Guatemala
We left Honduras during the night, and pulled into the neighboring country of Guatemala, where we cleared customs at 5 o’clock this morning. We had an early rise, as a full and fascinating day awaited us in this magical Central American country, and we were greeted on the dock by a typical “Marimba” band, composed of a kind of giant xylophone, a double bass and drums.
The warmth generated by this greeting stayed with us as we were embraced by the lush countryside, tropical weather and great friendliness of the local guides and other “Guatemaltecos” we met during the day. The guides gave us fascinating information on modern Guatemala, as well as much about the complex past of the country, including the awe-inspiring Maya civilization. These people were the only early civilization in the Americas to have a recognizable form of writing and the Long Count calendar at the height of their achievement. The first part of our outing led us to explore Quirigua, a site home to some of the finest Maya carvings. We wandered by stelae, altars and “zoomorphs” that are covered in well-preserved and superbly intricate glyphs and portraits. This site had close ties with Copan but really came into its own in the Late Classic period (600-900 AD), with the ascent to the throne of its greatest leader, Cauac Sky – the bulk of the stelae date from this period and are decorated with his portraits. The site is surrounded by a relatively dense stand of rainforest, and some great birding was done amongst the tall ficus trees and the tropical almonds. The highlight was undoubtedly the azure-browed mot mot, whose brilliant coloration and strangely trimmed tail was a real delight.
After shopping for some colorful textiles, we left by bus then local jet boats for the Catamaran restaurant on the Rio Dulce. These speedy boats, locally known as “sharkers” as often used to fish sharks in the area, took us through the spectacular Chocon Machacas protected area and on to the small Garifuna town on Livingston, where the Sea Voyager had repositioned to pick us up. The scenery along the way was unforgettable, and offered great birding as well as a chance to observe the various life styles of the people inhabiting the area.
We left Honduras during the night, and pulled into the neighboring country of Guatemala, where we cleared customs at 5 o’clock this morning. We had an early rise, as a full and fascinating day awaited us in this magical Central American country, and we were greeted on the dock by a typical “Marimba” band, composed of a kind of giant xylophone, a double bass and drums.
The warmth generated by this greeting stayed with us as we were embraced by the lush countryside, tropical weather and great friendliness of the local guides and other “Guatemaltecos” we met during the day. The guides gave us fascinating information on modern Guatemala, as well as much about the complex past of the country, including the awe-inspiring Maya civilization. These people were the only early civilization in the Americas to have a recognizable form of writing and the Long Count calendar at the height of their achievement. The first part of our outing led us to explore Quirigua, a site home to some of the finest Maya carvings. We wandered by stelae, altars and “zoomorphs” that are covered in well-preserved and superbly intricate glyphs and portraits. This site had close ties with Copan but really came into its own in the Late Classic period (600-900 AD), with the ascent to the throne of its greatest leader, Cauac Sky – the bulk of the stelae date from this period and are decorated with his portraits. The site is surrounded by a relatively dense stand of rainforest, and some great birding was done amongst the tall ficus trees and the tropical almonds. The highlight was undoubtedly the azure-browed mot mot, whose brilliant coloration and strangely trimmed tail was a real delight.
After shopping for some colorful textiles, we left by bus then local jet boats for the Catamaran restaurant on the Rio Dulce. These speedy boats, locally known as “sharkers” as often used to fish sharks in the area, took us through the spectacular Chocon Machacas protected area and on to the small Garifuna town on Livingston, where the Sea Voyager had repositioned to pick us up. The scenery along the way was unforgettable, and offered great birding as well as a chance to observe the various life styles of the people inhabiting the area.
