Casa Na Bolom is located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. It was the home of archeologist Frans Blom and his wife, documentary photographer, journalist, environmental pioneer Gertrude Duby Blom. Today, Casa Na Bolom operates as a hotel, museum, and research center run by Asociación Cultural Na Bolom, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the Lacandon Maya and the preservation of the Chiapas rain forest. History Danish archeologist Frans Blom (1893–1963) was one of the first to excavate Palenque, a Mayan city about 150 km east of San Cristóbal de las Casas. It was in the jungle that Frans Blom met his wife, Swiss German journalist Gertrude Duby (1901–1993), who had come to Chiapas to begin a new life. Working on behalf of the Mexican government, Trudi Duby was photographing members of the Lacandon people, the only Maya never conquered or converted by the Spanish. From then on, La Selva Lacandona rain forest was the common denominator in the professional and personal lives of Frans and Trudi Blom. In 1950 with a small inheritance from Frans' mother, the Bloms purchased a neoclassical building on the outskirts of San Cristóbal de las Casas. It was built in 1891 and was originally intended to be a seminary. They rebuilt it around the original interior patio and named their new home Casa Na Bolom, which means House of the Jaguar in a combination of Spanish and Mayan. From the beginning, Frans Blom's dream was that Casa Na Bolom would function as a cultural, social, and academic center. His personal library with its exceptional collection of books on Mayan culture was open to the public. His Mayan artifacts were on display, as were the documentary photographs of Trudi Blom. In order to raise funds for their jungle expeditions, they took in guests who dined at Na Bolom. These guests at breakfast and dinner included tourists, local residents, and archeologists working in the area. Frans was proud that at any meal there was always conversation in at least three languages. Na Bolom evolved into a small hotel, attracting guests as notable as Henry Kissinger and Diego Rivera. However, free rooms were always kept open for Lacandon Maya who came to San Cristóbal for medical reasons. In the 1970s Trudi Blom became an environmental activist, greatly concerned about the destruction of the jungle she loved. In 1975 she expanded Na Bolom's walled