Click on a photo to enlarge it.
The ancient Maya ruins in Copán were added to the World Heritage List in 1980. Copán began as a small agricultural settlement about
1000 BC. It became an important Maya city during the Classic Period (c. AD 250-900), and at its peak, early in the 9th century, it may
have been home to as many as 20,000 people. A dynasty of at least 16 kings ruled between 426 and 822 and then the site went into
decline. It was abandoned around 1200 AD.
The site comprises some 250 acres (100 hectares) and includes stone temples, two large pyramids, several stairways and plazas, and a
ball court. Most of these structures centre on a raised platform (now called the Acropolis) that was apparently the architectural
centre of the ancient city. Copán is particularly noted for the friezes on some of its other buildings and the portrait sculptures on
its many stelae. The Hieroglyphic Stairway, which leads to one of the temples, is beautifully carved with some 1,260 hieroglyphic
symbols on the risers of its 63 remaining steps. There is evidence that astronomers in Copán calculated the most accurate solar
calendar produced by the Maya up to that time.
Copán - 360° Panorama(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
The first Europeans to discover the site's ruins were Spanish explorers in the late 16th century and in the 1930s and '40s the ruins
were restored. Another major investigation that began in 1975 revealed much of Copán's political and dynastic history.
We spent a number of hours wandering around the ruins which would be the last ones we would visit. Maybe we have seen too many but
they weren't that interesting. Having said that, we were in Tikal only 10 days ago which most people agree are the best.
The most memorable part of the ruins were the beautiful scarlet macaws just inside the entrance. There is a sanctuary nearby to rescue
abandoned and endangered species including the macaws which are then brought to open cages and fed regularly to give them the chance
to reacclimatize to their natural habitat.
Beautiful scarlet macaws
The town nearby (also called Copán Ruinas) has extremely steep cobblestone roads so it's a good job we didn't try to drive through it!
On the way to our next stop we were pulled over by a police officer. We have had so many warnings from other travellers about the
police in Honduras trying to get money from the tourists for so called "fines". We did not pull over but parked in the road, only spoke
German (even though Helen was driving!) and pretended we didn't understand, and we were allowed to continue. The officer didn't even
bother talking to Helmut and Agnes behind us! So we passed the first test.
Our next stop was a 43 metre high waterfall at Pulhapanzak where we paid $5 entrance to the park and another $5 for camping for the
night. After seeing the waterfall Kirsten went for a swim in the pools. She had to be really careful getting in because it was so
slippery.
Pulhapanzak
We stayed at Finca Las Glorias for the next 4 nights over New Year which was quite expensive for us at $10 per night. But it included
cold showers, toilets and electricity. The first day we arrived was the best weather and at least we managed to see how beautiful this
particular area is, overlooking Lake Yojoa which is the largest fresh water lake in Honduras.
The clouds were coming in very fast and it should have warned us about what to expect! That evening we went to the restaurant for a
New Years Eve meal and it started pouring with rain whilst we were there.
Lago Yojoa
The rain continued for the next 4 days and was torrential. Winnie couldn't cope and we leaked and at one point Kirsten got an electric
shock from Winnie so we had to unplug. We were parked on a grassy area that was fast becoming water logged and we started to worry
about getting out!
We couldn't do much sight seeing because of the weather but we were allowed to use the washing machines and we used the power to write
our website until we had to unplug because of the electric shocks and that meant that our fridge wasn't on either. Plus we couldn't use
the heater to dry the cushions etc. that had got wet. Not a good start to the New Year!
We had to use our rubber mats under the tyres so that we could get out of the water logged grass area where we were parked. It worked
quite well and we gave them to Helmut to use so that he could get out but he had far more of a problem and nearly skidded into the
trees!
Getting out
We parked on an area where it wasn't so wet and then spent almost 2 hours getting us and everything clean before we could drive off.
Our feet were numb with cold because we were walking around in flip flops to save getting other footwear soaking wet and muddy!
We finally left and went in search of the sun!
