At last! I’ve finished sorting and editing the photos of Ruinas Copan … the Mayan ruins in Honduras. I’m proud of the new gallery … it came out better than I expected. Enjoy!

–> Copan - Sunrise photos

Also, in case you missed it, here is a link to the main Copan page, with a full gallery of all the pictures as well as highlights of the sunset photos:

–> Copan - Main Page

Just wanted to let you know that the first 1/2 of the Copan photos are up! These pictures are of Copan Ruinas at sunset. The next gallery will have the Ruins at sunrise … which hopefully will be up within a week. Enjoy!

Copan Photo Gallery - Sunset

I have to admit that I didn’t really want to go back to Copan in the morning. I’d been there about 3 or 3.5 hours, and was all “shot out” of the place. But with Lulu the taxi driver arranged to arrive at 5:15 am (for 3 times the normal fare), and a campesino waiting for me at the gate at 5:30, I didn’t have much of a choice.

Yes, of course I’m glad I went. The AM pictures were amazing, and there was even more of a sense of wonderment to the Ruins. It was “Indiana Jones-like” … traipsing through the jungle only to discover ruins overgrown and lit with the soft, cool morning light.

And I even had time for a quick (not well done) self-portrait before sitting down and relaxing for a bit to read the guidebook on Copan.

I rushed out of the park, found Lulu to take me back up the hill to the Hacienda (by the way, the little “tuktuk” 3-wheel taxis barely make it up … I thought I was going to have to get out and push), had pancakes fresh off the griddle, and left for our uneventful 6+ hour drive back to Tegucigalpa and flights home.

Thinking back on it all, I’m astounded how much we fit in in 6 very, very fast-paced days. We overdid the travel with something like 8 flights and many car trips, taxi rides, boat rides, etc), but the memories (and photoes) were worth it. And — more importantly — the day with the kids reminded me how fortunate we are here, and gave me impetus to do more for the people in the world who can’t just run off on an indiana jones adventure whenever they feel like it.

And the next Honduras trip? It’s tentatively scheduled for next February, to La Mosquitia (the Mosquito Coast), with a Brigade of Doctors heading to one of the most remote places on earth.

Alone in Copan
Written 8 May 2007 at 6:08 pm from inside Copan

There’s an odd sense of wonderment – and a little fear, I have to admit – at being the only person in the ancient Mayan ruins of Copan after dark.

The sun set about 20 minutes ago, and besides the extremely loud birds, the very large rodents I can’t identify, gigantic ants, and the sounds of hundreds of other animals, I am alone.

But I do wonder a bit if the security guards here won’t take my money on the way out, or what would happen if I fell on the very steep steps here alone, or if I’ll find a taxi to take me out of here, or if there really are jaguars in this “Court of the Jaguars” that I sit next to.

I see a smaller pyramid surrounded by stellae, and the glow of the setting sun. By special permission, I’m here to take photos. But I thought I’d put some words to paper before the feelings too were gone like the hundreds of thousands of Mayans whose souls inhabit this place.

The parrots screech me back to my purpose, though, and I will walk until the fear of the dark overcomes me and I leave here. More later.

—————————

I stayed there for about another half hour, and it was VERY dark when I left. The guards were fine, but there was a long corridor of trees (a few hundred yards) out to the locked parking lot. As I pondered on who or what would jump out of the bushes, I started seeing fireflies flitting around. The magic of their odd flashing light overcame the thoughts of danger … and soon enough I was out on the street trying to find a taxi back to the hotel.

And to finish the night, we had an amazing dinner at the Hacienda San Lucas where we stayed:
- Salad: Bed of greens garnished with fresh fruit, house cheese, and our rose hibiscus vinaigrette.
- Soup: Fresh new corn “atole” served with fresh flowers.
- Tamale de la casa: Homemade fresh corn tamale filled with our own adobo Maya sauce and chicken, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, served with our pickled green papaya.
- Main Course: Fire roasted chicken served with rice, green beans with sesame seeds, and squash and carrots with a light cream sauce. Dinner is accompanied by our house adobo sauce to dress the chicken, our stewed black beans and our corn tortillas fresh from the comal.
- Dessert: Papaya in light syrup with spices served with a slice of rum cake.

What a sense of wonderment it is to be along in Copan. We all wandered around, first amazed at the dozens of very large wild macaws flying around the park.

