Guatemala is home to the largest Mayan pyramid in the world as well as the largest group of Mayan buildings of any site. Located deep in the northern jungle of the Petén region, getting to the former civilization known as El Mirador Guatemala offers an unforgettable 5-day trek through ancient Mayan ruins.
When I booked my ticket to Guatemala, El Mirador was number 1 on my to do list! What I didn’t realize was how difficult it would be to plan the actual adventure. While traveling around the country in Guatemala City, Antigua and Lake Atitlán I kept asking locals and travel agencies for more info about El Mirador Guatemala and everyone kept giving me the same answer – go to the small town of Flores to figure it out.
A little nervous that I might miss a tour group I did more digging, found a company called Reino Kan Travel and emailed its owner Oscar Salas (racsosalas@hotmail.com). Oscar replied with basic info about the trip and a problem – at the time, no one else was signed up to go! More determined than ever to make this trek happen, I arrived in Flores the next day via bus to Guatemala City and then a short flight to Flores.
Once I was in Flores I headed over to Reino Kan Travel to figure everything out. I found out that I needed at least one other person to join me and the more hikers on the trip, the less it would cost per person. Needless to say, I WAS ON A MISSION and within a day after arriving in Flores, I successfully recruited a group of ELEVEN strangers to hike together to El Mirador Guatemala – definitely one of the best travel accomplishments of my life!
The 5-Day Trek to El Mirador Guatemala (120 km)
DAY 1: FLORES – CARMELITA – EL TINTAL
Amped with excitement that El Mirador Guatemala was actually happening, I barely slept the night before. At 5:00am our group met up and boarded a colectivo from Flores to a small village called Carmelita. After filling up on a home cooked breakfast, we began our hike toward El Tintal, a Mayan “suburb” of El Mirador Guatemala.
For the most part the hike was pretty flat and as we made our way through the jungle everyone spent time getting to know one another. I was the only American in the group and became the de facto leader of our tribe (wait this isn’t “Survivor,” I mean group…). After about 6 hours of hiking, we arrived at El Tintal and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on top of the ruin.
DAY 2: EL TINTAL – EL MIRADOR
Waking up after sunrise, we ate breakfast and began our hike to El Mirador. The terrain was pretty similar to the first day – a flat jungle, hard muddy path. On the way we stopped to explore a small archeological site called La Muerta and actually went inside the ruins.
We continued on and after about 8 hours total, we arrived to our campsite just outside of El Mirador. Here we relaxed, ate and played games like “Mafia” which we renamed “Mayan” with new characters – Mayans (Mafia), Shaman (Doctor), Archeologist (Detective) and Civilians (Townspeople).
DAY 3: EL MIRADOR
We spent the entire day exploring the Mayan ruins in El Mirador Guatemala. I was immediately surprised how most sites had not been fully excavated including the largest Mayan pyramid in the world known as La Danta.
One look at La Danta, I would never have guessed it measures 70m tall with a total volume of 2.8 million cubic meters. A majority of this massive structure has been reclaimed by the jungle and is still buried.
After three days of hiking, we made it! The views from the top of La Danta were incredibly worth it.
We also checked out El Tigre measuring 55m tall. El Tigre, La Danta and a number of other temples display “triadic” styles with three pyramids on top of large platforms.
As we continued to explore El Mirador Guatemala, it was crazy to learn that for centuries this settlement flourished as the greatest Preclassic Mayan city and present day it has so much more excavating to go.
DAY 4: EL MIRADOR – EL TINTAL
The hike out of El Mirador Guatemala can be described as déjà vu since we hiked back on the same path. Even though the views and scenery stayed the same, it was still fun trekking through the jungle.
DAY 5: EL TINTAL – CARMELITA – FLORES
On the last day we made a pit stop at a site called La Florida before heading back to Carmelita.
As we ended our 5-day trek, I couldn’t help but feel like Jack from “Lost” exiting the jungle with new friends. It was here where we sadly had to say goodbye to our amazing guide Adrian, his wife and our cook Tia Nettie and their nephew and helper Elmer.
