Today is a special personal milestone day ... More later!

Shortly after leaving San Ignacio a border crossing from Belize into Guatemala and then onto Tikai.

Having seen photos of Tikai, I now have the opportunity to see it for myself.

Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. The site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico. There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site's abandonment by the end of the 10th century.

Tikal is the best understood of any of the large lowland Maya cities, with a long dynastic ruler list, the discovery of the tombs of many of the rulers on this list and the investigation of their monuments, temples and palaces. Thanks Mr Wikipedia.

The area around Tikal has been declared as the Tikal National Park covering some 570 square kilometres. The ancient city has been completely mapped and at its height covered an area greater than 16 square kilometres, with more than 3,000 structures. Today the main centre covers an area of approximately two and a half square kilometres. Several tall mounds which are temples have not yet been excavated. In fact only a small percentage of the site has been uncovered.

The emphasis was on height when creating these imposing structures because the Maya believed the higher the building, the closer they were to the gods.

Around Tikal there is a lot of animal life and we were lucky to spot several of the noisy howler monkeys swinging high up in the upper canopy, pizotes / coati (a racoon-like animal) and even at a distant the exotic toucan bird.

Arrived at Tikai and first stop after the toilet before the tour started was to get a decent cup of espresso coffee (latte)!

Miguel the local guide was great and his 4 hour tour was both informative and really worthwhile. I suppose it was also the dense jungle like setting to me that was the unknown. We walked along where the old roads and bridges that were once paved with stucco. What engineering feats! Water was collected so how did they get their levels right?

The view from the top of Temple IV meant that we could look over the park from above.

Yes, Temple I was the highlight and I am glad that the main plaza was not covered with tourists (like me!) and I got my post card photos with no people in it. Trouble it doesn’t give you the scale / height unless a person is in it.

The rain came and went throughout the morning plus it was humid (for me).

This whole area reminded me a lot of last year’s trip to Cambodia and the temples around Ankor. How the vegetation had so quickly overtaken the ruins with decades if not centuries of work ahead to uncover and understand the ancient Mayan civilisation a bit better.

Jaguar Inn Restaurant within the park itself was the venue for lunch and most including me chose their hamburger and fries.