Winter Term in Roatan: Part 2

With the morning sunrise in Copán came the distant call of a rooster somewhere out on the streets, as the town began to wake up around our hotel. My roommate and I quickly got ready and headed down to breakfast, which was very much like dinner the night before — thick tortillas, refried beans, avocado, white cheese, sour cream. The only difference was that they included scrambled eggs as well, perhaps to satisfy our Western tastes.

Breakfast was followed by an hour-long presentation by archaeologist David Sedat from the Copán ruins. He told us about the story behind the ruins, the Mayan civilization, and his major discoveries. It was all incredibly inspiring and exciting, to hear first hand about his experience. He was an eloquent speaker as well, each story of his discoveries sounding like an Indiana Jones movie. By the time the presentation was over, I couldn’t wait to get to the ruins.

We arrived by bus, with Eli as our guide again. He was super excited to show us around and tell us the history of the place. He explained that Copán was one of the southernmost Mayan cities, but also one of the most extensive and well-known. The quality of artifacts that have been excavated have helped researchers to piece together much of its history, from what is believed to be its very first ruler, a guy by the name of Kinich Yax K’uk Mo’ (pronounced “kin-ITCH yash kook MO”).

Heading down the path, the first pyramid in the Great Plaza came into view in all its glory in the bright morning sunlight. I was breathtaken. Visiting Mayan ruins was one of those “bucket list” things that I’ve always wanted to do but never actually thought I would. And although the first pyramid was quite small in comparison to the rest, it stood out invitingly, open to visitors to scale its high steps and take in their first view of the ancient city.

With my inner-anthropologist bubbling over with happiness, I could hardly listen to Eli. Nonetheless, I took in a lot more than I thought. He explained how the Plaza was built by this other ruler known as “18 Rabbit,” and that the stelae placed around the plaza stood as representations of rulers and gods, with altars in front to take offerings for those gods.

Like many ancient civilizations, the Mayans were pretty violent. They did do human sacrifices, which are well portrayed in their hieroglyphs. Not to be gross, but I just find all of this fascinating — not only that people did this, but that we can understand how and why, just by looking at what they left behind!

Another interesting part of the ruined city was the ball court. Eli explained how the game was played: a rubber ball that represented the sun was passed back and forth between teams, they scored by bouncing it off of stone Macaws on the sides of the court. Whichever team dropped the “sun” lost the game, and were all beheaded and offered to the sun god. Since the Mayans believed that the sun died every night, it was vital that they appease the gods so they would grant it rebirth.

Other interesting parts of the ruins we explored included “Altar Q,” arguably the most famous altar, which represents all 16 of the rulers; the Jaguar Court, which was used for various ceremonies and overlooked an amazing vista of the mountains; a dwelling area full of housing remains and tombs; and the hieroglyphic staircase, which contains the longest known piece of Mayan writing. Honestly, we saw so much that day, it’s impossible to tell all.

On top of that, after lunch and visiting the museum, a classmate and I returned to the ruins for the rest of the afternoon while the rest of our classmates relaxed in town or went to a ziplining tour of the forest. I must say, my second round through the Copán ruins was even more amazing than the first. Since we arrived mid-afternoon, most of the tourists had left, so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

I walked the entire complex again, spent some time taking in the views, and explored little crevices and passages I hadn’t seen before. Also, as a nature geek, it was a great opportunity to do a little bird watching and take some time to enjoy the wildlife — agoutis, variegated squirrels, motmots, oropendolas, orioles, and caciques scurried around elusively in the ruins and surrounding jungle. Although it was really the first full day of our trip, it was hands-down one of the best highlights for me. I definitely made the most of the day.

We all split into groups for dinner, and enjoyed more delicious local cuisine of fajitas, nachos, tacos, and other variations on the theme, before a relaxing evening by the hotel pool.

The next day we would be taking a field trip to a local bird sanctuary (I was stoked!) and then spending the rest of the day traveling back across the country to Roatan. Stay tuned for Part 3!