickly
encrusted with buildings and signs of
occupation which are thought to extend
to an area of about 25 square miles.
The work involved in clearing and excavating
is arduous and can be non-productive,
as some areas were not as populated
as others. House mounds and domestic
areas were not as |
|
indelible to the landscape as those of ceremonial
buildings and may often be overlooked in the
dense jungle.
Central Tikal basically consists of the
Great Plaza flanked to the east and west
by Temples I and II, and facing to the north
the numerous temples of the North Acropolis.
There are some seventy stelae and rows of
altars along the northern edge of the Great
Plaza. The earliest level on this site dates
to 150 B.C. and the latest to 700 A.D.,
giving historical information in its strata
of almost a millennium of occupation. The
East and West Plazas are both rich in building
sites with a relatively wide range of periods.
The Central Acropolis to the south
of the Great Plaza is truly immense
and contrasts greatly with the previously
mentioned buildings. It covers about
4 acres and is composed of many courts
of varying levels connected by a maze
of passageways and stairs. The buildings
seem rather haphazardly placed due
to the growth of the complex over
a long period of time. Most of the
buildings are, however, of the Late
Classic Period.
There is much that is not mentioned
here. Innumerable courts, palaces,
temples and sites of unknown functions
abound within the park. The staggering
immensity and grandeur of this hidden
city in the jungle will impress and
inspire those who visit, and certainly
excite curiosity as to the civilization
which built it. So astounding are
the ruins that Director George Lucas
used Tikal to represent the hidden
rebel base in the classic film, Star
Wars.
Originally, the city was stuccoed,
and plastered, red- |
|
painted temples with blue trim rose from the
white plazas. Amazing as it may seem to the
sore-footed visitor, only a small part of
Tikal can be visited: more than 3,000 structures
and 200 monuments still lie under the forest.
Interested
in this tour? See our rates,
or include this tour in one of our packages.
See the Photo
Gallery for more or watch the Tikal Slideshow
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