Semuc Champey

After talking to people on our sailing adventure we decided to change our original plans to fly from Belize City to Guatemala City and instead enter by boat/land in the south. It sure is a good thing Laura and I a) made the spontaneous (read drunk) decision to visit Tikal when we were up in the north and b) did not book our flights to Guatemala before taking off for the sailing trip. That is why it is a good idea to not plan trips too strictly. Half the fun happens when you are not planning! Well as always it was quite an adventure getting to our next destination: Semuc Champey (just outside of the city Lanquin). The trip 15 min water taxi boat > 3 hr bus > 45 boat to cross into Livingston at the Guatemalan border > 2 hr gorgeous boat tour down the Rio Dulce river > 5 hr bumpy shuttle up a dirt mountain road (crazy yet SO beautiful that it was worth it!). After 2 days from leaving Placencia, we made it to our destination city of Lanquin.... and boy was it worth it!

Semuc Champey is located11 km south of Lanquin along a rough, bumpy SLOOOOOOOOOW road. Before heading here Laura's friend Kiss, who had done the Peach Corps in Guatemala, said that this road was quite possibly her favorite back of the pickup trip she has even done.... ummm ok. We had no clue what that mean, nor how many back of the pick-up trips she had gone on, but we were excited none the less. Well I soon discovered why this trip was so beautiful after driving through the beautiful scenery. The ride itself, on the other hand, left little to be desired. The books do not lie when they say the trip is long and bumpy. It took us about 20-25 min to travel the 11km (6.5 miles) and the day after my arms were SO sore from holding onto the side for dear life afraid I would fly out the bar less back.

The day started with a visit to the Grutas K'anaba caves (if I had a dollar for the number of caves and volcanoes I have visited on this I would be rich!). The tour books deemed this activity "Best for adrenaline junkies." And again they were not kidding. Unlike our entrance into the ATM Caves in Belize, in this cave we were not provided hard hats nor head torches (flash lights). Instead we were given candles which we needed to hold above our heads as we swum in waters too deep to walk. To add to this difficult one-handed swimming experience, were the hard rocks below that we would every once in a while hit whilst treading the water. The trip was an absolute blast - despite a few minor bumps and bruises.

Laura and I swimming in the water with the candels above our heads!

pre-fall

At one point we were offered a chance to either climb a ladder or a rope up a waterfall. At first I opted for the ladder. I figured I was too uncoordinated (slash did not have the arm muscles) to climb the rope. But after watching several people climb with success I decided to go for it. BAD IDEA. With all the water hitting my face at full speed, making it hard to see I was literally one foot position away from the top. In the clear.... that is until I lost my footing and went falling down the 10ft cliff. The girls watching me said their hearts nearly stopped. Thank GOD the tour guide at the bottom caught me or I would be a goner for sure. I was in such shock that I didn't really know what was going on and walked away scotch free (besides a pounding heart). Luckily I had no residual injuries the next day! After that we got to cliff jump in the cave…one would think after my waterfall experience I would decide to forgo this activity. But that's no fun! Despite the fact that I was having a minor anxiety attack as I looked down into the small dark hole I was about to enter, I jumped with success! After all this excitement of the day I was definitely so happy to emerge into the light of day!

After spending 2 hours in the cave we hiked for about 30 minutes to get to the rapids at the top of the river. We were so excited get in the inner tubes as well as enjoy the thrill of the rapids (which lasted for about 10-20 seconds max!) followed by 10 minutes of relaxation down the calm river.

After that we went to the actual main attraction: Parque Nacional de Semuc Champey. A Mayan name that means "where the river runs under the earth", Semuc Champey consists of a natural 300m limestone bridge, under which passes the Cahabòn River.

Atop the bridge is a series of stepped, turquoise pools good. This reminded us a lot of both Krka National Park and Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, except this time we were able to swim in the gorgeous pools!! After some swimming and additional cliff jumping, we decided to go and explore the area for a bit. We accidentally made it onto a 1hr+ hike up the mountain to the view point. Totally unprepared (i.e. wearing a swimsuit and flip flops) by the time we discovered we were on this path, we decided we had come too long to stop now. Well I am glad we ended up on that path because was absolutely worth it!!  The aerial view of the pools was so gorgeous!

our group: Fred, Shaughnessy, me, Chloe, Gail and Laura

After an adventure-filled 8 hour day we were absolutely pooped! On the way home, Laura mentioned that we had been touring from 9 to 5 which in our previous lives would have been a full days work! OMG how are we ever going to adjust!!!

