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Probably old news for the MESS Hall-ers, but it seems like the right place and time to post this summary.

Survivor Guatemala
The Place

First of all, check out the maps and images on Survivor Maps: www.claycritters.com/map/survivor_11_map.htm



The group photo was taken in front of the ruins at Nakum, a city eleven miles north of the Yaxha ruins. CBS revealed that the contestants later took an eleven mile hike.

It's eleven miles between the ruins at Nakum and the ruins at Yaxha. Between the two is an area known as a 'bajo', in this case it's Bajo La Justa. A bajo is a seasonal wetland, a low lying area, very wet, muggy and buggy. The ancient Maya built their cities in Peten around these bajos because there was fresh water and good soil. They built dams and canals which drained the swamp and allowed it to be used as farmland. The canals sped drainage of the rainy season's floods, allowing the Maya of Yaxha and Nakum to plant earlier and extend their planting season.

One adventure tour company offers a guided hike from Nakum to Yaxha and then beyond to Tikal. In their photos, it looks wet and jungle-y. Lots of spiders, snakes and mosquitos, but there is a jeep road, inaccessible during the rainy season. It's good the game started at Nakum, because that road would have turned to mud soon afterwards.



TV Guide reported that the hike is a challenge between the two tribes. The first group to get to the finish line wins fire and their choice of campsites.

Dan Bollinger and I were told that one tribe lived at the Yaxha ruins and the other on Topoxte Island (more ruins there). We heard that Nakum Tribe lived on Topoxte, so Yaxha must have lived at the Yaxha ruins. This is supported by vid cap analysis. As you can see, Topoxte Island is in a river delta. A local source said that the conditions on Topoxte would have been very nasty - bugs, snakes, muggy, etc.



Juan, a tour guide in Peten, told us that the Tribal Council was in front of the west acropolis at the Yaxha ruins.