Honduras and Guatemala
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Copan and The Peten Jungle Sites of Guatemala
DAY 1: (Sunday) ARRIVE GUATEMALA CITY
to be met and transferred to Hotel Biltmore Express.
DAY 2: COPAN IN HONDURAS.
Morning pick-up at your hotel. Travel east through El Progresso and Zacapa to the border of Honduras. Enter Honduras to tour Copan, the southernmost major center of lowland Maya civilization and is famed for its artistic sculpture. The great Hieroglyphic Stairway was dedicated in 755 and it bears a continuous text of more than 1250 glyph blocks listing dates and names of the city's Classic Period rulers. Because of its beautiful artwork, unsurpassed in any other Maya city, Copan occupies a special place in the study of the ancient Maya. Visit Copan's Museum of Maya Sculpture which contains some of the finest examples of Maya sculpture ever found. Dominating the center of the museum is a full-scale brightly colored replica of the Rosalila Temple which was complete in 571. The ball courts are the playing grounds of an extremely serious sport to the Mayans. These games are believed to have had religious significance: the captain of one team was sacrificed to the gods. Overnight in the village of Copan Ruinas. (B.)
DAY 3: QUIRIGUA AND RIO DULCE.
Enter Guatemala and continue to the Caribbean - Rio Dulce area. Visit Quirigua, another World Heritage Archaeological Site. This strategically located river city of the Classic Period controlled the important Motagua Valley trade route linking the Caribbean coast with interior settlements. Remarkably preserved portraits and texts on sandstone stelae chronicle a ruling dynasty in competition with nearby Copan. In 738 the ruler Cauac Sky captured and beheaded Copan's lord, 18 Rabbit. Quirigua is home to the largest stelae in the Maya World at 26 feet and 6 inches in height and weighing about 65 tons. Tonight's hotel is in the tropical rainforest of Guatemala's Rio Dulce area. (B.)
DAYS 4-5: RIO DULCE TO TIKAL.
Morning transfer from Rio Dulce to Tikal via a scenic three hour drive through the Peten Jungle.
Afternoon at leisure. Overnight at a hotel in the Peten Jungle near Tikal National Park. Enjoy the sounds and sights of the diverse jungle wild life. (B.)
DAY 6: TIKAL.
Guided tour of Tikal. Intensive construction took place at Tikal from the late Pre-classic Period until the waning of Classic Maya civilization around AD 900. At its peak the city covered about 48 square miles and had a population estimated at 55,000. Tikal's Stelae 29 bears the earliest Long Count date known in the Maya lowlands. In 292 AD Temple IV, one of the many pyramids erected to memorialize the dead rulers of Tikal's royal dynasty, and one of the tallest of Maya structures at 212 feet, was erected. Return to your hotel for overnight.(B.L.)
DAY 7: CEIBAL.
Access Ceibal via boat on the Rio Pasion. Ceibal is surrounded by forest and shaded by huge ceiba trees. Two main plazas are dotted with lovely stelae. Ceibal was a relatively minor site during the Classic period, but grew rapidly between 830AD and 930AD. Evening flight back to Guatemala City for overnight Hotel Biltmore Express.(B.) (Option: Extend your stay with tours of additional Classic Maya sites of the Peten.)
DAY 8: DEPARTURE.
Transfer to GUA airport for departure flight. (B.L.)
PRICE: Standard Double $929; Standard Single $1288
SCHEDULE: Arrrive Guatemala City by Sunday. Tour departs Guatemala City for Copan early Monday Morning.
INCLUDED: All transfers and tours with expert guides as described. Seven nights accommodations. Daily breakfasts. Two lunches. Flight from Flores (Tikal) to Guatemala City.
OPTIONAL TOURS: Tours of Uaxactun, Yaxha and Topoxte, Aguateca, Xunantunich, and the Actun-Can Caves can be added, or substituted for Tikal and Ceibal.
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