Sailing Adventure down the Belizian Coast

The other day someone asked me how long it took Laura and I to plan our trip. I wasn't exactly sure how to answer this. We had been talking about it since January, discussing which countries we were planning to hit up and figuring out which flights we needed to buy. But besides that we didn't really do much planning. Our style of traveling pretty much involves a plan-as-we-go method. We work one country at a time - only looking ahead one country as we go. So when we were in Honduras we began making our plans for Belize. The only thing we knew for sure we would do was Caye Caulker. While reading her trusty Lonely Planet Laura came upon an incredible sounding 3 day/2 night sailing trip down the coast of Belize.  The tour company operating the trip is called Raggamuffin, which just happens to be what Laura's mom called her when she was a little girl. We took this to be an obvious sign that we needed to book this trip!

 The night before departure we met at the office for a quick briefing. We found the "alcohol lecture" the funniest part of the briefing notes. One would think that maybe they would ask you to watch your consumption, etc.... Nope. In fact it was quite the opposite. Verbatim from the sheet, "From our experience half the crowd will be the alcoholics and half the non-alcoholics and at this stage it doesn't matter who is who. However, when you get to the camp sites those who could identify themselves as the party animals can quickly see who is not indulging as much as yourselves. We request that you take note and remember to respect those persons with regard to not harassing them whilst you enjoy yourselves...don't try to 'tempt' them to get as drunk as you!!" Haha. Well the Rum Punch was flowing heavily throughout the trip and while no one was harassing the non-drinkers, it did take some encouragement to get even the party animals to drink too much of this sugary cocktail!

Ragga King

The trip was incredible! We rode on a 40ft sail boat called the Ragga King.  Designed as an island hopping adventure for people who wanted to experience an uninhabited Caribbean paradise, we spent our days sailing for two hours at a time and taking several breaks to fish, snorkel and swim. We could not have asked for better weather! There was not a cloud int he sky for most days! This was both good and bad... When we were in Greece and Croatia Laura was all about the sun. She doesn't believe in SPF over 15 and never laid in the shade. When we went to London and Honduras with my fam, I was glad to have a break from the sun as I felt my body couldn't handle any more sun (even with regular applications of SPF 30). Laura on the other hand was sad to leave the beach and could not wait to return! Well, on this trip I also learned that even Laura has a sun limit! After the first day in the sun - we were all exhausted! We spent the next day maneuvering our bodies to get into the shade of the sails.

Tobacco Caye - look how small it is!!

After a day full on the sea we spent each night camping on the beach. The first night we slept in the most beautiful location! Our own private island, Rendezvous Caye, was literally so small that our 7 tents took up the entire thing! The second night we slept on a slightly more inhabited island, Tobacco Caye, but that's not really saying much as the first island had a population of 0 (17 when we were docked).

standing on the dock of the island

our new travel buddies Chole and Gail

Rendezvous Caye

 Our group consisted of 6 single ladies, 4 couples and 3 crew. We met some really amazing people and got a lot of advice for the rest of our trip! In additional we gained two new traveling buddies, Chole and Gail from South Africa, who will be joining us for the rest of our Central American journey!!

our group

going out in Placencia with the single ladies from the trip

Attack of the Killer Eel!

After some time on the mainland, Laura and I decided it was time to return to our island living life style. So we headed to the Caye (pronounced key) Caulker - a small coral island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. The island has all sand roads and measures about 5 miles (north to south) by less than 1 mile (east to west). In recent years the island has become a popular destination for backpackers and other tourists. There are over 30 tiny hotels, and a number of restaurants and shops along 3 main parallel streets: Front Street (on the beach), Mid Street, and Back Street.

As I just got my scuba certification in Roatan I was eager to get back in the water! A main attraction of diving in Belize is the opportunity to explore the famed Blue Hole. It lies in the middle of the Lighthouse Reef a small atoll 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 metres (984 ft) across and 124 metres (407 ft) deep (which gives the hole its deep blue color). The dive trips were def out of our backpacker budget but we decided go by Laura and her friend Parker's moto of YOLO (You Only Live Once). Plus I decided if this was something we HAD to do in Belize, it would be cheaper to do it now than it would be to return to Belize.

The walls are sheer from the surface until a depth of approximately 110 feet where you encounter stalactite formations which was to me the coolest part of the dive as we got to weave in and out of the massive overhangs. At 150 feet below both Laura and I felt it was SUPER cold - but later our dive master told us it was really 75 degrees Fahrenheit. haha! That just tells you how warm the water is here! After the Blue Hold we went to two other dive sites. The second dice at Half Moon Caye Wall was our favorite of the 3 dive day as we saw the most animals.

