Semuc Champey is located 11km south of Lanquin, in a valley slopes with high slope, bordered by tropical forest. It includes a natural bridge 300 meters long, above which there are pools of different shapes and sizes of crystal clear water from springs, with depths of 1 to 4 meters. Beneath this bridge runs the river Cahabón. At the end of the bridge, water from the river basins falls toward forming a cataract of approximately 40 metres high. The colour of water from the pools changes throughout the year depending on the weather, the sun and other natural factors, a phenomenon that is unique in photos. It's a beautiful place that some call "paradise". Activities include: swimming, resting, walking three interpretive trails, discover the flora and fauna, share with the family, meditate, admiring the view from two viewpoints and have contact with nature. Semuc Champey has a wealth of flora and fauna, including 100 species of birds, 34 mammals, 25 reptiles and amphibians and 10 species of fish; has been identified over 120 species of trees and vines in the area. The basic infrastructure for tourists include: a visitors center with a cafeteria and bathrooms, toilets, changing rooms, 2 wooden shacks for shelter, a stand of charge, parking area. There are no special services for those who want to camp but are allowed to do so in the former heliport below the entrance. The saved resources can provide guide service for free. Semuc Champey is managed by the Municipality and costs Q20/$2.50 dolars (national), Q30/4.50 dolars (foreigners), Q10 (children), parking (Q10), camping (Q35/5.00 dolars. per tent) aprox prices. Open every day from 8am-6pm.

I think I´m basically in the middle of nowhere, but I like it. Staying at El Retiro Lodge in a bungalow by the river, it´s very relaxed and quiet. Off to check out the caves in a bit. Unfortunately I have to miss out on Semuc Champey, as the only transport option this week to Rio Dulce is tomorrow morning. A bit sad, but it´s the easiest way to get there, and I dont think I´m prepared to change busses 5 times, as I´ve heard from other people who have done the trip. Nevertheless, it´s finally really hot here!

AFter 8 hours in a cramped mini vans (try a toyota van with 14 seats!) we found ourselves at a semi remote town called Lanquin. Actually, its not really that remote.... it is on the well worn Gringo trail. The town gave a super chilled out vibe with people dancing in the local square, people jump starting cars in the middle of the road, & smiles and waves everywhere. Our (lonely planet... dare I say those cursed words) preffered accomodation was full, so we jumped in the back of a truck to head one a little closer to semuc champey (the main attraction).

Turns out it was a great move... the accomodation was great. Right on the river, super friendly staff, good food and reasonable price (El Portal... to give it a plug).

Semuc Champey is a series of cascading pools down a gentle slope. At the top of the pools an enourmous amount of water (known as the Cahabon river) flows violently underground, beneath the pools. It's hard to imagine the wild river flowing beneath the peaceful pools. Since the river and pool water are seperate, it makes for an enjoyable swim in clear warm water amongst the stunning cloud covered mountains. it's really quite surreal.

The main selling point of the tour is descending a rope ladder over the front of the waterfall... which proved to be no dissapointment. The descent was onto a rock halfway down the waterfall, where you enter the cave from which the water exits (from underground). It all seems a bit sketchy at first, but really worth it.

We also heard talk of being able to jump off the last waterfall into the (somewhat turbulent) river below. It too seemed a little sketchy, but Carlon (guide) assured us it was ok. ... so off Broomy jumped, and we all followed. After a solid cluimb back up, we relaxed a little more in the pools... trying to perfect silly dives.

Later that day, we did another trip to a nearby cave..... with nothing but a candle in hand, we set off into the darkness.... swimming through the water, trying to keep the candle (and light source) above the waterline, swimming with your other free hand, but trying not to kick too hard in order to avoid cutting yourself on the sharp rocks hidden underwater.... also climbing up waterfalls, squeezing through aqua ducts barely big enough for person (with, not against the flow of water) and jumping off rocks... all inside the cave.

The next day it was time to move on, but I realised Ileft my iPod behind (3 hours down the road!), so I opted to return, leaving broomy to go on without me...

