Visiting Yaxha

Now that the Survivor cast and crew have moved out of Yaxha, Enrique and I decided to go with our friends (Todd, Monique and our god-daughter Ana, who are here from Florida) to revisit the site for the first time in about 4 years, to see the many changes since the park has been under development.

We felt suitably welcomed by the greetings of a family of saraguates (howler monkeys) whose loud roar always brings prehistoric dinosaurs to mind (I tried to post the video clip, but I guess this blog won’t take it … or at least I haven’t figured out how).

We were all impressed by the new infrastructure in the park, which will enable lots of people to be able to see as much of the ruins as possible without danger to themselves or the ancient site. This work is being financed and carried out jointly by the Industrial Development Bank and the government of Guatemala (under the direction of our friend, Eduardo Cofiño). Several other major Mayan sites in Peten are also being developed for eco-tourism.

There are several plazas throughout the grounds of the ancient city that have been restored already, and, now that the Survivor crews are gone, the work is continuing to unearth 5 more.

The most impressive of all the pyramids is this one in the center plaza of the city.

It has a breathtaking view of Lake Yaxha and the jungle canopy below. The height from the jungle floor is also pretty breathtaking!! I stay well back from the edge!

After our tour of the site, we went down by the lake where there are barbecue pits and picnic sites, as well as a small museum and some small boats which can be hired to take people over to the “sister” site of Topochte, just on the other side of the lake. It was already late in the day so we didn’t go … but we decided to come out another day to visit Topochte as well as to check out one of the areas three Canopy Tours which is located on the road back.

On our drive back to El Remate, we stopped at a small tienda in Las Vinas that is practically famous around the area for their sales of coconut water … a better source of electrolytes than Gator-Ade! The young man who helped us was an expert with a machete and quickly chopped off the outside of the shells, leaving just the coconut meat with a hole for a straw.