Tikal Day Trip with Local Lunch from San Ignacio

The trip was fun and learned a little history. The guide knew his history of the park as he's been to the park a few times. He even made comments about recent history. I would go on this trip again and this time bring my adult daughter. The lunch was delicious as well, as the owner/chef of the restaurant was a chef in New York, according to the guide. What I got was something I haven't had before, so I thought I'd try it and was not disappointed with the taste and seasonings in the soup.

I can't say enough great things about our Tikal tour through Belize Family Adventure, it was a fantastic experience. Our early morning pickup at our hotel in San Ignacio was on time, actually a bit early but we were ready. The driver was very friendly and fun to talk to. My husband and I were the only people on the tour that day, Dec 5th, so we basically had our own private tour which was awesome!! The border crossing from Belize to Guatemala and then from Guatemala to Belize at the end of the day went very smoothly. Our Guatemalan taxi driver was very friendly and although he didn't speak any English we were still able to communicate on a limited basis. We always felt safe with him as well. Along the way we stopped to pick up our tour guide, Elmer. Elmer was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and professional, we were very impressed with him. Our private tour of the Tikal site with Elmer was beyond amazing and we even had some time on our own there. We saw wild turkeys, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, many different birds, and coatimundi while at Tikal. Our tour included lunch at a local restaurant which was very good. Overall we had a fabulous day, the Tikal site was amazing and we learned so much from Elmer, Elmer was one of the best tour guides we've ever had and we'll definitely come back again and do the same tour with Belize Family Adventure!!

This tour was beautiful and informative. I had studied a little before I went, but I still learned so much more. Elmer was our tour guide and he was knowledgeable, considerate, friendly and fun. I loved it!

A tale of two countries... The good - once we got into Guatemala, the driver took us through the border efficiently taking our passports and dealing with immigration while we sat in the van. We picked up the guide near Tikal and he was excellent - very knowledgable and judged the group well by taking us to both the main sites and some lesser known ones that gave good perspective. We spent a good 4 hours at the site - sunscreen, insect repellent, hat and good walking shoes are essential. It is a hilly site and there are lots of steps. Lunch was really tasty and water was provided including water or soft drinks in the price so no need to change money at the border if you just want it for water. We also did a stop on the way at a small shop where we were able to buy some souvenirs and use the bathroom / stretch legs. Again, no need to change money at border as you could use credit card here. The bad - by the time we set off, we were stressed due to the lack of coordination / communication on the part of the operator. We called the day before as requested - the person provided the wrong time initially, said there was no hotel pick up and to come to a place where the hotel staff did not even know about, and the company name was different to that in the voucher. As the time provided was later than that thought, we asked them to double check and they then realised they had given us the time for a different tour and we had to come an hour earlier - the conversation did not inspire confidence. We had to go down in the evening to find the location as we did not know where this was and had a 7am start so did not want to risk this - it was not far but a hotel pick up should have been provided as tourists are not familiar with the area. On the morning, we arrived to the office at 7am and then waited for 30 mins. We asked what was happening and the person at reception rushed outside to see what was going on - again there seemed to be no coordination. We were then told to go to a bus where we waited for a further 10 mins or so. We were then told to go back to the office to fill out some paperwork. At the office they said there was nothing to be filled out and to just wait as there had been some mix up with picking up other passengers. This was our last day in San Ignacio and if we missed this tour, we would not have made it on another to Tikal due to the early departures. We had also missed breakfast to make the start time but were still left waiting. Eventually other people arrived on the bus, and we asked how many people we were still waiting for, and then they realised that everyone was actually there. We then waited further while they sorted out money for those for which the company was dealing with departure tax. The owner of the company told the staff off in front of everyone which was not professional and to be honest a sign of the way this company operates. Eventually around 8:15 we departed. The border was okay - we had to pay our departure tax so had our passports. However, for the other passengers where the company was paying their departure tax, the company agent left their passports with the immigration agent while he went off to chat to someone - totally unattended. We could also have had a more efficient crossing if we had been provided with departure forms to fill out on the bus. We were also asked if we wanted to change money for Guatemalan currency. It was hard to make a decision as we had no idea what costs were, what was provided eg water, and were only in the country for the day so did not want to be left with excess currency. As it turns out, water was provided at lunch and you could use a credit card to buy anything from the one shop where we stopped. On the return, we went through immigration back into Belize only to find no one waiting for us. We wandered through the car park and found our bus. This meant we were being hassled by taxi drivers etc - this was one of the main reasons we had decided to book a tour rather than doing the trip independently. In summary, the visit to the site was great with a fantastic guide. However, we would not use the company Belize Caving Adventures to do any tours including this one. It seems as though the Belizean side of the operation may have changed hands.

Belize Family is an amazingly thorough, responsive company. Not once did I worry about the logistics of traveling or transportation. The drivers were able to find my remotely located Air BNB on the hilltops of San Ignacio for both tours. This tour consisted of ample walking, sightseeing, climbing of stairs, animal watching and the included warm meal didn't hurt.