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!!!