The Mayans are very much alive; the race didn't die out when the big city-states collapsed. There are thriving Mayan cultures in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico and probably further south. They look exactly like the people pictured in the Codexes and other Mayan art. If you visit San Ignacio in the Maya Mountains, near the Guatemalan border, you'll find an entire city of Mayans.
Nobody knows for sure what the Olmecs really looked like. I've studied many images of Olmec art and the human images represent a very odd mix of Asian, Negroid and indeterminate racial types. It looks to me like Olmec culture was one of the first "melting pots" in the Western Hemisphere. How and when the various groups got there is a mystery. Blam has posted many articles speculating on that.
The Colossal Heads are suggestive of Negroid features, yet I've seen Indians from South America with those same faces. While he's not a dead ringer, take a look at Hugo Chavez. I think he carries some of those same features.
As for Guatemala, I haven't had a chance to travel much beyond Tikal and Lake Peten. But the several days we spent near the lake were some of the most pleasant and unforgettable in my life despite the guys with AK-47s hiding near the hotel entrance. They were there to protect us Gringos from being kidnapped and held for ransom.
Perhaps the crown jewel of Guatemala is Antigua Guatemala. 400 year old Spanish colonial with cobblestone streets, surrounded by three volcanoes. It is also the weaving capital of the region.
But I noticed that every city in Guatemala has a completely different character. Guatemala City is pretty run down, but still has some great classic 1940s-style hotels and pleasant museums.
It’s definitely worth it to shell out the bucks for a taxi instead of riding on one of those *%*&%^ buses, though.
“The Mayans are very much alive; the race didn’t die out when the big city-states collapsed... They look exactly like the people pictured in the Codexes and other Mayan art.”
Not only that, the true Maya of today still carry the “Mongolian Spot,” a small purplish spot that looks like a birthmark at the base of their spine, that they share with the native peoples of Mongolia.