Copán, Honduras
I went to see the Mayan ruins in Copán, Honduras this weekend with my housemate, Nikki. It was incredible. We drove six hours in a van with 9 people from all over the world (Switzerland, Roma, NYC, Spain to name a few) to get there. The countries of Guatemala and Honduras are beautiful. The rain can get a little annoying, but the beauiful countryside makes up for it. The entire trip was on a highway overlooking lush green mountains. The ride was a little scary because no one uses their turning signals here and they like to pass people by almost running head on with the driver coming in the opposite direction, but we made it safely luckily. We went on a bilingual guided tour of the ruins because one lady could not speak English, and one girl could not speak Spanish. The guide was really good at going back and forth. I feel like I learned a lot about the Mayan civilization in Copán, and just as much about the Roman culture (from the strong personality of Silvia). Everyone is so unique.
The ruins at Copán overlooked the amazingly beautiful green landscape we had seen the entire car ride, and a river.Beautiful Guacamayas (or Macaws) flew over our heads. I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to live there in 500AD. While I´m told it was an honor, I don´t think I would have liked to have been sacrificed. The sporting event they play also sounds just as sacrificial. The ball they used was so hard, that they could not use their hands, feet, or heads because it would break their bones.
The buildings were impressive, reaching great heights, and with amazing artistry, but I don´t even want to know how many slaves were used to create them.
After visiting the ruins, we took a tour of a coffee plantation. Who knew the process of making coffee beans was so intense?! The coffee bean can be found inside a small fruit. There are two layers that must be peeled. And the beans go through an extravagant process before they are roasted at 220 degrees centigrade.
The particular finca we toured grows 8 different kinds of Arabic coffee. (The temperate rain forest setting makes it ideal to grow coffee beans.) The rain forest setting was beautiful! I saw so many plants, flowers, insects, and animals I have never seen before. Beatiful flowers and interesting animals! I filled my camera´s memory card, but unfortunately can´t figure out how to get them online right now. Sorry about that! I will work on it…
The trip was amazing. Guatemala and Honduras are beautiful. There is so much to explore!
-Kara