Nikki and Mal in Central America

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To get to Copán we had to fly to San Pedro Sula, currently classed as the most dangerous city in the world due to the drug and gang warfare. Unfortunately San Pedro Sula is a transport hub and you have to go there to be able to travel to many other places throughout the country, including catching buses to Copán. The bus station, however, is over the other side of town to the airport and so we caught the first taxi we could and got out of town on a bus within an hour of landing. At one point we were stopped by police, who asked to check everyone's documentation. They weren't really interested in seeing documents for most people - they ignored all the people in the front section of the bus (all locals) and only took a vague interest in the passports of local people seated around us, yet they spent quite a while scrutinising mine and Mal's passports and also that of a German man sitting opposite us. Their lack of attention towards anyone else couldn't help make me feel we had been subject to a little racism. Nevertheless, after a three and a half hour bus ride, and several windy mountain roads later, we arrived in Copán.



On Sunday May 17 we spent the early morning at the nearby ruins. We had been advised to go early due to there not being much shade so we were there for just after 9! Though pretty in their own right, the ruins are on a much smaller, and less impressive, scale compared with those at Tikal. Still, it was fascinating to see the hieroglyph ruin and also the burial sites and spend two hours learning some more about Mayan history. We then ambled the 15 minutes back to the main town and explored some of the cobbled hills and streets looking for a good beer.



After lunch we went to a nearby macaw sanctuary via the local taxi, the tuk tuk. The sanctuary is home not just to a variety of macaws, however, but also to a few species of parrot, parroqueet and owl. Amongst these were some very cute pygmy owls who kept their eyes fixed on us as we walked round their cage. There was also a dubious looking swimming hole (basically a stream) which I only went into up to my calves, whilst Mal was more adventurous and only had his head above the water. After a brief paddle we found the interactive area of the park where visitors can hold a macaw or two. Naturally both Mal and I jumped at the chance and we were soon holding two macaws - one on our left shoulder and one on our right fist.



Monday was a chillout day for us - we spent the morning watching some tv and planning out places to stay and things to do for some of our trip and in the afternoon we made the one hour journey to La Luna Jaguar, home to hot springs. There are two man made pools at the entrance, one of which is deep enough to actually swim in, and there is a river too. The most popular baths still seemed to be the "natural" pools, which are on the other side of the river and are accessible via a wooden bridge. Amongst the natural pools there was a jacuzzi, a mud bath, a back massager, a foot spa and a six step pool which was a set of six pools on a slope which decreased in temperature as you made your way down. We didn't manage to spend too long in the first pool - it's 65° temperature was a little too much to bear. Still, we had a lovely relaxing afternoon and we returned to our hotel feeling rejuvinated.

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Photos

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Copán ruins

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Hieroglyphs at Copán ruins

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Mal holding macaws at the macaw sanctuary

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Toucan

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A hot spring at La Luna Jaguar