Copan Ruins

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The Mayan ruins at Copan are only a few kilometres from the town, so bright and early on Tuesday morning we began the trek out to the site. We were rewarded for the effort by being two of the first people there - it was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed having our first wander through the site without anyone else around. The temples themselves are very impressive, and the carvings that are still at the site are a real testament to the skill of Mayan carvers. The themes of death and war are very strong in the art at the site, and many of the carvings are of skeleton faces and larger-than-life animal figures that were clearly meant to intimidate! The huge trees growing out of the the temples soften the impact a bit, and one of our favourite moments came when we were sitting at the top of the highest temple beside one of these precariously attached but enormous ceiba trees, looking out over the forest canopy and the temple complex - we were already dazzled when a flock of small green parrots flew out of nowhere and began circling through the trees. It was one of those moments when you realize you´re really in a different world!

Later we visited the very well done museum at the site, to see some of the more delicate carvings and the building facades that have been reconstructed there. Although we thought we would only spend the morning at the ruins it was late afternoon by the time we got back to town, so we called it a successful day and focused on having a good dinner and relaxing.

The next day we visited the bird reserve in town. They have primarily Honduran species, mostly birds that were former pets or are injured too significantly to be returned to the wild. The best part was the ´interactive centre´; as you can see Berm made some new friends!

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Photos

Copan ball court
The Mayans used this court to play a game involving an eight pound rubber ball - in important games the winner could be sacrificed to the gods

Copan carving
One of the many carvings found in the Copan complex

Comments

[Jeremy]

Wow...looks like it's sizing up to be a good trip...the ruins look pretty cool...not sure I like the sounds of that ball game...sacrificing the winner?!? I am glad civilization has evolved to allow the winner to continue to play again....

[Neil Pandit]

Your site is so professional
Hi, This is so cool. I'm sure everyone is doing this but I might give this a go when I've got a few minutes. Probably not worth it though for the two weeks we have left..... maybe our next trip. Hope all is well. Neil and Becky

[Johnm]

Thanks for this great glimpse...
Looks so amazing but I haven't heard anything more than this first offering. There may be more and you must be thoroughly aclimitized by now and enjoying it more and more. Here it is warming up but no parrots on the horizon thus far. Blossoming, though, everywhere, so that you can almost hear it and when you get out of the wind the sun has real impact. Time for seed catalogues and those dry little packets to be shaken like gourds or marimbas for shaping sounds like a sudden downpour sweeping through the rainforest. That's what it's like here, honest. Just letting you know so there'll be less culture shock on your return...