WorldScubaTrip: Peten, Guatemala...El Remate and Tikkal

This was my last stop in Guatemala. After an amazing week sailing around the Rio Dulce with Tomasz I ended up here on a recommendation from Mariella. It was a good recommendation. She told me to go to a place called El Remate and swim in the lake (with crocodiles!) and see the view of the Crocodile mountain, meet her friends from the family run hostel and restaurant...at first I did none of this, but then because of the overpriced hotel accommodation in The Tikkal area and lack of camping space that was still hugely overpriced (like $15 for a leaking tent without any rain cover) I had to come back to the nearest town, which just happened to be El Remate! The guides at Tikkal had told me that it wasn't worth leaving and going back because of the expense of travel (going there and back) because they were all in it on it trying to make the hotels money and getting me to spend the maximum amount I could whilst at Tikkal.(this really annoyed me about the whole Tikkal thing) For example it cost $3 for tourists to get to Tikkal on a local bus and half that for locals! Then when you are there you have to pay $20 to get into the park (only $5 for locals), $20 more for a guide, and of course if you stay the night add on another $40 atleast. Still I didn't listen to anyone and hitched a lift back to El Remate with this really cool family who were fascinated by my 8 months of travel through Central America. They were super lovely and I hope they are reading this! Thanks for the lift!

Model Tikkal

I really really wanted to see a crocodile, but unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough

It is a pretty cool place Tikkal...it is just the number of tourists there, you don't feel like you are discovering anything new.

Tikkal...these were built as a temples...they used to sacrifice people at the bottom during the last few years of Mayan times...corruption in a society...what would have made this much more enjoyable is to have read a lot on the history of this civilization before going

Neptune at Tikkal (Alfred, my nephew, better be happy with this)

Me and Neptune at Tikkal

This place is literally in the jungle...must have been so overgrown when discovered. I think it was 600 years after the Mayan Cities were abandoned that the ruins were discovered.