Today we arrived at the quiet resort town of Huatulco. Constructed since 1985, the entire area is beautifully landscaped and wins awards for ecological sustainability. All of the water is treated before being released into the ocean, power is obtained from wind farms and most of the food is organically grown.
I took an excursion to the Copalita Archaeological Zone. This is a recently discovered site populated about 1500 years ago by the Mixteca and Zapoteca people. After 1200 years the population was abut 2000 people but by 700 to 1000, they had died out. It is not Mayan. Our excellent tour guide had a hand in the discovery of the site. She was a girl scout and they used to camp in the area and found remnants of pottery. They showed them to their parents and some people from the town took them to Mexico City to the National Archeological Institute. One archaeologist decided to take a look and the found the site worthy of investigation. Today it is well laid out with flag stone walkways and a very small but beautiful museum. Not all of the buildings have been uncovered but three important ones can be seen. What you see is original, having been covered over for centuries by earth and sand. It was a complete jungle before the excavations began. The first building is the Serpent Temple because the heads of two serpents made of polished stone were found among the ruins. The building was built on a swamp on a base of round river stones covered by flat stones. The walls of this and the other buildings were covered with a stucco made of ground sea shells. It was probably decorated with designs that served as a way to tell the story of the people.
The second area is a ball court where youth would play a game called Pelota. The ball would have weighed 8 pounds. It is believed that the game was played here over 1600 years ago for a period of 400 years. The game was believed to be a way of making an offering to the gods to perpetuate the life and sustenance of the people.
The third building and the largest is the main building or temple of Copalita. Built over 2000 years ago and used for at last 900 years, it would have been the centre of the community. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see because of the trees surrounding it. The trees have been left in place but are trimmed regularly. The existing root systems protect the base of the structures and removal of the trees would sufficiently weaken the base of the structures that they would be subject to damage during storms or earthquakes.
We climbed a steep path to a lookout that showed the confluence of the Copalita River and the ocean. There were a lot of birds to be seen. Next we visited an ecological zone where other flora and fauna were seen.
Lastly we visited the small museum where some of the clay figures, pottery and a death mask made of turquoise mosaics were on display.
Our next port is Puerto Chiapas where I am going to visit a Mayan archaeological site.
Leslie's Travel Blog 
Leslie, Where did the cruise start?
San Diego and it returns there on March 4th.