Our weekend in Copan…
Began as sort of a “spur of the moment”/ but, always wanted to go there any way. We had just never found the time until our card-playing friends from Roatan, John and Carol of “Jabulo” announced that they have suckered their grandson, Jesse, into crewing for them to Panama. Moreover, he was due to arrive the day after Christmas! Well, it did not take much more than that to convince us that the time had come!
Jan 1st dawned on the two intrepid travelers standing on the dock loading
gear into a launcha. Well OK, it was 9:00 AM but I had not even had my second cup of coffee! We both tend to over-pack so it was amazing to see we got every thing into Jeanie’s 18 inch X 18 inch foldable ice chest on wheels. We looked like pro travelers. We didn’t even have a hotel booked! Anything we’d either forgotten or needed, we’ll buy on the fly…
We met our van driver Otto who spoke about as much English as we did Spanish. We got along just fine! His Toyota van was clean and very well maintained but it did not have A/C! While that would be a deal killer in the summer, the internet weather had forecast daytime highs in the mid 70’s and nighttime lows down to 55 degrees F. and no rain. We’ll just leave the wind
ows open. Seems like the right proper way to travel in Central America anyway!
Just as expected, the van ride was cool and breezy. In addition, a record run as it was supposed to be a 5-hour trip. As it was a holiday and we were going early, Otto shaved 45 min off that time! That was great as it allowed us enough time to go through the ‘in town’ museum.
We were told not to miss this treat as it had a lot of “stuff” that was not available at the ‘ruinas’ (ruins). This one lived up to it’s reputation with mummified bones, jade artifacts, and most amazing actual skulls that had embedded jade in their teeth! It was well worth the $3.00 admission! It had been a long day and tomorrow we were going to do the ruins, so after a pizza dinner at, of all places, Jim’s. We all turned in early.
Ruins day was beautiful and after breakfast at the hotel, we loaded cameras and walking sticks into a van for the short ride to the ruins. Only about two miles, I know we could have walked it, but we were saving ourselves! Turns out the van ride was the most expensive one of the trip at $10.00 each way, so we used “Tuk Tuks” for the rest of the trip, more on that later. Even before we entered, the place was magical.
Our guide Melvin is actually a studying archeology. In addition, was involved in many of the “finds” on the site. He claimed to be part Mayan, yet at over 6 feet tall, we teased him about being descended from the space aliens that myth has led us to believe, passed much knowledge to the Mayans. According to Melvin, there is absolutely no truth to that myth. Nevertheless, admitted he would be considered a God! God Melvin! He was a fantastic guide and made the ruins come alive.
The coolest thing was that the Mayans built a temple right over an existing one and as the artists’ picture shows, it was totally preserved! Right down to the actual colors! The paint was
still intact! And, an exact reproduction was built in the center of the on site museum! The archaeologists tunneled out all around and through the one still standing to reveal the other. In fact, tunnels explore a lot of the site in order to have as little impact visually on what is above ground. There is a “Tunnel” tour, but we were told that it was not worth the price of admission.
Considering all that is there, the $22.00/ head admission fee was a bargain. We had lunch at the site and explored until mid afternoon when our van came to pick us up. We were a much worn out-group! Over a hamburger at Jim’s that evening, we taught Jesse how to play Baja Rummy and called it a day!
The next day, Since it does not take long to see Macaw Mountain, we had time to do a bit more exploring around the town of Copan and discovered the town market. What a colorful place to say the least! After we had explored our butts off there, we arranged for a couple “Tuk Tuks” to take us up the mountain.
As you can see, there is not much to them and the builder did not waste a lot of $$ on things like suspension springs or soft seats! The cobble stone streets and ruts are not kind to them or the passengers, but they are cheap and quick. I felt as if we were racing up Pikes Peek on a go-kart! Probably the best ride so far, except for the ride back down! Wow!
The Macaw Mountain is populated by wild and semi wild Macaws. The park also accepts donated birds that have been mistreated. There are also Toucans, cockatoos and many other types as well. Most in large enclosures, but many, free flying as well.
While John and I were busy exploring the market, Carol and Jeanie were busy scouting out a place for John’s surprise birthday dinner that night. It turned out to be a real surprise, as John had no clue. We had candlelight dinner on the terrace over-looking the pool and the town square Christmas tree. The music from the xylophone band filtering up through the
bougainvilleas and something called a “Three milk cake” to wish upon. I know my wish probably will not count, but I did hope that my 71st birthday would be spent in much the same way! In addition, all of yours as well!
