Nov 23, Thursday: Rio Dulce and Lago Isabel
Boats on Lago Isabel viewed from the veranda of the Hotel Mansion del Rio
Loading the boat for a tour of the lake.
Spanish fort
Hotel restaurant
Dawn on Lago Isabel from the window of our hotel room
Nov 24, Friday: Quirigua
Quiriguá is most notable for its monuments: an array of stelae carved from single blocks of red sandstone, and a number of strange zoomorph boulders.
For much of its history Quiriguá was subordinate to Copan, that is until 738 A.D. when K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, the ruler of Quiriguá, captured and executed the King of Copan. It was after this shift of regional power that most of the monuments now visible at Quiriguá were erected. In fact, seven of the stelae in the park are “selfies” of K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, including Stela E, which at 35 feet is the tallest known Mayan stela.
Frederick Catherwood made a brief visit to Quiriguá in 1840. John Lloyd Stephens then attempted to buy the site with an eye to shipping the monuments off to New York. Fortunately, he was unable to reach an acceptable price with the landowner. In 1910 the property was acquired by the United Fruit Company and set aside as archaeological preserve. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirigu%C3%A1]
Stela E
Side of Stela D
Stela D
Border crossing from Guatemala into Honduras involved a short walk between outbound and inbound emigration officials. Heather smoothed the paperwork process at both places.