The MayaDates and scholar to be announced
Far Horizons proudly presents a very special 13-day trip to Honduras and Guatemala for an in-depth teaching experience designed for people with an intense interest in the Maya. Our journey focuses not only on the ancient Maya, but also the world of today’s Guatemalan Highland Maya and the unique Maya-Christian culture that was ultimately forged during the Colonial period.
We traverse the Maya lowlands as we visit magnificent Copán, one of the most beautiful of the Classic Maya cities, Quiriguá with its stunning carved monuments, and glorious Tikal, one of the largest cities of this ancient civilization. We will see through these Classic cities that the Maya built places that were at once profoundly sacred and imbued with the very material power of warriors, merchants, courtiers, craftspeople and farmers. Our explorations take us to seldom-visited sites on the Pacific Slope – El Baúl, La Democracia, and Cotzulmalhuapa – and to the Preclassic adobe remains of Takalik Abaj, where stelae echo themes found throughout Maya history. Included in the itinerary are two K’iche’ and 
Kaqchikel capitals, Iximché and Utatlán. These centers were not easily defeated by the Spanish, and as we climb over the ravines and moats protecting them, we will understand why.
Behold the majestic ruins of Colonial New Spain in the extraordinary city of Antigua, and contemplate how the architecture of Christian conversion was adapted to Maya belief as surely as the Maya adapted to their conquerors. Today the highland Maya practice religious rituals based on ceremonies with roots in the world of their ancient forebears. We witness some of these rites during visits to the cigar-smoking deity called Maximón, at churches where the Maya presently worship, and at Quemaderos (sacred shrines) that are hidden places where shaman come to worship in secret.
'This was not a tour, it was an adventure! Would do it again tomorrow! - Barbara D'Andrea
(B) breakfast, (L) lunch, (D) dinner
Day 1: Fly from Miami to San Pedro Sula. After a light lunch upon arrival, transfer to Copán. Spend the next two nights in a charming, colonial-style hotel in Copán village with lovely gardens and a swimming pool. (L/D)
Day 2: Upon viewing the stunning art and architecture of Copán, archaeologist Sylvanus Morley proclaimed it the Athens of the New World. This UNESCO World Heritage Site represents one of the most spectacular cultural achievements of antiquity. Recent work has helped restore the magnificent hieroglyphic stairway to its former grandeur, and art historians are reconstructing the elaborate facades on the buildings. Throughout the site, finely chiseled writing tells us of the powerful kings in the Copán lineage, from K'inich Yax K'uk Mo', the founder, to Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil (Ruler 13), one of the greatest of the city’s kings. The day will be spent on site. In the afternoon, meet with the archaeologist who discovered Rosalila, the painted temple that is the best-preserved example of monumental architecture buried under Copán’s acropolis, who will tell us about his exciting discovery. Gather for our festive welcome dinner at a lovely hacienda nestled in the hills overlooking the ruins. (B/L/D)
Day 3: Depart Honduras and cross the border to Guatemala and Quiriguá, a lovely site near the shores of the Motagua River founded as a vassal state to Copán, but one that won its freedom from that overlord in a spectacular fashion. Quiriguá’s impressive monuments rival any in the Classic Maya world in scale, sophistication, and beauty. Most were dedicated by the king who defeated Copán and captured its king.