The sun still had 2+ hours before setting, and the others got bored before then. They left, and I was alone — completely, entirely alone — in a park inhabited by the souls of sacrified and long-dead Mayans, bugs, jaguars, and security guards of unkown integrity.

I snapped away until well after sunset.

Later I came to understand the magnitude of this opportunity. Apparently it’s VERY rare for anyone to be in the park after/before hours. I felt unbelievably fortunate … post-sunset images of Copan are -nowhere- out there, and I’ve looked.

(By the way, did I mention the “traffic jam” we faced on the way into the park?)

The Copan Ruins (aka Ruinas Copán) are considered the “Athens of the New World” … 4,500 ruins of the Mayan civilization, most still uncovered, with writing that tells the fantastic (actually, unbelievable) story of the place.

If you google it for great images, though, you’ll see there just aren’t many (any?!?) great images of this place. So I was bound and determined to be the one to get those iconic images of such a fantastic place. And the only way that was going to happen was if I could shoot with a couple of hours of sunset and sunrise. Unfortunately, the part isn’t open within 3 hours of either … which posed quite a problem for my plan.

Previous to the trip, I had written to the head of the archaeological institute, and he had given me permission (kind of) to be in the park early and late. But no details… and so on Tuesday (May 8, 2007) I missed my sunrise opportunity, as I wasn’t able to get ahold of anyone to know how to get into the park.

Instead I slept in a bit, had a home- (and hand-) made breakfast cooked over the wood-fired stove, and then got a “4 hands” massage in an outdoor cabana overlooking the ruins, while I listened to the birds and wildlife sounds. The massage was good… the experience, though, was amazing.

After relaxing a bit in the hammock, I called into my consulting project. Bad news… I needed to check internet, but there wasn’t any there. So went into town, dealt with the bank (and the security everywhere carrying shotguns), and found an internet cafe.

It was getting late, so I headed over to the Ruins, still with no permission (or details) locally to get in. I worked it out with the Professor who ran Copan (showing pix with the VP, showing permission from Tegus, showing pix on my computer, etc) and Chris, Wendy, Doug and I were let into the ruins at 4pm … their standard closing time.

May 8, 2007: The room has cooled a bit, due to a somewhat oxymoronic-sounding solar-powered fan. (It’s night. How could the fan be solar-powered? But I think any electricity we have is solar power stored in batteries.) And I’m writing again via the batteries of my laptop saved to my desktop … which I’ll transfer to the blog once I have internet access again.

So, on Monday May 7th we once again awoke early. We weren’t exactly sure of our plans, but we knew we had to be on the road at 7am to see Beckyts recovery center, called Brazos Abiertos (”Open Arms”). Last time I was there it was under construction. This time there were amazingly beautiful kids, recovering from malnutrition. One girl in particular had these haunting eyes. Just unbelievably sad, although at the moment she seemed okay. I can only wonder what she’s already seen at such a young age to produce such a deep-seated sorrow.

We left there and rushed up to the HeRO feeding center. This was a remote village in San Juancito, long ago abandoned by the gold mining company, with the miner populations remaining, becoming more and more poor. We played with the kids there for quite a while: soccer, an odd form of peek-a-boo by Stacie, and bubbles. (Yes, those cheap bubbles (basically soapy water) are quite a hit with kids that have so little. Something to remember when I go back … balls and bubbles, and the kids are happy.)

We dedicated the center to Stacie and 267 because Stacie’s donation made that center possible.

We went back to the hotel, where I had a nice opportunity to wander the mall for a few minutes and buy lunch. It’s just nice to be in a completely foreign culture… very interesting. Unfortunately, due to a tax rule exempting foreign restaurants from taxes, most of the places are american chains. Yuk. We went to the orphanage (same one as last year) and played more games with the kids. I fell in love (again) with Jocelyn … so wonderfully sweet, what an amazing kid. When I showed her my sunburned arm, she rolled the cuff of my shirt down and started buttoning it, as if to take care of me.

We left there and dropped off 4 of our Forum members at the airport. The Forum Retreat portion of this trip was over.

After an interminable drive, where we saw dozens of wildfires along the road (out-of-control fires originally started to burn the fields by farmers) and a night filled with lightning flashes every few seconds, we finally arrived in Copan. Even with “room problems” we decided to stay anyway, swayed by the dozens of oil-lamps that lit the place.

