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Copan

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

 Stelae at Copan Rosalila temple replica at Copan Museum Bird Eating a fish at Copan Ruins 

It almost gets repetitive. Great civilization flourishes over a thousand years ago. They abuse their natural resources. They decline rapidly, and all they’re left with is corn and cold showers or illegally immigrating to the USA.

Copan is the proclaimed ¨Paris of the Maya¨ – famous for their intriguing sculpture work and detailed heiroglyphic histories. Due to a historic lack of funding, many sculptures have been stolen and thousands of stones remain unassembled. Luckily, the Maya covered up their old temples with new ones and by digging tunnels archaeologists find a layered history intact.

The sculpture museum here opened barely 10 years ago. Its centerpiece is an imposing full-scale replica of one such underground treasure. Excavation, reconstruction, and an emphasis on preservation of the current findings lead us to believe this will be a spectacular place to visit in 20 years, but it´s still really cool right now.

In the Cold Room

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

Purple Orchids in Celaque Snake in Celaque really white orchids in celaque

Stepping into the cold room of Celaque Botanical Gardens is a nice respite from the heat of the Honduran lowlands. Orchids bloom profusely in hundreds of lush different varieties and pleasantly sculpted structures funnel the water into falls. In the canopy, the sounds of chirping birds are piped in through speakers. On the cardboard displays, you read about the monkeys, lizards, and snakes that would inhabit this forest. After your hour long stroll, you sip a cappucino in the cafe.

But no such place exists in Honduras, there is only Celaque National Park. The orchids bloom but need to be found. Every orchid you discover is a different color or shape, elegantly clinging to a tree amongst dense foliage. There is plenty of water, plenty of waterfalls, but sometimes you have to walk through it. Bright red or orange or green birds chirp, darting overhead and through the trees in front of you drawing your eyes away from the views down the steep ridge you are hiking on. Spider monkeys and lizards flee in fear of you, and snakes hiding where orchids might be make you jump. At the end of the day, you emerge from the forest and Doña Alejandra serves you her own special coffee ground with cinnamon and pepper in between grinding corn, kneading dough, and grilling tortillas for your dinner.

We will never see as many orchids as in the New York, Singapore, or even Pittsburgh botanical gardens while hiking in the wild, but it’s nice to leave Disney World.

Visit San Juan

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Doña Soledad Adam in Woods Jesus

San Juan, Honduras is a small town on Sunday when the market is open and bustling. On Monday morning, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Ode to Coffee

Saturday, February 16th, 2008
Coffee fruit On our last trip, we went to mostly tea-drinking areas, including New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and India. Even Tanzania, which grows some of the best coffee in the world, is inhabited by tea-drinkers. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Borders

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
Honduras - Nicaragua Border crossing Restaurant Mang Ying After crossing through the misty mountain pass from Nicaragua to Honduras the first sign of change was ... [Continue reading this entry]