Route of the Maya Oat Trip

Copan Ruinas, Honduras

12 Dec 2023 - Visit the Ruins

Up at 6am & down for breakfast at 7:10am. Very good breakfast, eggs however you wanted them, beans (of course), plantains (more like regular bananas soft & sweet), homemade tortillas, & juice. All very good. Really like this little family run hotel - Don Udo's. Even found that they would do laundry for $2 a lb, so left our clothes - even George's jeans!!!

It was only about 15 drive to the Copan Ruinas entry point. Our guide, Mike, met us there & first gave us a tour of the Visitor's Center Museum. He sounded more Texan than Honduran. He has dual citizenship with the US and is married to a Texan. He lived in Austin for many years, but has been in Honduras for 20 years now. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000. Mostly because of the 3 dimensional statues found there. 2^nd largest of the Mayan sites. Had 18 recognized rulers. Has 4 ball courts too. One is massive with an elite viewing stand & a bigger sitting area. Also has a decorated stone staircase that has been continually worked on by Harvard since the early 1900’s.

Kept threatening rain, but it never did. A little slight drizzle occasionally, but never real rain. Very comfortable temp all day too with some sunshine.

After the visitor’s center, there was a wide boulevard leading to the site protected by tall trees on both sides. Just after entering it, we started hearing the Scarlett macaws. There were tons of them! Also the Montezuma Opendula! Recognized the noise from the one in the Amazon. It was very large & sounds like water pouring. Lots of other tropical birds too. Also a pair of Orange Streaked Orioles. But the Scarlet Macaws stole the show. They were gorgeous, noisy, & everywhere! It was really a neat experience.

The tour of the ruins took a couple of hours. Moved slowly – mostly flat ground although I did climb the first platform. View from the top was lovely. George didn’t climb it – didn’t ask him why. Easy up, but had to be careful coming down – very steep & the steps were quite high. No railings of course. The grounds were very interesting – including the final wander to look down on the Acropolis. Also got to watch them making the lime mixture that they were using to repair the stone structures. That’s mostly what the Harvard kids are doing. Some local workers also. There is a new memorial being built by the Japanese. They haven’t publicized exactly what they are memorializing since their study was completed.

All of us climbed the stairs to the last place to overlook the massive ball field & to get views of the surrounding area. Mike also stopped us by to watch them mixing the mortar for their repairs. That was very interesting too.

We made another stop at the entrance to get close up pictures of the beautiful Scarlett Macaws. Also noted a few Ginger plants & other fruit trees.

We headed back to the hotel with one other couple to relax a little, while the others stayed for an optional museum tour. We took naps & then I went up to look around from the upper deck & listen for birds.

Then a lovely highlight for me!!!! Paid a visit to Macaw Mountain, a nature & breeding center. They had focused on reintroducing the Scarlett Macaw to Copan Ruinas (good job with that!!!) It was very well maintained & the birds looked very content & happy. https://www.macawmountain.org/en/our-projects/ We had a lot of time to wander & take pictures. Walter even took pictures of us with some of the Macaws (no charge!! Amazing!). I just loved it.

Back to Don Udo's for dinner. A lovely homemade meal of vege's & chicken Kababs. Tried a Honduran beer with John & his mother, Dale. Seem to have quite a lot in common with them, discussed TV series & enjoyed the social time. Got a cute picture of Hector relaxing in the hammock. Back to our room, we watched a couple of NCIS - finished Season 4! & worked on our computers, trying to post on FB daily. Tomorrow off to Guatemala.

Pam's Travel Blog

Tuesday, December 12, 2023