Honduras!

Not long after I received my first card from Guatemala, I've received more cards from another Central American country. This time, it's from Honduras! I never imagined I could get a postcard from Honduras, much less a whole package of beautiful cards, stamps and a banknote! Here's what I found when I opened the package:

This card shows a view of the central park of San Pedro Sula. San Pedro Sula is a city in Honduras. It is the second largest city in the country after the capital Tegucigalpa. The central park lies in the middle of the First Avenue and the Third Avenue. The small white gazebo in the center of the park marks the spot where the city was founded. The interesting thing is that this gazebo is the only piece of architecture that is still standing from the day it was built in 1901.

There was another card in the envelope showing the biodiversity in the waters of Roatán. Roatán is an island located off Honduras between the islands of Útila and Guanaja. It is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island is located very close to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the largest reef in the Caribbean Sea. It is a diving hotspot and it's economy relies very much on the tourism sector. However, there are reports that the environment is not very well taken care of, with pollution of the reef not properly controlled. Its pretty sad to have such a beautiful reef destroyed isn't it?

The last card is a very interesting card from a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the Copán ruins! Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya Civilisation, located in Western Honduras, not far from the borders of Guatemala. It was a city that was occupied for more than 2000 years, and it was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the Southern Maya area. If you're interested in the history, you can read up more about this civilisation here. It's very cool, but it does take some time to read the long story.

Sonia surprised me with many other wonderful gifts in the package. There was a thank you card for the postcards I sent to her previously. You can see them here. She also included quite a few used stamps, which really made my day! I never dreamed I could get so many used stamps from Honduras! :) There was also a 1 lempira note in the package. It was an added bonus. This is the first time I'm seeing currency from Honduras!

Of the three stamps attached to the envlope, I've only managed to find some information about one of them. The one of the left was issued on 10th November 2010 on the theme of Christmas. It was issued together with another stamp. The postmarks look special don't they? I like the concept of the number dial circling the perimeter of the postmark. It reminds me of the special postmark on my Guatemalan postcard :).

Thank you very much for swapping with me Sonia! It was a truly wonderful experience!