In the hills of Western Honduras

From Copan we explored the hills around; including 'Macaw Mountain', so called after a mythical Mayan place. The Scarlet Macaw is the national emblem of Honduras.

On the way we saw a procession by local school kids highlighting animal and people trafficing in Honduras.

This was fitting because Macaw Mountain educates locals to try to prevent the trafficing of these magnificent birds. The project is very impressive focussing on rescue (mostly unwanted pets) and rehabilitation (alot are taken in suffering with stress). They also have a very successful breeding program where babies are very carefully released into the wild.

There are also some other rescued birds including toucans and owls. This one is a Keel Toucan and it looks like its beak is made of colourful plastic! We have seen quite a few of these in the wild, but this is an ex pet so is quite tame.

Below are the magnificent Scarlet Macaw, Great Green Macaw and the Blue and Yellow Macaw. Poor Mr Owl hardly got a look in!
A lot of the birds are free ranging, only going in a cage to eat. They either can't fly anymore, or they just don't fly away.

We hiked to a peaceful spot, Los Sapos to find the toad carvings made by the Maya.

Dogs of Nicaragua and Honduras

Unfortunately, we saw some very sad cases of serious neglect of dogs and horses in Nicaragua. The horses used to pull carts are literally worked to death - we saw quite a few that had collapsed and died, and just left there. Quite a few dogs, some probably 'owned' were skeletal. All very sad for us to see, but we did meet some lovely dogs too like the playful collie (second pic) at one place we stayed. The tan dog came and cuddled up to us on the beach; she just wanted a bit of nice company!

The dogs in Honduras, overall, were much better off, although still some thin ones in poor areas. We thought the patchy one below who hung out at Copan Ruins had lovely markings!

Copan Ruinas - Mayan Ruins

After a lovely mountainous ride we arrived at Copan to see the Mayan ruins there. We found the town really friendly and safe, even in the evening and in the dark - are we really in Honduras?!

We were welcomed by lots of wild Scarlet Macaws at the entrance - fitting as they were sacred to the Mayan civilisation and are also the national symbol of Honduras.

We visited the museum first where some of the impressive stone carvings are housed, including many Stelae (stone columns). There is still so much to be excavated.

This massive structure, inside the museum, is a replica of the Rosalila, found inside one of the pyramid temples outside.

The Heiroglyphic stairway, below, was pieced back together after being discovered with only 15 steps in place.

Maps

We are now in Copan, Honduras, near the border with Guatamala. We have now travelled about 33,000 km. Below are our routes through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras.