Ruins and Plans (but no ruined plans)

So, still in Honduras. I thought all night, I think I might have debated what to do in my dreams, I laid in bed considering what to do this morning, and I mulled things over while I visited the Mayan ruins. I think I have a plan.

Before I get into that, I went to see the ruins this morning here at Copan. They were quite beautiful. I wound up going with a group of six missionaries who were working in Honduras, but their mission just closed down on Tuesday because of the political situation. Since there were so many of us together, we elected to hire a guide. Antonio was an awesome guide with impeccable English. He used to work in journalism, and is part Mayan, part Spanish. He told us that the ruins at Copan are the second-largest Mayan ruins after Tikal, in Guatemala. That seems surprising to me because I thought there were other bigger ones, but the guide probably knows best. In any case, it was great; I got to see macaws there, the national bird of Honduras. I might be missing out on bird-watching at the Lago de Yojoa, but at least I´ve seen some macaws.

Now the plans. I´m staying here in Copan Ruinas for one more night. It´s a beautiful, quiet town, and it´s right next to the Guatemalan border (which opened again at midnight last night). Tomorrow morning, I´ll be taking a shuttle directly from here to Antigua at 6:00 am. That should be a six-hour trip, and the border should still be open tomorrow so I can cross. I understand there are concerns about swine flu in Guatemala, but I will be extremely cautious.

I don´t mean to have everyone worrying about me, and I am considering returning early to Canada. As it stands, I´m meant to fly out of San Pedro Sula on August 31. Right now, I am absolutely not returning to that city. I intend to leave Honduras, and if I fly home it will probably be from Guatemala City or somewhere else depending on when I leave. I am being careful and taking the political situation very seriously. However, I know there´s a small possibility this will be smoothed over, and travel in neighboring countries will go back to normal. Keeping that in mind, I´m hesitant to jump ship right now. There´s a chance, though possibly a slim one, that Zelaya will be reinstated on Saturday. So I am going to stay on for a couple of days to see what happens, and then make a decision. Right now, if I wanted to hop on a plane, Saturday would be the soonest I´d be able to. I would need one day to travel to the city of departure, and another day to allow for the necessary hours spent trying to get through the airport (in San Pedro Sula, at least). I also don´t really want to plan major travel on this upcoming day of great interest. So I head to Antigua, I climb a volcano and read the news, and I figure out what to do.

Now I have eight and a half hours before curfew, and I´m not quite sure what to do with myself. Maybe I´ll see about visiting coffee plantations, or maybe... I don´t even know what else I can do here. I think it´s time to read my guidebook some more. Take care, know that I´m safe, and keep in touch!