According to Rose Marie Doub, a 7-time traveler and Vacation Ambassador from Albuquerque, New Mexico, our Route of the Maya adventure seemed tailor-made for her husband, Calvin.
“My husband’s fascination with Mayan culture started when he was in college,” she explains. “It was then that he discovered the book Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan by John Stephens, with the original engravings. Over the years he collected many other books on the Maya and spent many hours drawing their glyphs and studying their meanings.”
Previously, the Doubs had explored Mexico with OAT’s sister company, Grand Circle Travel, and had enjoyed discovering the country’s many Mesoamerican ruins. The couple chose OAT’s Route of the Maya adventure, Rose Marie says, because it “gave us the opportunity to visit many more ruins from different time periods.”
And while the Mayan ruins they saw—from Copán in Honduras to Tikal in Guatemala to Lamanai in Belize—were certainly splendid, Rose Marie says they weren’t the only bright spots in their itinerary: “The visit to the Mayan village near Antigua was especially memorable, as all of the ladies were wearing their colorful costumes. During our visit, we saw a funeral procession and learned about local handcrafts.”
Other highlights included meeting a “vegetarian” crocodile living in the lagoon at their hotel in the Guatemalan jungle, and their Trip Leader, Judith Bautista: “She was especially attentive to ensuring that we were able to see a wide variety of sites and that everyone was kept safe and healthy.”
Ultimately, Rose Marie says, she and Calvin will treasure their journey along La Ruta Maya for the insights gained about the culture of the American Southwest, where they live. “I remember someone saying that ‘To know where you are, you have to know where you came from,’” Rose Marie notes. “We’ve certainly enjoyed learning ‘where we came from’ on this trip, as so much of what we are comes from other countries and cultures—and not just the countries our ancestors came from.”
Here, Rose Marie and Calvin share some photos from their trip …
San Salvador, El Salvador
Copán ruins, Honduras
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Lake Atitlán and surrounds, Guatemala
Antigua, Guatemala
Village near Antigua, Guatemala
Tikal ruins, Guatemala
Lamanai ruins, Belize
Enjoy an in-depth look at both ancient and modern-day
Mayan cultural traditions as you discover five Central
American nations on our Route of the Maya adventure.