You Tarzan, me not exactly Jane

How to follow Tikal?

The day after my wander round the Mundo Perdido I decided to be adventurous and set off to explore the private jungle reserve of Ixpanpajul. I caught the chicken bus to a crossroads, then walked the three kilometers to Ixpanpajul.

No-one else was there, so I had the jungle to myself. I took a three kilometer self-guided trail that led ever upwards to a mirador which looked out across Lago Peten Itza, and, it seemed, most of Guatemala.

The walk was criss-crossed by a (for me) fearsome network of six suspension bridges which wobbled precariously as I tiptoed over them. Another personal challenge confronted and overcome!

I was exhausted and breathing heavily by the time I got to the mirador. By some miracle, there was a palapa at the top complete with a row of hammocks. An obliging young man (a warden with not much to do) rocked my hammock while I lay with my eyes closed, getting my breath back.

After walking back down to the visitor centre, I negotiated a lift to Flores with a van driver - it's amazing how I'm managing to communicate without a common language!

Following lunch in Flores by the captivating lake (a lovely green today), I decided to take a tuk-tuk across the causeway to noisy, dirty, chaotic Santa Elena, Flores' rowdy neighbouring town.

Santa Elena was interesting in a rough and ready sort of way, but not really a shoppers' paradise. I went to the bus terminal to see if I could make my way back to El Remate and La Casa de Don David.

The way public transport in Guatemala works is this: you walk up and down the row of empty mini-buses (called collectivos) and ask each driver if he is going to El Remate. When you say to them "El Remate?" they shake their head and point their finger down the line. You eventually find a driver who nods "yes" to your question, and get on his bus. You sit there for fifteen minutes, then he jumps on and speeds you to the local market, which is totally crowded, crazy, and teeming with people, animals, stalls, and noise. A bit like a Central American Marrakesh.

The driver pulls up in an incredibly small space, gets out,and starts to shout "El Remate, El Remate!" , trying to implore people to get on his bus. In the meantime, a host of traders selling everything from doughnuts, drinks, tacos, fruit, vegetables, you name it, they've got it, board the bus.

To my delight a woman sat next to me with a live chicken. Remembering she had forgotten to buy something, she asked me to mind it while she popped out. No trouble! Eventually, when the bus is crammed to the hilt, we set off on our journey back to El Remate. The whole process has taken an hour and a half. Free entertainment, the real Guatemala, fascinating.