Hi there!

Some people asked me a long time ago to post a description of our hiking trip to “El Mirador” in Guatemala…and here it is:

Introduction
El Mirador is probably the biggest Mayan site around. For more information about the history etc. see Wikipedia or the official website of the Mirador Basin Project.
The archaeological site is very “young” - and very remote. The only way to get there is by helicopter or by foot. Guided tours are offered by a lot of people in Flores or Carmelita, but in this article I will quickly sketch how to get there by your own.

Getting Started
Of course you have to take the food with you for the 4-6 day trip (depending how long you want to spent on the different sites & what route you choose) and I recommend water for minimum two days. Don’t forget mosquito spray, a mossy-net, water treatment and some gifts (candies, cigarettes…) for the guards. These poor guys have to stay for a month in the jungle and will maybe give you a tour as well.

Getting There

You probably start in Flores where every morning a minibus leaves to “Finca la Providencia” on the north shore of the lake. There you can change buses and will take you about four more hours to Carmelita. In this village a lot of people will want to be your guide (they’ll tell you all kind of stories of how you can get lost).

Part 1: Carmelita to El Tintal

Walk the street you came a bit backwards. Just after the village, turn left and you will find the entrance to the Mirador track. Unfortunately my camera wasn’t working that well, but this is how it looks like. Due to the massive use by mules and horses the track is very easy spotable (in fact in the raining season it will get very muddy). Just don’t loose it and you’ll get in about 6-8 hours to “El Tintal” (the map is a bit misleading here, because you we didn’t pass through “La Florida”). About one hour before you reach this archaeological camp you will pass through a forest worker (gum etc.) camp where you can also fill up water (if you have some filtering & chemical treats with you).

I post some pictures so you can see how it looks like in such a camp. There is normally nice guards, less mosquitos, loads of ruins, a book you write your name into, a place to put up the fly of your tent and some water.

I recommend climbing up a temple. From there you have a wonderful view (green, green, green as far as you can see), the sunset is great and maybe you also see a toucan or so…

Part 2: El Tintal to El Mirador
This pretty straight forward path is mostly on and old Mayan causeway (walking on a man made “dam”, which means the track isn’t that muddy). It will take you like 7-8 hours to reach El Mirador (on the way you have to cross two creeks and you see some ruins). Finally you reached El Mirador there is much less mosquitos and loads of space for your tent. If you give the guards some presents they may be tempted to give you a tour and if you are lucky also lead you through some underground tunnels.

Take your time to visit these unique ruins. If you are there during the working time of the US-Guatemalan-team surveying the site I’m sure there is heaps of life in the camp.

Now you have to choice of either returning the same way or continuing via Nakbe and La Florida.

Part 3: El Mirador to Nakbe
This is very short. It only takes you like two hours from El Mirador (2.5 from the camp). Nakbe is also a fairly large Mayan site with guards etc.

We decided to walk on here, but you can also choose to spend a night in Nakbe.

Part 4: Nakbe to La Florida
For us - walking in the wet season - this was probably the hardest part. Partly we had to wade through water but most of the time it was “just” very very muddy. We wanted to camp in Wakna but missed it (very small site, just off the track on the left side about 2-3 hours after Nakbe, probably no guards).

It is very hard to find a dry spot on or near the track outside the sites. We camped somewhere between Wakna and La Florida, but I wouldnt recommend it.

Guessing overall it is probably 8-10 hours from Nakbe to La Florida. This site is very nice to visit as well and there you will meet some guards again.

Part 5: La Florida to Carmelita

Takes you only like 1-2 hours. You will reach the street a bit southbounds of the village. We camped in Carmelita to be able to get the first bus to Flores in the morning but unfortunately there was somekind of music coming from the speakers in front of the church…bad luck…

Conclusion
So if you want to get eaten by mosquito, get pretty exhausted & the feeling of being lost…go to El Mirador! You will be rewarded with great views, great atmosphere, a big adventure..blaablabla…

If you want to hike there and have still some questions feel free to write me an email. I will answer asap.

Thank’s to Charly for the map and the great time I had with him walking to El Mirador!

Max

505051