Last weekend I took a fabulous trip with my friends up to Semuc Champey, near the city of Cobán in the department of Alta Verapaz. I left home at 5 AM and arrived in Cobán at 3 PM after transferring in Cuatro Caminos and again in Guatemala City. There is a much faster route that is prohibited by Peace Corps because, apparently, it is very unsafe (lots of road collapses). It was great to reunite with my San Bartolo training group friends Melissa, Grace, and Hannah, the latter two whom I had not seen since swearing in more than 3 months ago, along with a few other friends. From Cobán we traveled to Lanquin, and from there our hotel provided transportation in the back of a truck down a desolate, dirt road in the darkness. We had no idea where we would end up and there was not the slightest sign of life. After 10 kilometers, which took a while down this little back road, we arrived at our cute little cabin in the woods. There was a small outdoor lodge where we ate dinner and played cards, and we had our own cabin that felt just like summer camp. In the morning Sunday, we embarked on the all day tour provided by our hotel Posada Las Marias. If you ever visit Semuc Champey a highly recommend Las Marias (Q 35 a night) and the all-day tour that included entrance fees, lunch, and tours of all the sites for a total of Q 140. We walked further down the dirt rode from Las Marias where we crossed a bridge that led to the entrance to Semuc Champey. We hiked straight uphill for about half an hour to El Mirador that offered a spectacular view of the natural pools of turquoise blue water below. We hiked down to get a closer look and take a swim. There is a raging river that passes through a natural tunnel below the pools (tourists are said to have fallen in and found in pieces about half a mile down). The pools, situated in a long descending rock bridge above the river, are peaceful and perfect for swimming. Our guide led us into pool after pool where we could jump, dive, and slide down natural rock waterslides. After our swim, we walked to the entrance of las Marias caves where we ate lunch provided by our hotel on the bank of the river.
Next, was the cave tour. Our guide took all our gear back to our hotel for us and we entered the dark caves with a new guide with nothing but a candle a piece. This cave tour is like nothing I have experienced before. We were immediately plunged into darkness with only a thin wax candle for light. We waded through water, climbed over rocks and admired incredible stalagmite and stalactite formations. Soon we were in water above our heads and had to swim. I really impressed myself with my ability to swim one handed with my other arm high above my head to light the way. Never would such a thing be allowed in the United States or any other country where liability is a concern. After swimming, we wound up below a series of metal ladders that we had to climb (again one handed) with an open flame. To enjoy this experience you just really couldn’t think of the things that could go wrong (everyone dropping their candles in the water and losing light, hitting your head on one of the many unnoticed rocks in the water, falling down a ladder and burning yourself). In our group were two Guatemalan couples, a French couple, and the six gringas. There really should have been two guides – one in front, one in back – but there was only one, and after demonstrating how to climb a ladder, he’d hang back to help each person and let us forge ahead into the unknown. At times we felt like explorers, at other times I felt like a survivor of a nuclear blowout or mine collapse. It was really surreal and exciting. The four Guatemalans couldn’t swim and were in life preservers. A little scary to think of someone not being able to swim in there. At times we were walking along beaches of stone with slick rock formations that looked like sea creatures, at other times swimming through deep dark water and pulling ourselves up on rocks or banks of clay or climbing ladders by waterfalls. About half way in my candle burned down and I was given a new one. Unfortunately our guide did not have the foresight to bring enough candles for everyone to get a second. As we were on our return trip, I was one of just a few people with candles and had to light the way for myself and for several of my friends. Poor Hannah’s glasses had broken in the pools and she only had half her glasses. Her depth perception was completely off. It was sort of a race against time to make it out before all the candles burned out.
After we emerged into the warm sunlight we each grabbed an inner tube that we put in the river in the rapids just below a waterfall. The rapids shot us down the river and we enjoyed a lazy float down the river right to our hotel. A peaceful, relaxing way to end the day.