Today we went on a half day snorkel tour. As I am running out of time at our Internet cafe I must be quick but here are two stories of the day worth mentioning:

The first is how this entry got its name. So I decided to innocently dive down to have Laura take the following picture of me under water. Next thing I know everyone was screaming at me.... Having NO clue why they were yelling I turn to the side and am face to face with a HUGE Green Moray Eel. It was literally less than 3 inches away from me bearing its BIG teeth. I immediately began to join in the screaming and shot to the surface faster than I have EVER swum before. At the top the lady leading the tour first asked if I was bit (bc everyone thought I was for sure a goner) and then later told me eels are very territorial and if you head down in their area they will attack. Good to know!

Our second site was called Sting Ray Alley and was SOOOO INCREDIBLE!! As soon as our boat arrived at the site, we were swarmed by stingrays and nurse sharks just coming right too you! Here are some pics.

Tomorrow we leave Caye Caulker to go on a 3-day sailing trip down the coast of Belize to Placencia. We will be snorkeling, fishing, and relaxing by day and camping at little islands along the way at night. It should be a LOT of fun and I can't wait to report back.

Maya Walk Adventures

When getting advice on things to do in Belize, my friend Ryan told me I HAD to do the ATM Cave. He told me it was one of the coolest things he had ever done. So from the start the bar was set high. And after the debacle of getting to San Ignacio (where said tour would be departing) we were really hoping it was going to be worth it. Well it was. Would I say it was one of the best things I have ever done? No. But it was really cool and we ended up having a really cool group - which after all really makes the experience. We booked the tour with Mayawalk Tours and were so pleased by their service that we ended up booking a second tour with them the following day. Well.. that is kind of how it happened. Read to to get the full story.

ATM Cave

Actun Tunichil Muknal (commonly called ATM bc lets be serious who can pronounce that?!) is a cave in Belize, near San Ignacio, Cayo District, notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramic pots (or as our tour guide referred to them: vessels), and stoneware. Upon signing up for the tour we received an email with all the information for the following day. At the bottom in bold it read:


Note: Must be in good physical condition to enjoy this tour. No weight limit, but must have sufficient mobility and strength to climb a 15 foot ladder, swim, scramble over rocks & do a 45 minute jungle hike.

The hike that they mention turned out to be an easy walk. The actual cave part... not so easy. We got there we strapped on our helmets and headlights and took off! Right off the bat we had to do a swim through cold water at the entrance of the cave. It wasn't hard per say but it is very awkward swimming in running shoes.

Following that we waded our way through water whilst climbing though r rocks formations. During much of our walk into the cave we were in VERY tight, dark spaces. One of the guys on our tour was extremely claustrophobic - I am not sure how he didn't run right out! Once inside the dry chamber our guide gave us a history lesson about Maya rituals and ceremonies as we looked at remnants they left behind. We saw a lot of "vessels" before getting to the good stuff- i.e. skeletons. The most famous of the human remains is known as "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of a teenage girl, probably a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been completely calcified by the natural processes of the cave, giving it a sparkling, crystallized appearance.

There are several areas of skeletal remains in the main chamber here are some pictures:

After we returned to San Ignacio we went out with our group for some beers at the bar across the street from our hotel. Well one beer turned into 5, which turned into dinner, which turned into more beers, then dance party at the local casino. Random - yes but fun all the same. Well during dinner (which remember was about 5-7 beets in) one group member Aaron convinced Fred and Shaughnessy to join him on the following day on the Tikal Tour. Well it wasn't too hard to change Laura and my plans either. Note- we had planned to do Tikal upon our entrance to Guatemala in 10 days, but we were so close and had such a good group that we decided to switch up our itinerary. I mean it may have been the beers making the spontaneous decision - but we maintain that it really did make logistical sense and being with our crew was well worth it! Now staying out till 2am drinking beer and vodka sodas may not have been the best idea when we had a 6am tour the next day. But we were all surprisingly quite bright and cheery the next day.

our group at the Casino nightclub (1am)

Tikal Ruins
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had no idea what it would be like. In fact the only thing I had to go by was Chichen Itza, another Mayan civilization outside of Cancun, Mexico. Well let me tell you NOTHING alike. Tikal is MUCH bigger than Chichen Itza and it is in the middle of a jungle. Here are some pics from the day: