Macaws and Mayans, Together at Last in Copan

Written by Kyle about Honduras. Feelin' happy
Kyle_happy
Just over the southern Guatemalan border (about 10 km to be exact) are the Mayan ruins of Copan.  Since this is our 5th ruined site (pun intended), we definately now have a barometer to measure the awesomness of various places.

So, what makes Copan so compelling?  Well, there's no huge structures like Palenque or Tikal and the setting is not dramatic like Monte Albán.  What Copan has, though, are well preserved and restored reliefs and sculpures.  While most of the other sites have lost their intricacies to the elements, Copan has retained them.  These intricacies, combined with what we saw at other sites, gives us a pretty unique view as to what most of these Mayan cities must have looked like.

The other notable thing about Copan was the abundance of Macaws playing at the entrance.  I've never really seen these birds in the wild (well, OK, it was semi-wild) and they are truly amazing and colorful to watch a streak of primary colors go flying by. 

Copan View from Above
Overview of Copan

Macaws Playing in Copan
Playing / Fighting Macaws

Copan Stela
An intricate stela.

Copan Stela
A face on a stela.

Kyle imitating a sculpture, Copan
My imitation of one of the sculptures.

Bessie imitating a sculpture, Copan
Bessie imitating one of the sculptures

Sculpture in Copan
A lizard head, with fierce tongue wagging abilities.

Copan Relief
Relief on a stairway.

Copan Sculpture and Relief
Sculpture coming out of a wall....to attack you!

Copan Sculpture
The head of a sculpture.

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