Finally … a comfortable place to sleep … what a long day!

I have lots to write, but no time. I’m in the airport in El Salvador and finally got email. But I thought I’d post my favorite picture (so far) of the Copan Ruinas … so here it is. More stories to follow.

Bu the way, I get back late tonight.

(Sunday Dinner with Vice President and Mrs Santos)

May 8, 2007: Candles make your room hot.

You wouldn’t think that a few candles perceptibly increase the temperature of your room, especially when the “windows” have no glass (only screens), and there is a breeze. But sure enough, I come back to my room here in Copan and it’s definitely warmer.

There’s also the issue of the stray “bat” fluttering around in my room. I actually think he is an exceptionally large moth, but he’s so big that as I opened my computer a moment ago, I was worried that he would fly towards the light.

Anyway, I need to catch up. Although I have no internet, I’ll write a blog entry in Word and post it when I next have internet.

So the last I wrote covered Saturday and Roatan. On Sunday morning (May 6, 2007), as I woke up, I didn’t feel all that great. I actually woke up before the sun for bathroom purposes, and decided to stay up until sunrise for the photos. As I walked to our pier, the enormous dogs that guard the place came bounding across the lawn, mean-looking, and running full speed while barking. I thought for sure I was going to get attacked. I crouched down and talked softly… and thankfully, I think the biggest dog was as afraid of me as I was of him. He stopped about 30 feet away, and just barked. Finally, Corinne (resort owner) came out and dragged him away.

I went and sat out on the pier as the sun came up. Nothing spectacular, but a rare event for me, and beautiful just for what it was: a sunrise in paradise.

I went back to bed, and awoke after breakfast. I ate a little, then we jumped on the boat and headed back to civilization. We had a few drinks with our friend at the dock, and then jumped in the bus for our 45 minute ride to the very little airport.

From there the rest of the afternoon was a hell of flights. We flew first to La Ceiba – which was NOT on our itinerary, then over to San Pedro Sula. At each stop the air-conditioning on the plane did not work. It was hot as hell, only mitigated by the oversize tube they would stick in the door that blew cool air into the 2-propeller plane. Weird.

So from San Pedro Sula we finally flew to Tegucigalpa (or Tegus as it’s called.) Tegus is a big, dirty, bustling, gang-filled city. Not somewhere with a lot of redeeming qualities, to be honest. After landing (in the middle of an air show, oddly), we shot off to the Intercontinental, which is a very nice hotel. (It’s still Honduras, though, and check-in on the “special” floor of the best-of-the-best hotel still took an hour.)

Once checked in we zoomed off to our dinner with the Vice President, Mr Elvin Santos, and his wonderful wife Becky. The dinner was everything I could have asked for: very candid discussions of politics; historical discussions of the problems of Central America and how they are being addressed; discussions about Becky’s malnutrition recover center; and generally the most interesting political discussions I can remember … talking with someone who is in the position to know, to make a difference, to understand.

A few of the most disturbing points were hearing how much jeopardy his life would be if he chose to pursue the presidency, and also how the average Honduran mother begins motherhood at age 14. Wow… the -average- girl is pregnant at 14 years- of age. Astounding.

From there we headed back to the hotel, to drink the bar to the closing while a few guys smoked cigars indoors. Again, strange, but no big deal here. Outside the hotel, a downpour brought thunder and lightning to the city, while we comfortably chatted about everything.

So what’s the best thing to do on your second SCUBA dive? Of course, it’s to find a 6 foot shark, and pet him.

On our first full day in Honduras the non-certified divers (me, Stacie and Ed) awoke early for our “pool” course. Of course, our pool was the 80 degree plus Caribbean waters of a private island, complete with a pirate fort with gun housings still intact. So we got trained a bit on breathing underwater, and got down around 15 feet under. The water was murky, but it’s still cool to be weightless.

We returned to the resort (only a few minutes boat ride in little passageways between the dangerous coral reefs) and had french toast breakfast, the jumped back in the boat for our first official dive. Everyone was in the boat this time, and we moored to a little bouy at one of our divemaster’s favorite spots. For the first time, I rolled backwards off the edge of the boat (a bit unsettling, I have to admit), slowly sank down to 15 feet, and waited for everyone to gather. Then we just cruised around for the next 47 minutes, seeing a never ending coral reef filled with life. There’s no way to describe it Read the rest of this entry »