Hi,

My husband and I will be at Tikal for on evening(sunset) and one morning(sunrise) Which temples would you suggest we climb and at what time?

Thanks!!!!!!

Temple of the Jaguar. In the great plaza temple II(Jaguar) faces the sun for the morning. Behind you temple IV and in front temple I. Temple I may make you feel like you have been there before if you have seen StarWars. The Great Plaza and the Central Axropolis have buildings which still display color.

I would highly recommend going with one of the guides. I was there in October and got to the park too late to go into the park to see the full moon over the temples (4pm was too late) but I was "lucky" enough to get to take the 4am sunrise tour. The guide will lead you into the park and take you to the best viewing spot to see the sun "rise" (it's actually usually so hazy that by the time you really see it, it's already up there). Then he'll take you through the park to see (and climb! I highly recommend climbing as many as you can... even when you think your legs can't take any more! :-) some of the other pyramids and temples. I think the tour ended around 8:30am, at which time you were left to either continue on your own or go back to the hotels with the guide. If you have the time I would also recommend trying the zip lining tour located just outside the park's entrance. My guide set it up for me... they even came to get me... it cost about $35 US and even though it was one of the scariest things I think I've ever done, I'm glad I did it. I wouldn't say I've conquered my dislike of heights, but it was an experience I'll never forget.

thanks for the suggestions! I didn't know they had the zip lining there! We are spending the night in the park and will make sure to have a guide take us on the sunrise tour.

No problem. The company is called Canopy Tour Tikal... www.canopytikal.com If you really have some time and want to see something "off the beaten path", try to get your guide to make arrangements for you to take a separate trip to see Yaxha, another Mayan site (where Survivor was taped last year). My guide made arrangements with one of his friends to take me... I got a great deal, only $80US (it's over $150, I think). I ended up with my own private tour and my guide was a local, someone who had worked on the show, so I got lots of background about that as well as the site itself. It was really a one of a kind experience.

Sounds fabulous!! Did you arrange the sunrise tour through canopytikal.com? We would have the 17th April 2006 to visit Tikal. A sunrise tour then, followed by a Two canopies tour the rest of the day? Do you think that is viable?
How much did a guided sunrise tour of Tikal cost?
thanks

The sunrise tour was arranged through a guide onsite at Tikal. I stayed in one of the "hotels" in the park. I actually arrived hoping to do a sunset tour as well, but got there just a bit too late. As I was wandering around the grounds I ran into the guide who was "on duty" that day. He couldn't take me into the park as it was closed, but he did take me on an impromptu tour of the surrounding area to try to see some wildlife once it got dark. I think he charged me about $15-$20 US for that, but it was a good 2.5 hour hike. The guide was just waiting around the parking lot area drumming up business for the 4:30am sunrise tour. I made arrangements with him directly for that but it can also be done through the hotel you stay at. That cost about $10 US, I think and I even got a 4am wake up knock to let me know it was time to get going (which, after that tiring hike the night before, I really needed :p ).

To do a sunrise tour of Tikal and a canopy tour in the same day would be no problem, unless you stay in the park for a few more hours after the tour itself ends. Our tour ended at about 8:30 so I had time to grab some breakfast and a quick shower before it was time to go to the canopy tour. It's very close by, though... only takes a few mins drive to get there. I did the 7 stop tour, I think, and it took about an hour. Then, after that, I squeezed in a tour of the other Mayan site, Yaxha, before finally ending up in Flores around 4pm that afternoon.

Thanks for reply. We booked to stay with Jaguar Inn. Hopefully we can also arrange sunrise tour through them, or see some guides around. Your info is very helpful.
The Zip Lining/canopy tour: how long does that take? did you do the canopy or two canopies tour? do you think it would be possible to do sunrise tour and then the canopy tour? we are not scared to fit in as much as possible in a day. we can catch up on sleep when we return from holiday...;-)

I did the 7 zip line tour (there is also one that is 11 zip lines long). My tour took about 45 mins - 1 hour. You could easily do the sunrise tour and either one or both of the canopy tours in the same day (with a lot of time to spare, actually). You'll have no problem finding a guide, I'm sure... just look for a guy kind of wandering around in the parking lot area... he'll have a badge of some kind identifying himself as one of the park guides. The guide I had slept in the hammock section around one of the hotels.