A little history of the Chaca Tree

Playa Chacá gets its name from the famous Chacá tree (also known as Gumbo Limbo) - an endemic tree from Yucatán. The perimeter wall of our large property is not cement, but instead an eco-friendly fence made entirely of this tree. The perfectly lined up trees are the wall!! This creates an interesting mixture of natural life with modern and comfortable structures that give Playa Chacá its magical feeling.

Red Gumbo limbo (English), Chakah or Sip' che' (Maya), Bursera simaruba, Burseraceae family. Red Gumbo Limbo is native to the Americas; a deciduous tree most notable for it’s peeling deep reddish bark, and soft wood, nowadays use by Maya carvers. Chaca's small white bloom clusters grow in spring and winter. This Gumbo limbo can be propagated by just planting young branches to the ground, Maya people use it as posts. The Red Gumbo limbo or Chaca tree has a high salty soil tolerance and many medicinal qualities used by Maya healers in tea fusions, oils and anti-inflammatory ointments.

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