The Great Plaza contains zoomorphic sculptures and elaborately carved stone monuments honoring K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, who freed his city from Copán when he captured its 13th ruler in 738 AD. Continue to the Río Dulce and overnight at Banana Palms Resort, overlooking the waterway. Dinner this evening will be a special treat as we feast on shrimp at a local outdoor restaurant located on a pier along the river bank. (B/L/D)
Day 4: Drive to Tikal where we spend the afternoon in the two on-site museums. One contains the finest carved monuments found at Tikal and the other is filled with other exquisite artifacts from the years of excavation. Then it’s on to the Camino Real Hotel, overlooking Lake Petén Itzá and our home for the next two nights. Dinner will be on the outdoor patio with spectacular views over the water. (B/L/D)
Day 5: For more than three decades, Tikal has been a national park. Wild pigs or peccaries, native to Central and South America, walk the jungle paths and brilliantly colored ocellated turkeys parade through the forest. In the shadow of the magnificent pyramids and accompanied by the distinctive call of the howler monkey, learn about the royal families of Tikal. Breathtaking discoveries here reveal the Maya kingship as one of the great institutions of antiquity. Images crafted onto the stone monuments that decorate this magnificent city show Maya lords declaring dominion over their followers and brotherhood to the immortal gods in spectacular ritual displays of power. (B/L/D)
Day 6: An early morning flight takes us to Guatemala City where we visit three remarkable museums. The Museo Popol Vuh contains a wonderful collection of both pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial art, along with a colorful display of animals in Maya art. Here we meet with the director for a behind-the-scenes tour. The collections at the Ixchel Museum include Maya textiles, weaving, and indigenous Maya clothing. Finally, walk through the country’s national museum. The newly renovated National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology contains an assembly of large and beautifully carved Maya monuments and a magnificent throne, uniquely decorated with two heads carved almost in full round. Dinner will be in one of Guatemala’s fine restaurants. Overnight in Guatemala City. (B/L/D)
Hot chocolate at the Popul Vuh Museum after having spent time looking at the museums priceless collection of chocolate vessels...does it get any better?' - Barbara D'Andrea
Day 7: Hidden on former coffee fincas along the Pacific coast, are remnants of an earlier civilization. With design elements that resemble both Olmec and Classic Maya art, El Baul’s carved monuments may represent the first flowering of the Maya civilization and many are still worshiped today. The plaza of La Democracia is decorated with massive sculptures found on nearby plantations. Perhaps more than 2,000 years old, these puffy-jowled portraits are the sole known remnants of the Monte Alto culture. And the large Maya stelae at Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa reveal strong foreign influences. Many of these monuments depict images of Mexican gods, speech scrolls, non-Maya glyphs and human figures wearing clothing typical of central Mexico. Overnight in a simple, local hotel. (B/L/D)
Day 8: This morning will prove a special treat as we explore Tak'alik Ab'aj. Founded by the Olmec, it became an important early Maya religious and political center. Beautifully-carved stelae and sculptures, including monuments dated in the Maya Long Count, have been found here which appear to date from the first centuries before and after Christ. The archaeologists working at Tak’alik Ab’aj will give us a private tour of their excavations where two miniature ceremonial heads created out of mosaic were discovered last year and very recently a necklace of more than 55 beads of jadeite was recently found after being hidden for more than 2000 years.
In the afternoon, drive to Lake Atitlan and Panajachel. Spread out over a large triangle of land squeezed between Lake Atitlan and the mountains formed of volcanoes, Panajachel is a fascinating blend of Maya dressed in colorful costumes, and tourists who have come to relax by the waterside. The flower-filled town is a market center, and the shops abound with brightly embroidered textiles, hand-loomed woolen blankets, carved and painted wooden masks, and hundreds of other temptations. Dinner and overnight in the Hotel Atitlan where lovely gardens drop down to the shores of the lake. (B/L/D)
Day 9: Travel by private boat across Lake Atitlan, rightfully touted as one of the most beautiful spots on earth. Its changeable waters are framed by majestic volcanoes and forest-covered mountains. Along the edge of the lake are inaccessible Maya villages little changed over the centuries. Our destination is Santiago Atitlan, inhabited by Maya still wearing the multi-colored costumes depicted on monuments carved over one thousand years ago. The daily market is run by women known for their striking headdress, a thick halo formed by twisting a long ribbon around their hair before coiling 
it into position. Their lavendar-and-white huipiles are thickly embroidered in many colors. We walk the winding streets lined with thatched-roof houses and walls of rock and mud of this picturesque town, and visit Maximon, a cigar smoking, alcohol consuming deity, who is dressed in layers of clothing, and is considered a living god. In the afternoon, continue to Chichicastengo where we overnight for two nights in the Hotel Santo Tomas, a charming hotel where colonial-style rooms with fireplaces are built around a center garden. (B/L/D)
