We entered the park with our tour guide before sunrise on Thursday with a small group. We covered miles on root covered mud trails from temple to pyramid to temple. Tikal is the most famous of the ancient Mayan sites that are located in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. This one is located in the lowlands of Guatemala near the Mexican, and Belizean borders.
The mayans occupied the city from 900 BC to 900AD. and built something on the order of 10,000 structures. Many of the temples are temples built over temples built over temples. They used no metal, and had no beasts of burden, yet they built a city in a location with no running water. As they excavated for building they created resovoirs that they plastered over to create a source of water from rainfall alone. They prospered because they were at the crossroads of the Mayan civilization.
We were very fortuante to have a very passionate guide to tell the story of the Mayan people and answer our questions. As a young Guatemalan student in school he was taught no history prior to Christopher Columbus, but when he first visited Tikal as a young adult he was inspired and motivated by the anger he felt that his school system had failed him. He became self taught and was extremely knowledgeable. We climbed countless stairs and walked many miles but were very satisfied with the day.