The ancient city of Yaxha was located on a ridge overlooking Lake Yaxha. The name of the city derives from the Mayan for “blue-green water”.

Yaxhá once had a population of around 40,000 people, the site is now in the middle of the nature preserve. There are at least 500 structures, including palaces, temple pyramids, and stelae.

We crossed over on boats to get to Yaxha, and Danilo Rodriguez also known as Black Jaguar, came with us. He is a spiritual guide from Tikal.

Deborah had arranged that we were to take part in a small fire ceremony with a friend of hers, a local Mayan Shaman, together with his family.  There was a light dapple of rain to start with, and we all enjoyed the ceremony an being able to be a part of it.  Then we went for a cuppa at a local place with him and his family.  It was really good to connect with him, although as I write this later I cannot remember his name.

The Temples at Yaxha were truly beautiful, and Black Jaguar had a lot of information to share with us.