Day 10: Chichicastenango is a little highland village of whitewashed houses and churches that comes alive with color as hundreds of Maya pour into town for market day. Merchants from all over the highlands come to display their wares. While there, they take the opportunity to worship at one of the churches, carrying out rituals that are a fascinating blend of pagan and Christian rites. Many worship at an ancient stone monument on a hill above the town. Candles and incense are often found burning in front of Pascual Abaj, and sometimes the chunky idol is draped with parts of a chicken offered in sacrifice. If we are fortunate, we may see a ceremony in which an Aj Q'ij (shaman) intercedes with the gods for his client. As we climb the hill to visit this sacred spot, we may stop at a mask factory to reflect upon the costumes created for the many different dances which 
are part of every Maya celebration. In the afternoon, travel to Utatlán, or Qumarkaaj in the local Maya language, the K'ichee capital at the time of the Spanish conquest. In April 1524 Pedro de Alvarado arrived at Utatlán and invited the four K’iche’ kings to dinner. Instead of offering a banquet, he took them captive and burned them at the stake, then laid siege to the city. The K’ichee and Kaqchikel were formidable states, wealthy in trade, successful in war, and with populations in the hundreds of thousands. Their royal families claimed affiliations with the kings and courts of the rest of Mesoamerica, and their histories are preserved in sagas and stories still known and performed by their descendants. Today K’iche’ Aj Q'ij, or day keepers, consider the cave nearby to be the most sacred place in the landscape, and ceremonies are still performed here. (B/L/D)
Day 11: Drive the Panamerican highway to the late post-classic capital of the Kaqchikel Maya, Iximché, founded in A.D. 1470. This ridge-top site was protected by a defensive moat and built to repulse their historic enemies, the K'ichee Maya. Iximché also served as the first Spanish Colonial capital when Pedro Alvarado established his garrison here in 1524. Here we look at the cosmology of the town and see how it was similar to Quiriguá and other ancient cities. The entire site is considered sacred by the present-day people, and it is not unusual to see rituals performed on the altars set up at the back of the site. Continue to Antigua and overnight for two nights in the exquisite Casa de Santo Domingo, housed within a former monastery and the best hotel in town. (B/L/D)
Day 12: Antigua is a peaceful and beautiful relic of bygone days with cobbled streets and whitewashed houses that look almost as they did two hundred years ago. This morning’s excursion takes us to the churches of La Merced, Santa Clara, the Cathedral, and walk the Via Cruz past the twelve little temples, each representing a station of the Cross to El Calvario at the end of the Avenida de los Pasos. Inside the overwhelming ruins of the Monastery of San Francisco, we can still view fresco fragments and architectural details dating perhaps to the 16th-century. The afternoon is free to find a local restaurant for lunch and explore the many fascinating shops. Gather this evening for our final delightful dinner in one of Antigua’s many exceptional restaurants. (B/D)
Day 13: Transfer to Guatemala City in time for our return departure to the USA.
'It was an amazing experience to see such wonderful sites enhanced by Matt Looper's awesome knowledge and boundless enthusiasm.' - Barbara Gradet
Scholar to be announced
Dates to be announced
TO BE ANNOUNCED (per person, double occupancy) includes round trip international airfare from Miami to San Pedro, Honduras and returning from Guatemala City; all hotels; meals as noted; ground transportation; guides and entry fees.
Single Supplement: TO BE ANNOUNCED. Should a roommate be requested and one not be available, the single supplement will be charged.
Cost Does Not Include: a separate donation check for $100.00 (per person) to the Popol Vuh Museum; gratuities to guides and drivers; passport or visa fees; airport and or departure taxes; food, alcoholic beverages and other drinks not on the regular menu; excess baggage charges; laundry, telephone, fax or email charges; and other items of a personal nature.
Fuel Surcharges: Far Horizons must pass on price increases when additional fuel charges are levied.
Donation Check: The cost of the trip does not include the separate tax-deductible check for $100.00 per person to the Popol Vuh Museum. The donation is required as part of your registration for the trip and is non-refundable.
RegistrationA deposit of $500.00 and the separate donation check for $100.00 made out to the Popol Vuh Museum is required along with your registration form. Final payment is due 75 days before departure. Upon receipt of your deposit and completed registration form, you will be sent a reading list and a tour bulletin containing travel information. Prior to the trip, we will send links to various websites of pertinent interest to the trip. Click here to download our Registration Form.
Cancellations received in writing at least 75 days before departure will result in an administrative fee of $250.00 per person. Cancellations received less than 75 days before departure will not receive a refund. If for any reason you are unable to complete the tour, we will not reimburse any fees. Registrants are strongly advised to buy travel insurance that includes trip cancellation.
If you do not fly on the group flight, you are responsible for all flight arrangements and transportation (including airport transfers) to join the group. If Far Horizons must change the trip dates or cancel the trip for any reason, Far Horizons is not responsible for any air ticket you may have purchased.
Changes in our itinerary, accommodations, and transportation schedules may occur. A good book to read as well as a flexible attitude and a sense of humor are essential.
The private tours of archaeological sites and talks by specialists are scheduled in advance and include a donation to each. Specialists working at these sites are excited about showing their work to interested enthusiasts. However, please be aware that there may be times when the director or a member of the staff may not be on site when our groups arrive due to other commitments.
THIS TOUR TO HONDURAS AND GUATEMALA IS LIMITED TO 18 PARTICIPANTS
