In Flores
Mom and dad et.al left yesterday under some amount of duress. Pippa - or Lil P, as Ive taken to calling her - was sick all night long the night before they left. Poor baby, poor parents. Needless to say, I think everyone was ready to be home.
Nate and I took off yesterday from Guatemala City headed up towards Tikal, site of the Mayan temples. It{s hard to guesstimate driving time in these parts and the map isnt that much help. It all depends on traffic and road conditions. Nate thought it might take 2 days and instead, we got to Flores, about an hour south of Tikal, yesterday afternoon around 4PM. About an 8 hour drive. No traffic, no problems and after so much family time, we didn{t talk much either :) The car, Corazon de Leon, was a trouper and gave us no issues. In fact, i think she went 200 miles on half a tank of gas...
The terrain outside of Guate city looks like Arizona, cactus, dry rolling hills with low scrubby foiliage and some cottonwoods and brighter greenery in the ditches on top of obvious groundwater sources. But then an hour later, those hills are higher and the cottonwoods are interspersed with palm trees. And we saw a pinapple field. I don{t think it ever occured to me how pineapples are grown. The fields look strange, all those prickly pineapple tops poking up thru the ground, looking like some kind of succulent. B8t then its all jungle from there to the coast. The hills are sharply rounded and covered with so much vegetation that its hard to tell how high they actually are. Nate thinks there are probably undiscovered Mayan temples under some of them.
Flores is an "island" or spit of land connected to the mainland and protruding out into Lake Ixabel. We got a hotel overlooking the lake and spent a couple of pleasant late afternoon hours watching the sun set, reading and just hanging out before finding dinner in town. Its a very laid back little village, somewhat reminiscent of Antigua in the brightly painted buildings and cobblestone roads. Lots of tourists, lots of restaurants and hotels and not much else. Good thing we have no expectations except for Tikal.
Were off to Tikal this afternoon and then back for a nap and then the new years eve festivities in town and then off to Tikal in the wee hours to watch the sun rise on new years day. We{re headed straight for the carribean coast tomorrow from Tikal, where well be for the rest of the time Im here in Guate. Ill write more from there
Feliz año everyone!
Nate and I took off yesterday from Guatemala City headed up towards Tikal, site of the Mayan temples. It{s hard to guesstimate driving time in these parts and the map isnt that much help. It all depends on traffic and road conditions. Nate thought it might take 2 days and instead, we got to Flores, about an hour south of Tikal, yesterday afternoon around 4PM. About an 8 hour drive. No traffic, no problems and after so much family time, we didn{t talk much either :) The car, Corazon de Leon, was a trouper and gave us no issues. In fact, i think she went 200 miles on half a tank of gas...
The terrain outside of Guate city looks like Arizona, cactus, dry rolling hills with low scrubby foiliage and some cottonwoods and brighter greenery in the ditches on top of obvious groundwater sources. But then an hour later, those hills are higher and the cottonwoods are interspersed with palm trees. And we saw a pinapple field. I don{t think it ever occured to me how pineapples are grown. The fields look strange, all those prickly pineapple tops poking up thru the ground, looking like some kind of succulent. B8t then its all jungle from there to the coast. The hills are sharply rounded and covered with so much vegetation that its hard to tell how high they actually are. Nate thinks there are probably undiscovered Mayan temples under some of them.
Flores is an "island" or spit of land connected to the mainland and protruding out into Lake Ixabel. We got a hotel overlooking the lake and spent a couple of pleasant late afternoon hours watching the sun set, reading and just hanging out before finding dinner in town. Its a very laid back little village, somewhat reminiscent of Antigua in the brightly painted buildings and cobblestone roads. Lots of tourists, lots of restaurants and hotels and not much else. Good thing we have no expectations except for Tikal.
Were off to Tikal this afternoon and then back for a nap and then the new years eve festivities in town and then off to Tikal in the wee hours to watch the sun rise on new years day. We{re headed straight for the carribean coast tomorrow from Tikal, where well be for the rest of the time Im here in Guate. Ill write more from there
Feliz año everyone!
posted by KBARRETT at 8:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home