Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ory. The structures are arranged in such a manner as to coincide with the sunrise on key
dates. When viewed from the top of nearby Temple E-VII-Sub, the sun rises over E-1 on
the summer solstice and over the southernmost E-III on the winter solstice. Temple E-VII-
Sub's foundations date to about 2,000 B.C. and there are some much-deteriorated jaguar
and snake heads flanking the temple's side.
NortheastoftheairstripareGroupsAandB,whichwerelesscarefullyexcavatedbutin-
clude several altars and stelae found mostly fallen among the remains of the larger temple
palaces.
Accommodations and Food
Lodging and dining options in Uaxactún are extremely basic, as it is a remote forest com-
munity literally in the middle of nowhere. The settlement's best accommodations are at
Campamento El Chiclero
(tel. 7926-1095) on the north end of the airstrip with 10 ba-
sic rooms with shared bath and mosquito-netted windows for $7 per person. You can also
camp or string a hammock here for $3. The restaurant here serves large portions of good,
basicfood($5permeal)andthereisasmallon-sitemuseum(freeadmission)withlocalar-
tifacts. The friendly owners can arrange trips to some of the more remote places in the bio-
sphere reserve, including El Zotz, Río Azul, Naachtun, and El Mirador. A less expensive
alternative is
Aldana's Lodge,
just off the street leading to Groups A and B, where simple
thatched-roof cabanas are $4 per person, or you can camp for $2 per person. Aldana's can
also arrange visits to area sites.
You can eat at your choice of three simple
comedores
in town:
Comedor Uaxactún,
Comedor La Bendición,
and
Comedor Imperial Okanarin.
Getting There
APinitabusleavesSantaElenaat1P.M.daily,stoppinginTikalatabout3P.M.Fromthere
it'sabout1.5hourstoUaxactún.Thesetimesarenotsetinstone,aswithmostschedulesin
Guatemala, and the bus can arrive in Uaxactún as late as 6 P.M. sometimes. The return trip
toSantaElenaleavesUaxactúnat6A.M.(ThereissometimesaminivanleavingUaxactún
forTikalat8A.M.withtheinboundminivanfromTikalarrivingat6P.M.,butit'ssporadic
and wasn't operating in early 2010.)
Ifyou'redriving,beawarethattheroadispassableonlyina4WDvehicleatanytimeof
year. If you're unable to fill your gas tank in Flores, the last gas station en route is at Ixlú,
south of El Remate.
“Zotz” means “bat” in Mayan, and this CECON biotope, predictably, is set up for the pro-
tection of the thousands of bats that emerge from the mouth of a large cave at dusk. It's