During our hike we stayed in tents at two designated campsites. Here’s a more detailed look at the costs:
2 people – $480 USD each / 3 people – $390 / 4 people – $350 / 5 people – $320 / 6 or more – $280
Includes:
- Four nights camping accommodation (camping gear and blankets)
- Meals for the entire trip (4 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners and purified water)
- Authorized guide, cook and muleteer responsible for mules that carry food
Does not include:
- Food that is not on the menu such as alcoholic beverages
- Mounted mules for riding
- English guide or any other language ($200 USD extra)
Before and after the hike, I stayed at Los Amigos in Flores. This hostel is a hot spot for younger backpackers, has a welcoming outdoor common space and a hopping bar upstairs at night.
El Mirador Guatemala is rich with history and hiking, but when I think of my experience a phrase comes to mind that we constantly shouted throughout our trek… “¡Nuestra Familia!” Starting off as a group of 11 strangers – who took a risk on my sales pitch to actually join the trip – we became a family. El Mirador stripped away our daily luxuries and bonded us with our common love for adventure. It gave me the opportunity to meet some of the most incredible travelers who I’m lucky enough to have as friends.
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27 Comments
Wow looks so magical and my soul is screaming to travel just looking at the pics. Take me with you 😉
Fantastic photos, good job! It has been several years since I use my jet lag prevention, I guess I have a new travel destination. Thanks to you.
Hi Justin,
It looks like an beautiful trip. A quick question regarding the price of the trip. I assume from the pictures that you were going with 10 people, ish. So you each paid 280 USD or do I misunderstand the price regulations?
Best Regards
Anders
Thank you Anders! To answer your question – yes, I was in a group of over 10 people. I actually walked around hostels and recruited people to go! The more people that go the lower the price per person. I would contact Oscar Salas (racsosalas@hotmail.com) for more pricing info. Let me know if you have any more questions.
I might have to do the same. We are two friends travelling together but 480 is a bit to pricey. Did you spend much time on recruiting and could you easily decide which day you wanted to go? It’s cause we might be on a little tight schedule 🙂 Could you think of any other way to recruit people before getting there, any forums you know of?
And thanks for your reply!
And one more thing, Oscar is asking for 50% in deposit ahead. I like to trust all persons, but I’m still typically a skeptical person, how would it wrong with transfer ahead?
Oscar’s business “Reino Kan Travel” has been organizing trips to El Mirador for years. Feel free to look up reviews on Trip Advisor as well (that’s how I found him). From my experience, he is a reputable businessman. I would ask about the terms of the deposit – is it non-refundable? If you’re able to lower the cost per person by recruiting more people will the original 50% deposit go towards the overall lower cost? Let me know if you have any other questions, happy to help and excited for you!
If you want to recruit a few more people I would recommend reaching out to the hostels in Flores to put up signs that there is going to be a trip to El Mirador with the dates. I was in Flores a few days before my trip so I had about a day or so to talk to people and convince them to join the group. Luckily I was able to meet a bunch of people with flexible travel schedules that were interested. There’s a Facebook group called “South / Central America Backpacker / Traveling” that you should join. Post in there that you and your friend are traveling to Guatemala and looking for others to join an El Mirador trip. Let me know if this helps!
We are so lucky that there are already four person signed up for the same trip as we wanna go, so that could’t get any better! So we already get it to det cheapest rate and necessarily don’t have to recruit more people.
Tho I’ll still ask how the deposit is gonna work.
Thanks so much for your time and advise, I’ll get back to you if I have any further Q.
And thanks for the facebook group.
Safe travels.
Hi Justin
Your trip sounds great. I was wondering how strenuous the hike was and if you were exhausted afterwards? What did you do after the hike? Did you need a few days to relax and recoup? If so where? Are there any hot springs or anything to sooth?