Otto our van driver was there at 11:00AM and the hotel grounds keeper was taking the holiday lights down from around the pool so I guess our time there was at an end. Tomorrow, we deliver our boat to the shipyard for a back deck repair while Jabulo and crew will prepare to leave for Panama and places far distant. Here’s hoping fair wind, until we will meet up again…………
Began as sort of a “spur of the moment”/ but, always wanted to go there any way. We had just never found the time until our card-playing friends from Roatan, John and Carol of “Jabulo” announced that they have suckered their grandson, Jesse, into crewing for them to Panama. Moreover, he was due to arrive the day after Christmas! Well, it did not take much more than that to convince us that the time had come!
Jan 1st dawned on the two intrepid travelers standing on the dock loading
gear into a launcha. Well OK, it was 9:00 AM but I had not even had my second cup of coffee! We both tend to over-pack so it was amazing to see we got every thing into Jeanie’s 18 inch X 18 inch foldable ice chest on wheels. We looked like pro travelers. We didn’t even have a hotel booked! Anything we’d either forgotten or needed, we’ll buy on the fly…We met our van driver Otto who spoke about as much English as we did Spanish. We got along just fine! His Toyota van was clean and very well maintained but it did not have A/C! While that would be a deal killer in the summer, the internet weather had forecast daytime highs in the mid 70’s and nighttime lows down to 55 degrees F. and no rain. We’ll just leave the wind
ows open. Seems like the right proper way to travel in Central America anyway!Just as expected, the van ride was cool and breezy. In addition, a record run as it was supposed to be a 5-hour trip. As it was a holiday and we were going early, Otto shaved 45 min off that time! That was great as it allowed us enough time to go through the ‘in town’ museum.
We were told not to miss this treat as it had a lot of “stuff” that was not available at the ‘ruinas’ (ruins). This one lived up to it’s reputation with mummified bones, jade artifacts, and most amazing actual skulls that had embedded jade in their teeth! It was well worth the $3.00 admission! It had been a long day and tomorrow we were going to do the ruins, so after a pizza dinner at, of all places, Jim’s. We all turned in early.
Ruins day was beautiful and after breakfast at the hotel, we loaded cameras and walking sticks into a van for the short ride to the ruins. Only about two miles, I know we could have walked it, but we were saving ourselves! Turns out the van ride was the most expensive one of the trip at $10.00 each way, so we used “Tuk Tuks” for the rest of the trip, more on that later. Even before we entered, the place was magical.
Our guide Melvin is actually a studying archeology. In addition, was involved in many of the “finds” on the site. He claimed to be part Mayan, yet at over 6 feet tall, we teased him about being descended from the space aliens that myth has led us to believe, passed much knowledge to the Mayans. According to Melvin, there is absolutely no truth to that myth. Nevertheless, admitted he would be considered a God! God Melvin! He was a fantastic guide and made the ruins come alive.The coolest thing was that the Mayans built a temple right over an existing one and as the artists’ picture shows, it was totally preserved! Right down to the actual colors! The paint was
still intact! And, an exact reproduction was built in the center of the on site museum! The archaeologists tunneled out all around and through the one still standing to reveal the other. In fact, tunnels explore a lot of the site in order to have as little impact visually on what is above ground. There is a “Tunnel” tour, but we were told that it was not worth the price of admission.Considering all that is there, the $22.00/ head admission fee was a bargain. We had lunch at the site and explored until mid afternoon when our van came to pick us up. We were a much worn out-group! Over a hamburger at Jim’s that evening, we taught Jesse how to play Baja Rummy and called it a day!
The next day, Since it does not take long to see Macaw Mountain, we had time to do a bit more exploring around the town of Copan and discovered the town market. What a colorful place to say the least! After we had explored our butts off there, we arranged for a couple “Tuk Tuks” to take us up the mountain.
As you can see, there is not much to them and the builder did not waste a lot of $$ on things like suspension springs or soft seats! The cobble stone streets and ruts are not kind to them or the passengers, but they are cheap and quick. I felt as if we were racing up Pikes Peek on a go-kart! Probably the best ride so far, except for the ride back down! Wow!
The Macaw Mountain is populated by wild and semi wild Macaws. The park also accepts donated birds that have been mistreated. There are also Toucans, cockatoos and many other types as well. Most in large enclosures, but many, free flying as well.While John and I were busy exploring the market, Carol and Jeanie were busy scouting out a place for John’s surprise birthday dinner that night. It turned out to be a real surprise, as John had no clue. We had candlelight dinner on the terrace over-looking the pool and the town square Christmas tree. The music from the xylophone band filtering up through the
bougainvilleas and something called a “Three milk cake” to wish upon. I know my wish probably will not count, but I did hope that my 71st birthday would be spent in much the same way! In addition, all of yours as well!Otto our van driver was there at 11:00AM and the hotel grounds keeper was taking the holiday lights down from around the pool so I guess our time there was at an end. Tomorrow, we deliver our boat to the shipyard for a back deck repair while Jabulo and crew will prepare to leave for Panama and places far distant. Here’s hoping fair wind, until we will meet up again…………
