A forest village on a dirt track north of Tikal, beside one of the earliest Maya observatories, where temples were lined up with the rising sun.
Uaxactún was a Maya city that rose early and long rivalled Tikal, before falling under its larger neighbour's control in the late 4th century AD.
It gave its name to a whole type of Maya complex. In Group E, a small pyramid faces a long platform with three temples. Seen from the pyramid, the sun rises behind these temples at the solstices and equinoxes, making it a calendar in stone.
Beneath a later building, archaeologists found the Temple of the Masks, an early pyramid decorated with large stucco masks, among the oldest such structures known.
Today's village grew around an old airstrip and lives partly from forest products, harvested sustainably in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Visitors are few; you may have the ruins to yourself.
A half-day trip.
Pay the Uaxactún fee at the Tikal entrance as you drive through the park.
Follow the dirt track north for about an hour through the forest.
Climb the small pyramid in Group E and look east to the three aligned temples.
See the Temple of the Masks, then walk to the other groups across the village.
Leave in good time to pass back through the Tikal gate before it closes and before dark.
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Through Tikal National Park by 4x4, tour or the occasional local bus; check road conditions first.
Simple lodges in the village let you stay the night and see the ruins at dawn.
There's little phone signal; tell someone your plans before you go.
Flores practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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