Also, did you happen to go to Semuc Champey or Rio Dulce? Debating on if I should fly from to Antigua or take bus down to stop at Semuc Champey?
Thanks again
Jennifer
Thanks Jennifer! I would say that the hike is not extremely strenuous. It’s definitely a good workout, but flat for a majority of the time so make sure to have a good pair of hiking shoes. After the hike I actually headed to Caye Caulker, Belize which I blogged about. It was exactly the tropical R&R I needed after the hike. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to get to Semuc Champey since it was so far away, but if you have the time a lot of people I met loved it. Let me know if you have any other questions!
This was my guide when I did it 5 years ago! Wow! great to see he is still in action…
No way, that’s awesome! Hope you had a great trip Briarne!
[…] Peru, camping Patagonia in Chile, ice trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, discovering Mayan Ruins in Guatemala and even island hopping in Borneo (where Survivor filmed season 1) to name a few of my solo […]
do you think i can go with a bicycle there?
Hmmm you have to go with a guide, so you can ask the tour company. My guess is no? The path is very muddy and rocky so might be a tough bike ride.
Hi,
Where did you hiked the El mirador? Which month?
Thanks ;))
*when………………
I hiked it in May! We had great weather during the trip. Let me know if have any other questions.
Hi, I plan to go there in the August, but it is rainy season so the weather is might be a problem…
Weather is always the x-factor in traveling and you don’t have control over it. I would reach out to the tour company above and ask them about that time of year specifically!
Hello Justin, What a great write up! It’s helped me come to a decision on going to El Mirador. I plan on going in mid October. Hopefully the trails aren’t that muddy. I plan on backpacking for a bit before I go there and was wondering what you do with your pack? Are you able to bring it along and put it on a mule or do you leave it at the tour company and only bring with you the essentials? Also what would you say your miles hike per hour was? I’m a little older and just want to make sure its not too overwhelming. Thanks for your time.
Hi David,
I suggest packing a smaller bag for the hike and leaving most of your stuff and your bag at the hotel or hostel that you are staying at before. Most places will have storage space or lockers you can use to lock up and leave bigger bag items behind so you don’t have to worry about it on the hike. The hike was done at a leisurely pace and the guides make sure that everyone is comfortable. Excited that you’ll be hiking El Mirador!
Hi Justin. Looks like a great hike. Two questions, please. Did you see any wildlife Also were there mosquitos? I am 61 in Feb. Fit and did the Inca Trail in Peru in 2010. Much younger tho lol. Just wondering if this hike is doable for me? That was 3 ? Sorry.
Hi Laurel! Two answers for you: 1) We did not see any wildlife. 2) I do not remember mosquitos at the time we hiked as well, but I do remember we always used bug spray. 3) I think the hike is definitely doable, depending on your physical capabilities. Congrats on being so active at 61, I love that! And hope to be just like you. The hike is a very flat hike and the guides make sure you go at a pace that works for everyone. It was not physically straining as a lot of other 5-day treks I have done. Hope this helps! Let me know if you end up going.
Hi Justin, my name is Monte Short and I am the VP and LOG for the Flying Doctors. I am in and out of a lot remote locations including the Southeast area of Haiti and Ill A Vache, organizing and leading medical, dental and surgical clinics. I have been to Tikal twice and also Caye Caulker twice. I am now long in the tooth, 65, with a 17 year old son…..wonderful kid. One of my dear friends who went with me to Haiti last November flies the parks in Guatemala for another NGO and is helping coordinate a trip to Mirador. The reason for this email to have a phone conversation with you to get your insight and share knowledge. I know time is always a factor for movers and shakers like yourself but I can certainly compensate you for time. I would so grateful for any time you can spare. Thank you do very much. Monte Short, MAI, SRA, Forensic and Commercial Appraiser ……and VP, LOGisticss Coordinator, and Team Leader for Los Medicos Voladores, AKA The Flying Doctors – International Chapter. Take care for now, Monte
Hi Monte, please email me at justin@atwjustin.com.