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Published: April 5th 2007
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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 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
Copan carving
One of the many carvings found in the Copan complex 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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Jeremy
non-member comment
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....