Copan & Touring

This is how the Hondurans Drive - overloaded! He was tipping really far! I can't believe how high it is!
Tristan and I are having a great time being with Tristan's parents! We rented a car so we would have the freedom to go and do whatever and we've done just that! They arrived Saturday and we introduced them to many people, taking them around Tegucigalpa, and also went out to eat with some of our friends so they could meet them. It was very fun.

Monday we left for Copan, which is in the Western corner and has a lot of Mayan Ruins. It took us almost all day to get there but the ride was pretty and we stopped at a few places along the way. For lunch we went to a restaurant that is in an old, historic house and we had to go into the kitchen to get the food. The road that we took was very curvy and a stressful road to drive because there is always lots of truckers and people pass cars like there is all the space in the world, on the curves! So, we had a couple of close calls but Tristan and Bruce enjoyed the feeling of driving a race car. We stayed at a hotel that one of our students aunt owns. The place was beautiful with lots of flowers and nice places to sit outside.

Tuesday morning we went to the Ruins. We walked all over, climbed lots of steps and learned a lot of interesting things. It's amazing how long some of these things have been preserved for: since 822 AD! The Mayans were only here for from 250 Ad to 822 AD and during those 400 years they built so much - and many times built over their old temples or statues - some up to 5 layers deep! The detail was amazing in the designs of things. They have only found a portion of the ruins in the area. After the ruins we went to Macaw Mountain -a bird sanctuary. They have 130 birds, all birds that either they have rescued or birds they have been given to them because the owners no longer wanted them. It was so nice to be there because they are working towards the birds well being - the birds have huge cages, are well taken care of, and they are even working to repopulate bird species that are going extinct in Honduras. We were able to hold the Macaws and parrots - one Macaw tried to eat Tristan's shirt and he now has some holes in the shoulder.... Shanon had a bird jump to her head to rest. The place was beautiful and maybe all of our favorite stop of the day. We then (yes we were very busy this day) went down a dirt road about an hour looking for some hot springs. The drive was very pretty back in the country and driving through lots of little villages. We had to stop of pigs and chickens and cows many times. The pools of the springs were nice and relaxing - very hot. We didn't stay long before we headed back to town for dinner. We stayed up until about 2am playing a game of hearts.








Wednesday we slept in due to our late night last night. After breakfast and lots of coffee we headed out of town to begin the journey back to Tegucigalpa. On the way we stopped at a waterfall that was amazing! It is 43 meters down and completely undisturbed and beautiful! There is a little park there and a spot to go swimming above the falls. We also stopped along the lake (the only lake in Honduras) for lunch/dinner to eat some fish. We picked our fish from a cooler and they fried it up, head and all. It was very good, Tristan enjoyed his chicken :). Tonight we watched the Luna Eclipse from our roof - very cool to see the moon read and covered like it was.