Once you have stood atop a Mayan temple in the soft pre-dawn light and watched the rising sun burn away the morning mist throughout the jungle, it becomes an experience you want to repeat again and again. Not only are you in awe of what the Mayans created, as you survey the ancient city spread before you, but you feel one with nature as you listen to the howler monkeys screech overhead and feel the soft furry tails of the coatamundis as they tickle past your legs searching for food. No doubt you will acquire a few new friends, before the morning is out, and not all of them human.

Each of the Mayan cities has a personality all its own, and like any modern day city, the more time you spend there, the more will be revealed of that personality. The largest and most grandiose of the Mayan cities is Tikal, Guatemala, set in the heart of a vast national park jungle preserve. The wildlife alone makes the visit worthwhile. Often called the New York City of the Mayan World, Tikal is famous for its tall buildings and sprawling city structure, all built without benefit of beasts of burden, the wheel, or metal tools. Copan, Honduras, famous for its hieroglyphic stairway depicting many thousands of years of history, is often referred to as the Paris of the Mayan World because of its magnificent artistic structures. Both these places merit at least an overnight stay, but if vacation time is limited, they can be booked as one-day side trips from a central location such as the charming colonial town of Antigua, Guatemala.

Getting to a Mayan site is often an adventure in itself. To reach Xunantunich in western Belize, travelers must cross a river on a hand-cranked car ferry. The ceremonial Center of Lamanai in Northern Belize is approached via an exciting journey upriver by boat.

In spite of their remote locations, the Mayan cities were centers of culture and science. World-renowned for their astronomical observations and mathematical calculations, the Mayans developed the concept of zero, created a calendar used even today, and predicted the movement of the heavens without telescopes. They calculated the cycle of Venus to be 584 days which only in recent history has been modified to 583.92.

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