Raindate: May 10, 2000
Honduras: Mountains, Coast and Cays
Spring Break Vacation in Central America
We spent our 2000 spring break in Honduras - land of Mayan ruins, unsullied villages of palm and thatch, spectacular landscapes of audaciously steep mountains and sparkling coastlines. As well as malnourished dogs in the street, fires smoldering everywhere, and toilets that empty directly into the water. In addition to sightseeing and hanging out in the town my Mother lives and teaches in we also spent some time on the Honduran islands in the Caribbean getting our diving certification. What a spectacular reef - like flying through a Grand Canyon suffused with life and color. Altogether a wonderful vacation if you're into bare necessity living with spectacular beauty. The following articles track the three locations of our trip.
South-West Mountains
The NorthWest Caribbean Coast
Copan: Mayan Mystery
Copan is the site of a Mayan city was abandoned around 900 AD. Much of the site has been restored so that the visitor can get a strong visual idea of the ceremonial center of the Mayan civilization. Some residential fire-pits were also visible. These were from families associated with the rulers who lived near the ceremonial centers. The middle class lived several kilometers away and the peasant class lived in the surrounding mountains on their farms.
The park is about 3 or 4 hours southwest of San Pedro Sula on tortuous mountain roads. (Our tour driver Nelson proved to be a capable interactive driver - I think he would have been quite comfortable driving in the Baltics!) We went to Copan directly from the airport and stayed in the nearby town, Copan Ruinas, for the evening. We had a wonderful meal at the Tunkil restaurant a couple of blocks from our hotel. (Tunkil is a native wooden drum.) The rather basic and inexpensive hotel had a splendid interior atrium full of magnificent palms and skittish lizards. The room fans were adequate to the sultry heat.
go to Copan Ruins
Utila and the Cays
Utila, a small island off the northern coast of Honduras, was a spectacular place for our family to get our PADI open-water scuba certification. Utila is located at the southern tip of the Belize coral reef which is the second largest reef in the world. We arrived there by ferry from the mainland on a Monday before noon and left the following Friday with our diving certifications and spectacular memories.
NEW! Diving in Utila
The Garifuna
The Garifuna people live along the coast of Honduras and Belize. They are descendants
of escaped West African slaves. The music (as well as the language)
native music *
of the Garifuna is influenced by African, Mayan, and Spanish rhythms and sounds.
The village (above) that we visited is called Miami. (* courtesy
of Encarta)
