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Dec. 13: The journey begins with your evening flight from Guatemala City to Flores (closest airport to Tikal). You'll be warmly greeted and transferred to the Tikal Inn, located in Tikal Park's vast ancient Maya ceremonial center. From
the hotel's grounds in the early morning and evening you can observe a wide variety of the rainforest inhabitants -- spider and
howler monkeys, coati mundo, roaming wild turkeys and numerous
bird species such as toucans, parrots, and macaws among the sacred ceiba trees. Our group has
exclusive sunrise and sunset access to the archaeological site allowing for peaceful meditative time atop 219 foot high Temple IV pyramid. Overnight Tikal Inn.
Dec. 14: Early wake up for those who want to experience sunrise at Tikal from the top of the Temple IV pyramid (Weather permitting). Today we have a full day to visit the spectacular Mayan ruins of Tikal. considered one of the precious jewels of the ancient maya kingdoms our rainforest exsperiance is awonderfull way to start our spiritual jouney.We'll explore the temples and pyramids with our guide and interpreter, Ronny Mendez. One of the most famous and beautiful of Maya sites, Tikal’s massive and steep pyramids (one is over 200 feet high) looms above the lush jungle of the Peten.
With a history beginning at 600 BC when farmers
settled in the high ground above the swamps of
Lake Peten, at its peak Tikal was home to an
estimated 100,000 people and the site has over
3,000 structures within a six square mile area.
Glyphic texts tell of a dynamic
written historical record spanning over 1,800
years, including a very old long-count date of 292 AD. For your maximum enjoyment of
Tikal, climb the highest pyramid, Temple IV, and
get a birds-eye view of the site from above the jungle
canopy. We'll also visit the Sylvanus Morley Museum. Those who want the sunset experience atop Temple IV can do that this evening (Weather permitting). Overnight Tikal Inn.
Dec. 15: Another opportunity for sunrise at Tikal from the top of the Temple IV pyramid (Weather permitting). This morning we
visit the Maya ruins at Uaxactun. Archaeologists have determined that the four major structures there were probably used for astronomical studies as they are aligned to the sunrise on equinoxes and solstices. Uaxactun
is located in the 1.65 million hectare Maya
Biosphere Reserve, which is part of the largest
body of intact tropical forest in Central America. Late afternoon, under the direction and care of a local Maya daykeeper shaman, we will take part in a traditional Maya fire ceremony at the Tikal ruins after all the other visitors have left the park. Fire ceremonies are an integral part of spiritual life in all parts of the Maya World. The Mayan fire ceremony is beautiful and powerful and is essential to understanding the Cosmovision of the Maya. Our guide will explain the meaning of various elements involved in the ceremony so that we can consciously participate in this highly transformational spiritual practice. The ceremony will be followed by a delicious traditional Maya ceremonial dinner, prepared especially for our group. Overnight Tikal Inn.
Dec. 16: We begin the day with a visit of the ancient Maya site Yaxhá ("Green Water"). Yaxhá was the third largest Maya city in the Peten (after El Mirador & Tikal) and has an unusual layout for the region. Its twin pyramid complexes, 9 acropolis', plazas and more than 500 structures are connected by sacbés (ancient elevated roads) in a
manner more similar to Maya sites in the Yucatan.
The views of the jungle from the 30 meter high
Structure 216 are breathtaking. Birds,
butterflies, spider and howler monkeys abound at
this remote jungle site. Then we go to Isla Flores for a walking
tour of the island and the small archaeological site
of Tayasal (former Maya name of Flores
before the Spanish conquest). In the evening we fly to Guatemala City, where we'll be met at the airport and transferred to the Barcelo GC Hotel in Guatemala City for an overnight before beginning our Dec. 16-22 "On the Shaman's Path" tour in the Guatemala Highlands.
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