| Placed: | May 20, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Created by: | Ryan Carpenter (rscarpen@yahoo.com) |
| Number in Series: | 3 |
| Clue Difficulty: | Easy |
| Terrain Difficulty: | Easy (a thirty minute, totally level hike) |
| Status: | alive and well |
| Special Equipment: | Two of the three stamps will be much more impressive if you bring colored pens and try Stamping with Style. |
Copan is famous for its Mayan ruins, or 'ruinas' in Spanish, and I've hidden a series just outside of the park. The park is well worth the effort and costs $10US to enter (at the time of my visit) plus additional money if you want to visit some underground tombs and other interesting stuff.
The town of Copan is absolutely adorable with cobblestone streets and some beautiful buildings, and there's plenty of things to do in the area from horseback riding to hot springs to caves filled with bats and stalagmites.
Clues:
From the park entrance--where you actually enter the park, not where you buy the tickets--find the sign of the Sendero Natural. This trail is a short loop that ends up near where you paid for the ticket. Because the trail does not actually enter the park, you do not need to buy a ticket to get these boxes, but a visit to the park is well worth the money and effort!
The Mexican: The trail follows a short ways along a chain link fence that surrounds the park. Look for a gate in the fence. The first one is very near the entrance. That's not the one you want. Continue down the trail to the next gate, and look under a rock and some leaves at the base of a good-sized tree just to the right of the gate.
The Old Man: Continue along the trail until you reach the ball court. Of the two corners of the ball court that face you, there's a small trail leading off from the one on the right. Follow it back twenty or so steps to a good-sized tree. (Don't get exact on these steps. I'm estimating the distance AFTER I returned from hiding the boxes!) The box is hidden at the base of the largest tree, covered with logs and leaves.
The Sunset: Continue following the main trail from the ball court. This is NOT the road that goes by. (I don't know where the road leads.) Nor is it the small trail you followed to the letterbox. The trail continues in virtually the same direction as from where you entered the ball court and exits on the opposite side. Follow the trail until you reach THE ceiba tree. If you don't know what a ceiba tree looks like, it's the MASSIVE tree you'll come across, with bizarre looking roots, and a couple of benches for people to sit and admire the tree. The box is hidden at the base of the tree, under a bunch of broken branches, rocks, and leaves, at the far side of the tree.
Enjoy!
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NOTE: Always take adequate precautions (such as prodding with a stick and/or wearing gloves) before reaching into dark crevasses and holes in the wild. Before you set out read the waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.