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Community Cultural Center
Yaxunah | Yucatan
Sponsored Guided Tours
Exploring in and around Yaxunah is fun and instructive. We offer a list of tours available on a regular basis. Times can be arranged with CCC staff. Each tour comes with a nominal suggested donation to compensate the guide, time of the CCC staff, and for materials that might be used.
Walk around the village to points of interest - including the plaza, churches, cemetery, bakery, corn mills, community stores, and other places that might be of interest to specific guests.
Walk to meet village artisans at work – you might see those making woodcarvings, embroidering, creating jewelry out of horn, weaving traditional hammocks, or young people making craft items from recycled materials. You might want to bring along a bit of cash in case a craft temps you.
Spend part of a morning or afternoon in a village home. The women of the household will help you learn to make tortillas over a wood fire. You can get involved in cooking and discuss traditional recipes. You will learn about the Solar, the yard – the province of women - where they raise small animals and grows fruit and condiments for their families. Families will also explain some of the different architectural styles and building materials seen in the yards, if this is of interest to you.
Visit traditional healers in the community – those who are skilled in methods of massage (including reducing some broken bones and sprains and giving massages to pregnant women and new mothers), and those who treat ailments with herbal and even ceremonial interventions. You are welcome to ask the healer for a treatment for yourself. The Community Cultural Center (nor its staff members) is not responsible for any problems that arise from such treatments. The visitor must assume all risks associated with them. If you decide on a treatment, you will negotiate a suggested fee with the practitioner directly. The CCC is not involved in nor is responsible for these payments.
Visit large horticultural plots. Some families and organized groups have created impressive gardens for personal consumption and as an income supplement. You can tour these terrains and even do some work in them for your own personal experience (Weeding is always welcomed!). Those responsible for the plots will explain the annual growth cycles and some of the ways they combat garden pests with natural measures.
Join a knowledgeable guide on a walk through the Ancient Maya archaeological site of Yaxuná. You will see different architectural styles from different time periods and learn about the Sac-Bej, the great white road (the longest known to date) that originates in the archaeological site of Coba 100 kilometers to the east and terminates right in the center of the Yaxuná ruins.
Join a Milpero, a corn farmer, who will take you to see his fields, explain the planting cycle, and the importance of corn in the life of the Maya, past and present. On this tour, you will be walking into the surrounding woods, and your guide will be happy to talk to you about the flora and fauna you see there, as well.
The CCC staff can arrange for you to accompany a beekeeper to his apiary in the forest. He will explain the bee cycle, how he tends and protects them, and how he protects the environment around the area that feeds his bees. Depending on the time of year, you might be able to arrange to harvest honey with the beekeeper, and you will be able to taste local honey and see the various colors of wax produced, depending on the species of flowers the bees have been visiting. At the CCC, the visit will also include information about the wild native stingless Maya bees, Xunan Kab, and the traditions surrounding their care. You may be able to see some of their hives within the community. You may ask for a whole mini-course about the ethno-history of these bees.
The Community Cultural Center (nor its staff ) assumes no responsibility for any accident or injury that might occur on these tours.