The Mayan ruins of Yaxha have been nicely restored by various archaeological projects in recent years.

FLAAR has a personal feeling for the ruins of Yaxha, since we spent five seasons here, 1970-1974, lobbying with FYDEP to have Yaxha-Sacnab and nearby Nakum all declared a National Park. This happened by 1974, so our many years effort were successful.

During Christmas 2006 we returned to Yaxha to see how the IDAEH and various other projects had done. There have been a few sad issues of grave robbing by intruders, but otherwise the ruins are attractively maintained. It would be nice to see more publications on all this work so that the discoveries are more readily available.

The park is clean and is well worth the visit if you are interested in ecology, tropical flora and fauna, or Mayan archaeology. Yaxha is a nice side trip from Belize , Tikal , Flores , or a weekend excursion from Guatemala City.

First Posted Jan 2007.