Some questions on Tikal

You can drive into Guatemala, it just that insurance might be an issue -- you probably won't have any.

If you park at the border, you could time it to meet one of the express buses from Belize City to Flores. The bus schedules are on the Belize Bus & Travel Guide (the link is on my profile page).

As for Tikal, we found that it was helpful to have a guide because the site is so huge. Each temple has a different history and there are safer and less safe ways to climb them, if you are so inclined. We took the tour from Flores and stayed overnight in the park (not part of the tour--we booked that separately) and then took a shuttle the next day back to Flores. Right in the van on the way, the guide showed us maps of the site, told us about Maya history and beliefs, and also pointed out sites of interest along the way. At the site he often drew diagrams of the construction and significance of the various temples. He had perfect English and was quite engaging. He also knew all the animals, birds, and plants and pointed out birds that we would never had noticed ourselves, and spider monkeys. This was a group tour; there were 7 of us. The company we used was Ecotourism and Adventure. This particular tour included lunch. The guide told us his first name was too hard to pronounce and we could just call him Senor Lopez.

Often we don't use tours, but this site is so big that we did because it included the transportation and was easy. The cost varied with where you wanted to be picked up and dropped off and when. You could certainly do it less expensively, but this worked well for us.

I'm a huge Roxy Ortiz fan - she doesn't always have access to internet due to her work - I hope you can connect with her before you trip.

Ask about the transportation piece at these agencies - the 1st based in Belize, the 2nd in Guatemala:
Pacz Tours
Adrenalina Tours

Happy trails!

You can do it without a guide as they will give you a site map. I have done it both ways and found a guide to be helpful. All the major temples that you can climb now have wooden stair cases as the only allowable method of assent. You can park your car at the border and cross over independantly into Guatemala and get a cab over there. You can also pre arrange a transport on the other side of the border with a Belize tour agency. I did it both ways, unfortunately I forget the name of the tour operator. You will have to take whatever if there if you do it independantly. That can go either way.

Thanks all, that's helpful and food for thought. I will think it through. I also have a couple questions on Lamanai. The cost of teh river trip feels really steep at $200/4 folk family. We will have a rental car (hopefully 4wd), and so I;'m thinking why not just drive from orange walk to Indian church and do the site ourselves? And if we could stay with a family or a guesthouse at the village we're contributing to the village economy as well. What do you think? My questions are:

a. is teh road from orange walk to lamanai ok to do or am i being a complete dolt?
b. am i doing a disservice to my family by not doing the boat ride?
c. any thoughts on accomodations at indian church outside the lodge? I'm in touch with Errol of Lamanai eco tours (he's a great guy) and he's trying to look it up through his guides. I'm also in touch wiht a couple other people. but if you have any thoughts.

Thanks chitra

I responded to your pm about this, too, but for the future reference of others, the boat trip is pretty amazing - birds, crocs, bats hanging on the trees, iguanas, monkeys, locals fishing, and glimpses of villages. If you're concerned about costs, maybe pick between Lamanai and Tikal this trip. I wouldn't spend hours and hours each way on bad roads to get to Lamanai if you're doing Tikal, too. Just my 2 cents' worth...

This is really helpful Hopefulist. I was kinda coming to that conclusion myself so it's great to get your input. Thanks everyone else. Sorry, i didnt see the PM. For some reason not getting the alert into my email :(. I will work on itinerary and post what i come up with LOL..

I have driven to Laminai and the road trip isn't that bad. It is paved until the final turn off. You see a lot on the river, but the road to Laminai is the only place I ever saw a jaguar. It crossed the dirt road about 30 yards in from of our vehicle doing a nice slow walk. Unreal. I have been to Chan Chich 5 times hoping for a jaguar and that road is the only place I ever saw one.
If you drive there and stay overnite, you can probably find someone to take you on a boat trip around the lagoon and its tributaries. we did this and saw a lot of wildlife that had been mentioned by hopefulist. You can do day or night. We were at the lodge a took a day trip. Saw the crocks and birds and even a nest of jabaru storks, the largest bird. One flew right over the boat on the way to the nest which was huge and had several huge babies sitting in it. It's up to you but the drive can be as thrilling as the boat.

that's great input Dolly. Thanks so much! I will def consider that as i build up the itinerary. wow on jaguar! isnt it amazing when one comes upon a moment like that? greatidea to do a boat ride FROM indian church.