Route of the Maya Day 3
Route of the Maya
DAY 3 - 11/26/05 - Visit Copán ruins/Macaw Mountain
We began our day at 6:30 and then enjoyed our breakfast with our new friends in the dining room. Our morning program began at 7:30 with an introduction to the ruins of by Dr. David Sedat, a professor from the University of Pennsylvania who has been here for 18 years as an archaeologist excavating the tunnels of Copan. His slide show was on a Kodak carousel, from the 1970s, and we were both just thinking of how easy it would be to put this presentation on a Power Point. As he was discussing the first slide, the bulb died - on to Plan B!!! The hotel activities director looked for another bulb but there were none to be found so David introduced us to our guide for the day, Jorge.
Jorge told us a bit about the day and we were off in our mini bus. We passed through this small village, and found out that tomorrow will be the national election day in Honduras. We saw many of the locals bustling about and in a very short while we were at the archaeological site. We began our study of Copan at the museum and visitor's center where we learned about the pre-history and that of the excavation.
In 250 A.D., Mesoamerica's (and the Western Hemisphere's) most advanced culture, the Maya, began constructing elaborate cities. Several of these communities, including Copán, which the Maya called Xukpi flourished until about the year 900 in what is now called the Classic Period of Mayan civilization.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980, Copán is Honduras' most significant pre-Columbian site and the most elaborate of all Mayan cities. We enjoyed the morning exploring its sprawling ball court, adorned with markers resembling macaw heads, and the Great Plaza, scattered with altars and carved stone columns called stelae. These represent powerful Mayan rulers and date from 711 to 736 A.D. Among the ruins here that have helped to unveil Mayan history is Altar Q, a rectangular stone altar with carved portraits of all of Copán's rulers from the founder, Yax Kuk Mo, to the last ruler, Yax Pac.
The most impressive remnant was the Hieroglyphic Stairway - 63 steps with 2,500 glyphs, or symbols, carved into the stone, transforming the pyramid's ascension into the Mayans' longest historical record. The ancient Mayan belief system gave extraordinary importance to precisely measuring and recording the dates of events such as the reigns of rulers, and many of Copán's monuments, and those of other Mayan centers, are elaborate sacred calendars.
During our visit, we kept our binoculars out and saw many of the fascinating birds that inhabit the surrounding jungle. The site is home to hundreds of scarlet macaws, and a large rodent called an aguiti which is a relative of the guinea pig. We also saw social flycatchers, woodpeckers, warblers, orioles and hummingbirds.
After a picnic lunch at the ruins, we headed back to the bus and up the hillside on a special excursion to Macaw Mountain, which began as a sanctuary of birds which were wounded or no longer able to be kept in captivity. This well run enterprise was another highlight of the day; well worth the trip of things to see in Copán. We saw more macaws, parrots, owls, and toucans as well as many other birds indigenous to Central America.
We returned to the hotel and then went to three Internet Cafes where we spent about an hour trying to upload the journal. The connections were very slow and after two tries at two different internet sites, I was finally able to get it to go through.
We had a little free time to explore the sleepy town of Copán Ruinas, with its cobblestone streets and quaint colonial charm before 5:30 when we were supposed to meet David again for the slide show, hopefully he was able to find a bulb! Instead of meeting him at the hotel, we got the word that we were going to take the bus and go to his home, another surprise adventure! We arrived and were greeted by his little daughter Nicole and spent the next hour and a half listening to the adventures of his discoveries of the past 18 years at this magnificent archaeological site.
We got back to the hotel about 7:30 and decide to go out to one of the cafes recommend by Judith. As we walked to the Resturante Carnitas Nia Lola, we were alone and as we were being seated, 5 more from our group joined us and we had two great meals for $13.50 and enjoyed a lively discussion of the day!
Accommodations: Hotel Marina Copán - - - Meals: B, L
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