Ya'axché

But what does Ya'axché mean? Ya'axché is the mayan queck'chi name for the ceiba tree. This tree grows very very tall, and its wood is good for the construction of canoes, but almost nothing else, as it is very light.

The very lightness of its timber means it is the most difficult one to throw down when hurricanes come. That is the reason why most of the trees that grow higher than the rest of the canopy in Southern Belize are Ya'axché trees: the ones that survive the strike of the last big hurricane.

Hence, this tree symbolizes strength and endurance. It also had an important meaning in the old mayan mithology. According to these believes, the upper world was sustained on top of our world by four ya'aché trees, located in the four cardinal points, and which roots connected also with the underworld.

Ya'axché overgrown with epiphytes.