Copán

In moving north we have shifted dramatically from the Incan to the Mayan. Copán is called the Paris of the Mayan civilization, the acme of their artistic and cultural accomplishment. The ruins are quite different from what we have seen in Bolivia and Peru. There is much more figural stone carving, and the stone is gray or green rather than golden. Copán's period of cultural dominance lasted from AD 250 to 900; the layer of architecture currently at the surface dates from 650 to 820, but there are unseen structures beneath. Here is a model of the site and an artist's idea of how the site once might have looked:



The kingdom was ruled by one dynasty for centuries, kings with names like Great Sun Green Quetzal Macaw, 18 Rabbit, Smoke Jaguar, and Smoke Squirrel. The buildings are stepped pyramids and many in the vicinity have still to be excavated. Stelae in the Great Plaza depict King 18 Rabbit, among others, and there is a ball court, and an immense staircase carved with hieroglyphs.












King Smoke Squirrel built the 63 steps of the Hieroglyphic Staircase. It is now shaded by a protective canvas awning, preserving for a little while more the thousands of hieroglyphs that tell the history of the royal house of Copán.










The jaguar reliefs in the Jaguar Plaza are remarkably Tigger-ish.








When Copán was first excavated in the 19th century it had lain beneath the jungle for centuries and many trees are still rooted in the stones. Many of the carved pieces standing on the site are reproductions and the originals protected in a well-lit museum in the park. At the center of the museum is an immense painted reproduction of the Rosalila temple, discovered intact within the protective shell of a more recently-built structure above it. While you can't see the Rosalila temple in situ, that sense of trees rooting down in ancient stones while still more ancient stones remain untouched beneath eerily collapses the centuries of natural and human endeavor.














At the park entrance a flock of macaws and a troop of agouti maintain a studied indifference to each other.





We spent Honduras' presidential election in the town of Copán Ruinas, as Mike will shortly relate.

D&D Brewery...and all that entails

Tell Mike that there is a microbrewery within a few hundred kilometers of where he is toiling in the desertlands of lager and there is no holding him. Consequently we moved quickly from southern Honduras to Los Naranjos on the shores of Lago Yojoa where Oregonian Robert Dale has established D&D Brewery. As Mike noted, Bob sounds a lot like John Wayne, and when he speaks Spanish, in which he is fluent, he sounds even more like John Wayne. We stayed a week, met many great travelers and locals, and celebrated Thanksgiving with Robert's welcoming nephews Dellinger and Scott and the lovely Gloria and Ana who keep the kitchen humming.





We took a few field trips when we could tear Mike away from the taps, joining Maura, Elliot, Alli and Angela, a group of 3 teachers and a vet tech from Baltimore, to go out rowing on the lake. The 6 of us also trekked to the beautiful Azacualpa hot springs, getting there and back by hook or by crook in a series of 5 buses and 4 pick-ups. That night a big group of guests joined Robert in a 3 guitar jam session and sing-along. Many thanks to our Baltimore friends for sending photos!














Mike and I spent a nice afternoon walking to the Pulhapanzak waterfall. The best part of the walk was meeting Francisco Reyes on our way home. Francisco is a jefe at the national electric company and he picked us up off the side of the road where we were waiting for a bus. He immediately told us how much he likes people from the U.S. and asked us if we wanted to see the power plant. The plant is a relatively small one with 2 generators perched over a river that runs down from the lake. What impressed me most was how clean and organized the place was with all the machinery -- pipes and joints and on-off wheels -- painted different bright solid colors. Unfortunately our halfway working camera gave out on our rowing trip so we have no photos of Francisco or his plant. Nor do we have photos of his house where he took us to meet his wife and kids and feed us baleadas, a Honduran dish of tortilla filled with beans, eggs and cheese.

Robert was away for Thanksgiving but his nephews and the women of D&D more than managed. We had a turkey ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans. I made a couple of apple pies and Mike pushed his record number of beers to 45 (for the course of our stay). Other guests at dinner included the delightful Mark and Cecilia, of Australia and Argentina, late of the Isle of Man and on their way to new digs in Panama City. Also Freddy and Greta from Germany, Morden and Anna from Denmark and Spain, Alphonse from Holland, and Paul and Lindsay from Virginia.












Moving on from D&D was hard but we tore ourselves away and caught El Mochito to San Pedro Sula, from there to head to Copan Ruinas. On our bus a very cute girl, Haley, moved over to look at us. She was joined by her little sister Nicole, and with only a few blinks they munched plantain chips, answered our questions and stared at us for the entire ride.