Honduras and Guatemala, March 9-15, 2008

The Bradford contingent was delayed by two days due to a Buffalo snowstorm, but once we arrived and joined the others, the adventure was worth it. We flew into San Pedro Sula in Honduras and went up into beautiful tropical mountains to the small town of Copan Ruinas. We saw the tallest (and some of the strangest) carved statues of the Mayan world at Quirigua, Guatemala, visited a banana plantation, a  real “Pirates of the Caribbean” fort at San Felipe, and swam in a natural hot sulphur spring near Lago Izabel.

Once back in Copan, we were shown the ancient city by Christopher Powell, our archaeologist guide, who had excavated extensively in Copan and exposed the tombs of Copan’s lineage founder, Yax K’uk’ Mo, the tomb of his queen, and that of a sacrificed warrior. (You can read about this in the December 1997 National Geographic magazine.) You can see our original itinerary at http://www.mayaexploration.org/study_UPitt_mar08.php    For further information about this trip, or upcoming trips to Maya ruins, contact Prof. Champlin at igc@pitt.edu