A Month in Chiapas: Field Trip

When the alarm went off at quarter-to-six Wednesday morning, Sara was the first one up and turned on the light, and discovered a spider on the wall by my backpack. A BIG spider!

The leg span was at least seven or eight inches! Gary! Get rid of it! So I got up and took its picture before dispatching it with the heel of my shoe. Pobrecito.

Today we were going to visit two very important Maya archaeological sites: Yaxchilan and Bonampak. This would be a fulfillment of life-long dreams for me. Ever since I took Middle-American archaeology at BYU, I had wanted to see Yaxchilan, partly because of its beauty and importance, and partly because of its remote location; the only access is by river. Bonampak I have been aware of even longer. I remember reading about the murals of Bonampak as a grade schooler. The outside world had only become aware of them a decade earlier in 1946.

We drove from the Campamento Lancandones to the small town of Frontera Corozal on the Usumacinta River, the border between Mexico and Guatemala. There we boarded a lancha for a forty-five minute boat ride to Yaxchilan.

The lancha

Heading down river to Yaxchilan

The wide Usumacinta

The landing at Yaxchilan

When we arrived at Yaxchilan, there were no other boats; we were the first to arrive that morning and had the site to ourselves for most of our time there. We could hear the howler monkeys in the forest, and from across the river in Guatemala. It was amazing how loud they were.

At its prime, between 600 and 900 A.D. Yaxchilan was one of the principal Maya cities. The buildings at the site are from that period.

On the path above, as I left the site after the rest of our group, a tepezcuintle, a noctural rodent the size of a small dog, ran across in front of me. One the boat ride back, we saw a crocodile slide off the river bank into the water and swim away. We continued to hear the howler monkeys in the forest. It was a magical morning.

Arriving back at Frontera Corozal, we drove to Bonampak, not far from our night's lodgings. Bonampak was contemporaneous with Yaxchilan; but, was not nearly as large. Its claim to fame are the wonderfully preserved, full-color murals in one of its buildings. These were only brought to the attention of the outside world in 1946. They make this sight unique. Because of the remoteness of this site, exact replicas of the mural are in a reconstruction of the temple at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City; but, the photos below are of the real deal. That they have survived is amazing.

Again, we were almost alone here, making the experience extra special.

Indiana Nees

A ten minute van ride had us back to our Campamento for lunch at three o'clock. We had the rest of the day to rest and relax while some of the younger members of our group went on a white-water rafting trip. Apparently it was pretty rough. They got overturned numerous times and came back with some serious bashes, bruises and scapes. Meanwhile, Sara napped in our room, and I hung out in the hammock. With the heat and humidity, the hammock was great.