Maya Workshops in Peten Guatemala

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Maya Chocolate Workshop - learn to make chocolate like the people who invented it more than 3,000 years ago. Cacao was the money of the Maya - a hundred cacao beans was worth a turkey hen or 250Q or 33USD today. The local Maya served chocolate as a warm, frothy drink made with a bit of spice. Very tasty stuff and loaded with 4X more antioxidants than modern chocolate. You’ll prepare and process your authentic Maya chocolate entirely by hand and with the help of a wood fire and a grinding stone, just like the ancient Maya. 1 morning 150Q paid direct to the Maya.

Medicinal Rain Forest Plants Workshop - hands-on workshop working directly with a local woman who’s been sleeping in the rainforest since she was a little girl - grew up without electricity/television. Medicinal plant recipes passed down through the family for generations. 1, 2 or 3 days - 150Q paid direct to the Maya.

Coconut Oil Workshop - the best and most natural coconut oil you’ve ever seen. All crafted by a Maya coconut oil artisan with 10+ years of coconut oil crafting experience. You’ll take a bottle of the coconut oil you created with you. 2 mornings - 150Q - paid direct to the Maya.

Avocado Oil Workshop - amazingly pure and natural - a favorite ingredient in over-priced cosmetics and beauty products - highest smoke point of any cooking oil. Buy your avocados in the local market, make and take the oil with you. 1 morning - 75Q paid direct to the Maya.

Maya Hammock Workshop - you weave your own hammock with the expert assistance of a local Maya Hammock craftswoman. Your hammock will be custom measured and made just for you - perfect fit. When you’re done, take your hammock with you - it’s yours - a perfect addition for your travels in Central America. 2 mornings of workshop and ~18 hours of weaving - 200Q paid direct to the Maya.

Maya Cooking Workshop - learn local Maya recipes - 1 morning - 75Q paid direct to the Maya.

Maya Fishing Workshop - a morning on Lake Peten Itza with a skilled Maya boatbuilder and fisherman - the best fisherman in all three villages - a great guy with great stories and intimate knowledge of local Maya culture and tradition. Going fishing with the guy who built the Maya boats for the Survivor television series when it was filmed here in Peten Guatemala. 175Q paid direct to the Maya.

Morning/Afternoon in a Maya Dugout - spend a few hours on the lake with a Maya fisherman in a Maya dugout canoe. Fishing. Swimming. Drinking cold refreshments. Whatever you want to do. Just bear in mind your companion is there to catch some fish and bring home some dinner for his family - not to paddle you around the lake - 55Q paid direct to the Maya.

Baird’s Tapir "Danta" Workshop - the locals call them 'danta’. Travelers who go to el Mirador without mules usually see juvenile tapir - a rare and wonderful thing - one of the most endangered animals on the planet. Danta’s (Baird’s Tapir) are amazing animals that can weigh as much as 700lbs - jaguars cannot even take them down because of their incredibly tough skin. Female danta can only birth one new danta every 2 or 3 years. Average danta life-span is ~20 years. We’re working with Manolo, most respected tapir expert/scientest/researcher in all of Guatemala and assisting with his important tapir work in the Carmelita / el Mirador area of the Maya Biosphere - just up the road from our spot here on the best beach in Peten Guatemala. As part of this effort, we offer tapir education and awareness classes to our local Maya community schools - teaching kids about these wonderful and rare animals - help us. Please take this workshop if you plan on doing the el Mirador Rainforest Trek so you can help us protect these wonderful and critically endangered animals - so we can produce more printed for materials for the workshops for the kids to take home and share with family and friends - Danta Propaganda. 1 morning workshop - 55Q paid direct to the Maya.

Maya Calendar Workshop - if you’re into astrology, you’ll be amazed at the accuracy of Maya astrology. We’ll walk you through the steps to find your true Maya sign. Practice 'living the Maya calendar' and catch the onda of the Maya approach to living your life in a peaceful and serene state of acceptance and knowing. It really works. Best if we know if you were born before or after sunrise and when your birth started, mom’s first contraction. So call/email your mom, dig-out that dusty old birth certificate and bring the actual start and delivery time of your birth with you. If you want to look into the Maya significance of others in your life, best if we have their birth details too. One morning - 175Q paid direct to the Maya.

El Mirador / la Danta Rainforest Trek Workshop - learn crucial rain forest survival skills from local Maya experts. This workshop is a great fit for adventure travelers doing the trek without a guide/support - it could save your life. You’ll learn how to gather naturally purified water from jungle vines, make wild jungle teas and snake bite treatments, gather wild fruit and veggies (carry less food / less weight). Dive into our el Mirador / la Danta Guide Manual (English) - you won’t find it anywhere else - authored with the assistance of one of the most experienced and respected adventure guides in the world - a friend of ours who’s led more than 100 treks to el Mirador and dozens of other extreme adventures all over the world.

Recent travelers on the el Mirador Rainforest Trek (no guide/mules/cooks) saw a jaguar emerge from inside of a Maya pyramid - less than 10 meters from where they stood. Same travelers also saw a baby tapir and as usual lots of monkeys and pisotes and toucans and oscillated turkeys - very groovy, Paolo from Brazil and Cristiano from Italy.

Yes, you can easily get to el Mirador / la Danta from here and most of our travelers do the el Mirador / la Danta Rainforest Trek - stand on top of biggest pyramid in the world (la Danta). Yes, la Danta is bigger than the largest pyramid in Egypt. If you like, once you’ve completed the El Mirador / la Danta Rainforest Trek Workshop, we have cooks, guides, mules and a muleskinners waiting for you in Carmelita - load your gear+supplies on their mules and head into the rain forest. Or, save some cash and do it on your own - many of our travelers already have. If you have the guts / ignorance / knowledge to hike into the rainforest on unmarked trails and sleep within the domain of animals that would have no issue eating you or biting / killing you - go for it!

The el Mirador / la Danta Rainforest Trek Workshop is two mornings and includes a trip to Motul the ancient Maya village just up the road from San Jose. Be educated. Be prepared. 175Q paid direct to the Maya.

Maya Cooking Workshop - learn traditional Maya recipes - everyone raves about this woman’s food - yum yum yum - one morning - 75Q paid direct to the Maya.

Maya Language Workshop - these are completely free and run Monday and Tuesday, two hours each. You’ll be sitting in a class with a bunch of local Maya kids who are studying Maya. Not 20 years ago, the Maya were publicly beat and imprisoned if they spoke Maya. Participate in these classes and show your support for the Maya - have some fun too. We recommend a minimum donation of 20Q cash per class, direct to your teacher - support the people running this very important project.

Spanish Language Workshops - are held one-on-one with a certified and experienced Spanish teacher. Schedule your Spanish sessions as/when/where you like in any of the Maya beach communities we serve - 35Q per hour, available in 10-hour minimum blocks, paid direct to your Spanish teacher.