Copan:

 Legacy of the Mayan Kings

Unlike Chichen Itza and Tikal, Copan is very little known by the outside world. Nonetheless, this Mayan site is one of the most important sites in the Mayan world. Because of its vast gambit of hieroglyphic texts, Copan is considered an intelligencia among the Mayan world settlements. The site, located in the Copan Valley of Honduras has recently been subject to meticulous study and investigation due to the wealth of history and culture found in the inscriptions on the temples and stellae.

What’s interesting about the site is that although the settlement is compact and enclosed, traces of the civilization can be found throughout the surrounding valley. Of most interest to the archaeologists are, "Las Sepulturas", "Los Sapos" , the stelae surrounding the valley and the two museums:the “Museum of Archaeology”, located in the town and the “Museum of Maya Sculpture”, located within the Visitors Center area of the Park.

Conserving the rainforest of Guatemala.

The following piece of writting is based on my personal experience and opinions:

• The questions treated here are:  

          - Why is the rainforest of Northern Guatemala disappearing?

          - What can be done to protect this rainforest?

In 1996 two friends and I undertook our first backpacking experience. We traveled from Costa Rica to Guatemala in six months. We originally planned to travel for a year, but half way decided to do something more useful with our presence in Central America and applied for volunteer jobs in Honduras and Guatemala. The travelers we met during our adventure traveled from South to North Central America and were very different from the travelers you would meet now on the same route. Most people were, like us, looking for a real escape. It would have been rare to find anyone traveling for less then three months. As a matter of fact, most people had started in the northern region of the continent, or often in Mexico and were planning to travel as far south as Peru or Patagonia. They would give themselves eight months or more to do so. The main reason for their trip was not so much traveling in itself; most backpackers were looking for a different lifestyle. They had already found the lifestyle they were looking for and had been successful in becoming accomplished adventurers.

Mayan Jungle History :

Palenque

 Enclosed and surrounded by dense jungle forests with pervasive mahogany, cedar and sapodilla trees, frequently shrouded in fog lies the Maya site, Palenque, resting on the eastern front of the Rio Usumacinta Basin in the neighborhood of the roaming foothills of Chiapas’ Oriental- at elevation of about 3000 meters-overlooking the lower plain extending to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mayan archaeological site of Palenque represents the western regional variant of Classic Maya civilization. Although the earliest occupation of the site dates to about 100 BC, became a major population center only at about 600 AD. Nearly all construction at Palenque stopped by about 800 AD. Unlike its cousin site of Chichen Itza or Tikal, Palenque's well-preserved ruins now visible are the heavily restored remains of the ceremonial center the ceremonial center may be divided into three major areas: