Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DEM BONES
Most of the people you hear about who are digging stuff up in Guatemala these days are archaeologists. Or min-
ing companies. But there's another group out there, sifting patiently through the soil in search of treasure - pale-
ontologists.
While it's unclear whether dinosaurs ever inhabited what is now Guatemala, evidence shows that large prehis-
toric mammals - such as giant armadillos, 3m-tall sloths, mammoths and saber-toothed tigers certainly did. As
they migrated southwards from North America they found they could not go much further than present-day
Guatemala - back then the landmass stopped at northern Nicaragua, and 10 million years would pass before
South and Central America joined, creating the American continents more or less as they are today.
Various theories seek to explain the disappearance of the dinosaurs and other large prehistoric mammals - the
most widely accepted one being that a massive meteorite slammed into the Yucatán Peninsula, 66 million years
ago, causing global climate change.
The great bulk of the fossil and bone evidence uncovered in Guatemala has been in the country's southeast
corner, but giant sloth and mastodon remains have been found in what is now Guatemala City. Paleontologist
Roberto Woolfolk Sarvia, founder of the
Museo de Paleontología, Arqueología y Geología
(Roberto Woolfolk
Saravia Archeology & Paleontology Museum; Hwy 10, Estanzuela; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri) , claims to
have collected more than 5000 fragments and skeletons, and he says there's a lot more out there, just that (you
guessed it) the funding isn't available to dig it up.
If you have even a passing interest in prehistoric life, the museum makes for a worthy detour - it's been re-
modeled recently, and on display are remains of mastodons, giant sloths and armadillos, a prehistoric horse meas-
uring 20in, and two molar teeth from a mammoth.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Chiquimula
POP 55,400
Thirty-two kilometers south of Rio Hondo on Hwy 10, Chiquimula is a major market
town for all of eastern Guatemala. For travelers it's not a destination but a transit point.
Your goal is probably the fabulous Maya ruins at Copán in Honduras, just across the bor-
der from El Florido. There are also some interesting journeys between Chiquimula and
Jalapa, 78km to the west. Among other things, Chiquimula is famous for its sweltering
climate and its decent budget hotels (a couple have swimming pools).
Sleeping
HOTEL
Hotel Hernández $
