COPAN

Day 31 10.08.15

Waking up at 4 was very very hard. I pretty much fell out of the bed that I had just gotten into. I was very proud I had set an alarm and actually woken up to it though!

I caught up on some very needed sleep as we drove towards the Guatemalan border. We drove back the same road we had taken towards Antigua and even stopped for breakfast at the same place we had gone for lunch and a swim. Therefore I didn’t miss too much of the lush scenery of Guatemala.

You could tell that we were getting to the border, as right before several trucks were parked and waiting to pass through. The border wasn’t anything spectacular, but it still took some time for us to get our passports stamped, to pay the exit fee and enter no mans land. While waiting in line we exchanged our Quetzales into the Honduran Lempiras and also passed the time with some money haggling; How to come closest in receiving the official rate when exchanging Dollar into Lempira.

We crossed the border and were “greeted” by a very strict border of Honduras. Here there were people with guns guarding the entrance to the passport control, we had to scan our fingerprints and had photos taken of us. We paid the entrance fee and were happy to leave. Probably not the friendliest entrance into a new country…

I felt a funny feeling as though the difference between the Guatemalan vegetation and the Honduran vegetation was immediate. No longer was the flora lush, tropical and green, but now the vegetation was more spread out on the mountain and less tropical, appearing more like the works of agricultural enterprises than just plain nature.

We drove towards our hotel and arrived in Copan; a town that has a sense of colonial appeal, however not being as impressive as Antigua. The streets are all cobbled, there are some steep roads to climb, the houses are somewhat colourful, and there is some sort of city planning in terms of blocks and a town grid. The houses themselves however have not been looked after as well as in Antigua in order to keep their colonial flair.

The hotel was nice, clean and tidy rooms, a great shower however not really a great wifi. While I was still a bit tired and just wanted to take a nice shower and take my time a bit, the others headed out to explore the city centre. Here they ate at the market and got to see the bustling life.

I on the other hand, chose to stay back and relaxed a little until I was collected by Tuk Tuk to head to a nearby bird sanctuary.

And boy did we see many birds. The bird sanctuary is a place where birds are handed in to when they are injured, rescued, found or passed on out of private households. First of all we saw several cages of birds that were kept together as families (at the beginning all of them were parrots) that could no longer be set free into the wild. What the conservationists chose to do instead, was to let the captive parrots breed, and then setting their offspring free and into the wild that had not yet had the intense contact with humans as their parents had. A special treat we were going to see tomorrow is that these birds are set free at the ruins of Copan, where a large group of Macaws rule the jungle.

We also passed several other species of birds such as different types of toucans and also owls. It was great to see the Toucans we had just seen flying by in Tikal up close to marvel at their beautiful feathers and beak patterns.

You would always have to watch your step, especially as part of a larger group, as not to stray from the formal paths as in most of the leaves and plants along the way large spiders had formed impressive webs. The spiders themselves were also really quite large but apparently harmless.

The flora too was great, as we got to see the flower of the banana plant, several avocado trees, some interesting orchids that grew on tree trunks, trees that had flaky bark to protect themselves from dangerous vines threatening to climb them, and all around we heard the chirping of the parrots wherever we went.

We got to a point where they kept several different species of birds that were set free to fly around the sanctuary every once in a while, that always returned however. Here we were given the opportunity of taking pictures with the parrots that were placed onto our shoulder and our fists.

Quite an experience, their claws are not really the softest of all, and their spikes can get slightly uncomfortable. We were also told to take off any watches and bracelets as they sure found a liking to them. I was lucky as my parrot was taken away from me just the moment he wanted to nimble at the bracelet I cant take off.

After seeing some more owls we got to a café in the middle of the sanctuary were some of us got coffee or other refreshments. They kept a baby parrot in a basket here that was just about growing its feathers and turning really colourful. Not every day that you see a baby parrot in a basket. The others went for a swim in the nearby natural pool, while some of us stayed on the terrace relaxing and observing the wildlife in the jungle.

We drove back by tuk tuk that had come back to pick us up, and just relaxed at the hotel until it was time for dinner. We headed to a Belgium run restaurant called Via via, which was set out for larger groups. Unfortunately, I wasnt that impressed with the restaurant, even the simple burgers we ordered weren’t that tasty and nothing really special. I don’t mind waiting for food, even maybe an hour or two, but if the food then isn’t great, I am no happy camper.

After paying we found a little bar for a nightcap, which was decorated in crazy fairy lights. We headed back to the hotel for some well-deserved sleep.