• Yaxha - The tour begins with a pickup from your hotel or the airport. When booking, please select the time based on your pickup location. If you don’t yet know your hotel location, book the cheapest tour option and inform us later. Any price difference can be settled with the guide.

The walking tour starts at Gate 2 of the Yaxha Mayan Site.

TRANSFER DURATION BY PICKUP LOCATION:

a. Melchor de Mencos, the Belize Border: 01h: 00m

b. El Remate: 01h: 30m

c. Tikal, San Jose Peten, San Benito, Santa Elena Flores or Flores Island or Airport: 02h: 00m

d. San Ignacio Town, Belize: 02h: 00m

e. San Andres Peten and San Ignacio Out of Town, Belize: 02h: 30m

Yaxha is unique because it is situated between Lake Yaxha and Lake Sacnab. The site dates back to the Pre-Classic period (3000 BC to 300 AD) and was a significant lake port during the Classic period (300 AD to 900 AD).

• Yaxha North Acropolis - We’ll visit the Minor Astronomical Observatory, built by the ancient Mayans to mark equinoxes and solstices. It includes an observation building and three reference buildings used to track the sunrise and seasonal changes, crucial for agriculture.

We’ll walk along the Causeway of the Quarry, a Mayan road built next to a quarry that supplied much of the city’s building materials.

We’ll also visit the North Acropolis, the city’s center, featuring a triadic plaza with three temples forming a triangle. The temples represent twin brothers from Mayan mythology and the god of corn, their father.

• Grupo Malher - A thousand years after Yaxha was abandoned, German explorer Teobert Malher rediscovered the city in 1904. The Malher Group was the first complex he found.

This group features a building with hybrid Mayan-Teotihuacan architecture, showcasing the cultural exchange between the Mayans and Central Mexico. We’ll walk along the causeway of the reservoirs, a 100-foot-wide road used to collect rainwater and as a sacred path for processions.

We’ll also have the chance to see spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and/or howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra).

• Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park - Yaxhá, along with Nakum and Naranjo, was declared a national park in 2006, following its use as a setting for the reality show “Survivor.”

We’ll visit the Major Astronomical Observatory, a pyramid with a flat top offering views over the forest, lake, and other structures. In front of the observatory is a palace, likely the residence of the city’s main astronomer.

We’ll pass by the causeway of the lake, the main access to the city, which functioned as a lake port.

We’ll explore the residential palace of Yaxha royalty, consisting of five courtyards, one of which is restored. Pre-Hispanic graffiti was found inside the palaces.

• Cultural Triangle Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park - Yaxha has a ball game court for the game Pok Ta Poc, popular in ancient Mesoamerica. We’ll explore this building and the surrounding structures used for observing sporting events.

We’ll walk through the Square of the Birds, likely the city’s market square, and the causeway of the residential area, where a middle-class housing complex was found.

As a relatively new national park, Yaxhá offers a unique experience, allowing visitors to feel immersed in a Mayan city. Many visitors consider Yaxhá their favorite after visiting several Mayan sites.

• Yaxha National Park - We’ll walk on rectangular platforms that once supported wooden structures, now only stone bases remain.

Around 900 AD, the city was abandoned for unknown reasons, and the jungle gradually buried it.

We’ll explore the complex of twin pyramids, a style unique to Tikal but also found in Yaxha due to their diplomatic relationship.

• Yaxha National Park - The Square of the Columns was used for religious and government meetings. Mayan cities had a theocratic government system, with the religious institution overseeing all city activities, including astronomy.

Public squares like this were ideal for political propaganda monuments, such as stelae with sculptures. One stele here depicts a Teotihuacan general who aimed to conquer the Mayans in 378 AD.

In front of this square is the East Acropolis, home to Yaxha’s tallest structure, the temple of the Red Hands. We’ll climb it for a panoramic view of the Mayan world.

• Yaxha National Park - The tour ends with a drop-off at your pickup location or another pre-arranged location. Any price difference will be settled on-site.

• Mosquito Repellent Application
• Yaxha Map
• Lunch Included
• Air-Conditioned Transportation
• Professional Bilingual Guide
• Water Refills Available

• Entry fee of US$11 per person, only payable for guests 6 year old and on.