Excursions
As
a part of our service to our students, we can help facilitate
excursions
to local and regional area attractions, including
those located in more distant regions, either on
your own or accompanied with guide
and/or transportation and equipment.
The following includes general information
on some of
the more interesting
and popular area attraction. For more things to do around
San Andrés see School
Activities.
MAP
OF PETEN
Tikal
Tikal - Greatest of all Maya Cities. Sunrise
and sunsets can be enjoyed from Temple IV or Mundo Perdido.
Visit some of the less frequented areas like Temple of Inscriptions
or Group H.
More about Tikal Flores / Santa Elena
The twin lakeside towns of Flores and
Santa Elena form the hub of the Department of Peten. Santa
Elena has a bustling marketplace and is connected by a 200m
causeway to the peaceful and colorful Isla de Flores.
Here you can Relax by the water / Walk the cobbled streets
/ Admire the local architecture / Shop for souvenirs / Dine
in style / Watch a movie / Check e-mail or Tour the lake
in a launcha.
More about Flores
El Remate
With it's small hotels and restaurants, relaxing and rejuvenating
are the big draw. El Remate also makes a good base to explore
nearby area attractions, including Tikal, Yaxhá and Uaxactun.
Located at the eastern
rim of lake Petén Itzá, halfway between Flores and
Tikal, El Remate has a population of about 2,000 residents,
who now
depend heavily
on tourism as a way of safeguarding the Bio-diversity of
their area. Here
you can take a tour on horseback, boat, kayak or hike to
the Cerro Cahui Biotope, which is less than 1 km
away.
Cerro Cahui Biotope
The Biotope
was founded in 1980 in order to
protect the last dense forest around the lake, and a small
population
of howler and spider monkeys. Today there
currently, exists at least 15 separate groups of monkeys.
Photo
Gallery - Actividades
Yaxhá
Rapidly gaining in popularity
and now second behind Tikal as the most popular archaeological
site in the region, Yaxhá is situated on the shores
of the beautiful Yaxhá lagoon, home of Moreletti crocodiles,
and half-way between Flores and the Belizean Border.
What
makes Yaxhá so interesting is that, unlike Tikal, restoration
of this site is at a very preliminary stage. Of
the many temples, only one has been largely restored,
while most of the others are either covered in vegetation
and trees or being actively excavated and worked upon
by archeologists. Being able to see the archeologists
work and to talk with them about the site gives one a
greater appreciation for Tikal and the work of archeologists
in general. Temple
Image
Both spider monkeys and howler monkeys inhabit
the area. In particular, the howler monkeys
add quite an element to the experience of seeing these ruins.
So named because of their lion like howl or roar, hearing
these
animals throughout the afternoon is a constant reminder that
you are in the jungle.
After
an afternoon of exploring the ruins, walk down to nearby
Lake Yaxhá for a swim. Lake
View Image
Uaxactun
Uaxactun is located some 40 km north of Tikal,
and although it is substantially smaller than Tikal, its
span of occupation seems to have been about the same, with
origins in the Middle Pre classic and abandonment by the
Early Post classic. The site provides beauty
in construction, mystic palaces and insight into the Maya
equinox and solstices predictions as Uaxactun is notable
for an archaeological complex known as an "E Group", which
served as an astronomical
observatory for tracking
the equinox and solstice paths of the sun. A chiller (gum
harvesters) community now lives here. Uaxactun
Image
Finca Ixobel
Finca
Ixobel is located just south of Poptún and is famous
for it's camaraderie - It's friendly and relaxed, and a great
place
for
meeting other
travelers from all parts of the globe. It's also renowned
for its food and its activities. Swimming, horseback riding,
camping trips, inner-tubing on the river and a famous cave
trip are all organized on a daily basis. Finca
Ixobel Image
Mirador and Nakbé
Mirador is an extremely enduring expedition.
It is good to clear up that all the big structures in Mirador
are completely covered up by jungle. There's only one visible
stelae, the chicleros call "the mute stelae", and all its
information has been lost due to the extreme weather conditions.
The 360° view from Danta Complex, 23 meters higher than
Temple IV in Tikal, measuring around 90 meters high, has
no match in the Mundo Maya World.
The pimiento (allspice) forests and chicozapote
or chicle (gum) trees on the way to Mirador are spectacular.
On the Sacbé (white road) to Nakbé there's a better chance
to observe animals. It is important to note that all of these
paths are very much traveled by chicleros so most animals
avoid them. Also on the way to Nakbé, there's a long "bajo" (lowland)
where one can see beautiful and strange flowers of different
types, with many orchids and bromeliads. The real magic
of this trip is listening to the knowledge and the day
to day stories of our jungle guides who have lived their
entire lives in the jungle, harvesting chicle and xate leaves.
They dedicate their efforts to the conservation of this forests
through this activities and now also through eco tourism.
We can also help you plan trips to Ceibal,
Dos Pilas, Aguateca Sierra Lacandón National Park,
Río
Azul, El Zotz and
other destinations as well.
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