HONDURAN TREASURE

Photos by Ricardo Mata

With an area of 112 thousand square kilometers, Honduras is the second largest country in Central America. This diamond-shaped nation's over five million people share a land rich in natural resources.

    Near Copan, one hour's drive south of San Pedro Sula, the second most important city in Honduras, are the Pulhapanzak falls, one of the country's prettiest natural attractions. An imposing group of waterfalls over fifty meters high, Pulhapanzak is located in a zone of tropical humid vegetation.

    In the vicinity of Pulhapanzak, hidden by jungle, is a group of Maya structures that, to a layperson's eyes, appear to be little more than mounds of vegetation. For years, the local people have —without scavenging or digging— stumbled upon numerous Maya artifacts left by their ancestors.