Guatemala : Quirigua and Livingstone

Sorry guys, it's been a long day today, with quite a few hours of road, and tomorrow I have to get up at 7am, so you will find more pictures than comments below.

The road from Copan to Quiriga is full of surprises, among which a nice little tarentula, and the fact that the road is momentarily closed because the bananas are crossing, and they have the priority ;)



Quiriga used to be in competition with Copan. The site is less impressive then Copan, but we have it all for ourselves, and the collection of stelae is still amazing, not talking about the tropical vegetation and birds, as usual.



After Quirigua, it is time to take a boat between Rio Dulce and Livingston, a former pirat harbour on the Caribbean sea. It is a brand different world, with incredible little moments all along the 35 kilometers to reach the sea.













In Livingstone, you have the feeling that you have suddenly moved to Jamaica, including when you listen to people : they speak a mix of Spanish and creole English, 200% impossible to understand :)



"I've got my toes in the water,
Ass in the sand,
Not a worry in the world,
A cold beer in my hand,
Life is good today,
Life is good today"

Back in Rio Dulce, the former Spanish fortress San Felipe, built in 1652 to protect the country from the pirats.



A last swim in hot springs, and it is time to head towards Flores, in order to be in Tikal as early as possible tomorrow !

Honduras : Copan

For those who are absolutely not interested in the archaeological sites, please don't hesitate to skip this message. For the other ones, below quite a few pictures of the Royal Precinct of Copan, a vast architectural complex that was the focus of ceremonies and gatherings. It includes the most extensive hieroglyphic writings and elaborate sculpture in the Maya world. The inscriptions on the ancient stones (stelae, altars and buildings) carved from volcanic tuff describe royal genealogy and history, dates and rituals of sixteen rulers over a period of almost 400 years (A.D. 400-800).

Some of the most beautiful sculptures of the site museum :



Below, a part of a temple rebuilt lately as an exact copy of the original one (including the colours !):

As the site is located in the middle of the tropical forest, the animals can also be seen quite easily (ara parrots and agutis for instance)



The archeaologists are still working heavily on the site, and we met one of them, who is from Britany (not the one on the picture below, another one...).