Languid and Lazy on the Petén Itza

The view of the island of Flores from my luxury cruise ship

After a long, hot day traipsing through the Mayan city of Tikal -- did I say "hot" -- well, not so much the heat as the -- you know what's coming -- the humidity -- I needed a languid, lazy day. So I walked around Flores, cruised around Lake Petén Itza, and then sat around the hotel as a major thunder storm blew in and knocked out the power (and therefore the air conditioning) (and, even worse, the internet) for several hours.

Flores is a very nice (and did I mention hot) city on an island in a lake in a rain forest.

 

In fact, the rain forest of Guatemala's El Petén state is the largest jungle in North America. I would've guessed Panama's impenetrable Darien Gap, but I would've guessed wrong.

Not far from my hotel was a small park. There was supposed to be a museum here, according to Google Maps, but none of the locals heard of it. I trust the locals over the Google geeks in Silicon Valley. But there was a cathedral of sorts.

The official name is Catedral Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios. It is on the highest point on the island of Flores and its two white domes dominate Flores's profile. You can see the two white domes in the photo at the top of the page.

Let's have a look-see:

It's simple. I'm expecting much much more historic architecture when I tour the churches of Antigua at my next stop. This is the altar:

Excellent views of the lake from up here:

You can see the white domes in this photo from the other side of the park:

And the Flores city park has stelae:

Is it real? Or is it memorex? Well, real or replica?

I'm guessing replicant, but they are a nice addition to the park regardless.

All this walking was making me tired. And the City of Flores was even hotter than Tikal (no shade trees would be my theory). So I needed a way to explore without walking in the hot sun.

All around the edges of the island were boats available for tours. I chose Luciano's boat.

Off we went. One hour for only 200 quetzales. A bargain.

The exchange rate is, very roughly 7:1. So 200 quetzales would be a little under $30. For an hour. Only me on the boat besides Luciano the boatsman. In the second year without tourists. Sin problemas. Para mi.

The first destination was Isla Santa Barbara, an island in the lake much much smaller than the island of Flores.

It has iguanas in the trees. They are hard to spot in a tiny photo, but since the iguanas of the Petén are freakin' huge, the one in the above tree was relatively easy to spot even for me. And I never recognize anybody.

This is an abandoned lake side hotel.

With no exterior walls facing the lake, just open air, it's easy to see why it was abandoned. I'm guessing it was abandoned mid-construction, but it didn't tell its secrets to me.

Of course we were not the only boat cruising around Lake Petén Itza.

Yes, the "Itza" is the same "Itza" as in "Chichen Itza, Mexico." "Itza" is a Mayan word meaning "sorceror of the water," or thereabouts, which makes much more sense for a lake than an inland peninsula.

There are little tourist villages all around lake. I'm guessing those are more for the Guatemalans than the foreigners, but that's a guess with absolutely no basis in fact.

Somebody ferrying a car across the lake. And you can see the white domes of the cathedral from the island. So much happening in that photo above.

And here's another lakeside tourist village.

This has been major tourism country, driven as much by fun on the lake as by nearby Tikal, and, hopefully, it soon will be again.

At this point, the hour for which I paid my quetzales was coming to a close, time to head back to the dock.

I did not know that there was a huge new Ramada right on the water. The thing must have more rooms than every other hotel on the island of Flores combined.

And we're back at the dock.

Adios, Luciano.

Time for a little more walking around before getting out of the hot afternoon sun.

I headed back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. I decided that I was going to try a different restaurant than the hotel restaurant (which was very good) (I just thought some variety would do me good).

And here are the obligatory letters marking everyplace you go nowadays.

But, right around 5:00 p.m., even with a sunny sky, a major storm blew in. The winds were so strong that it knocked out the power until around 10:00 a.m. The internet was still out even when I checked out of the hotel this morning.

Good-bye Isla de Flores Hotel. Good-bye Petén.