Once I got back to El Portal (accomodation), I realised I liked it that much, I decided to stay another couple of nights! I´m glad i stayed on as i was able to get another outdoors fix at the pools, and had a good chat with some of the locals about mayan culture and language. I didn´t realise that Mayan people actually have to learn spanish at school.... its not their first language. silly me.

After a few good nights of sleep & food by the river, it was time to catch up with Broomy... hopefully in Antigua...

Check out the last blog, Guatemala City for details.

We probably should have visited the caves, but I have a little phobia of slippery slopes (is there a word for that?) - caving is not my favorite thing.  We stayed at the very nice Rabin Itzam in town, eating at the El Retiro that night. El Retiro is one of those very cool backpacker hangouts frequented by fresh-faced twentysomethings that make us feel pretty ancient. We felt a bit out of place, but the Italian buffet that night was very, very good. 

We definitely had our first frightening experience during our drive to Lanquín.  It´s only a little over 50 km from Cobán, but it took us nearly 2hrs to get there because of the bad road.  Talk about crazy! At one point, the mini-bus had to pull over because the road (or should I say path) wasn’t wide enough to let the other vehicle by, and we were at the top of a pretty high mountain too!!  I could already picture us falling off the cliff, but nope, guess it wasn't our time to go yet!

So we finally got to Lanquín safely, only to have to wait several hours before being able to take off to the campsite near Semuc Champey, where we'd planned on staying.  Since Lanquín is so small, it could be visited quickly . . . in 10 minutes, now that’s fast!  So we had plenty of time to get to know the locals.  Or better yet, had plenty of time for them to get a good stare at the weirdos with the humungous backpacks!!
After many hours of waiting we finally got on our way.  By the way, night falls pretty early here (≈ 6pm) so imagine travelling on a small dirt path to get where you’re going to!  Check out the video for an idea!

Apres un indien dans la ville, voici les touristes dans la jungle, une ville perdue dans la foret, un periple pour y arriver, tu te demandes comment un bus peut passer? et eux ils arrivent a passer a 2 bus. Arrives enfin la bas, des representants d hotels essayent de nous attraper, c est tous les memes: des menteurs.........

Il fallait prendre un autre bus pour aller a Semuc Champey! On a du attendre 3h!!

mit zwischenstop in antigua geht es am mittwoch mit einem shuttle nach lanquin, etwa in der mitte des landes. dort machen wir noch am selben abend eine tour durch die grutas de lanquin, ein tropfsteinhoehlensystem. diese hoehlen sind nicht nur fuer die vielen verschiedenen steinformationen, welche von den mayas phantasivoll interpretiert wurden, und die langen gaenge bekannt, sondern insbesondere auch fuer die vielen fledermaeuse die normalerweise abends in einem riesenschwarm alle auf einmal rausfliegen. wir haben leider pech und sehen nur vereinzelt einige fledermauese vorbeiflitzen.

am donnerstag machen wir dann eine tour nach semuc champey. etwa 10km von lanquin entfernt hat ein fluss waehrend mehreren tausend jahren einen tunnel ins gebirge gehoehlt. der fluss verschwindet nun rauschend in dieser hoehle, und kommt erst ca. 100m weiter unten als wasserfall wieder ans tageslicht. das eigentlich schoene an dem ganzen ist allerdings, dass sich ueber der ganzen laenge des tunnels tuerkisblaue wasserbassins gebildet haben. das wasser, das langsam von einem pool in den naechsten fliesst ist kristallklar und super zum baden. neben dem besuch dieser einmaligen sehenswuerdigkeit enthielt unsere tour auch ein kleines tubing: auf einem alten traktor-innenreif sind wir waehrend 45 Minuten gemuetlich einen erfrischend kuehlen fluss runtergeplanscht.

neben den beiden touren in lanquin gilt es als absolutes must unter backpackern in der el retiro lodge zu uebernachten: dieses hostel
besteht aus sehr schoenen kleinen huettchen, welche auf einer saftiggruenen wiese direkt an einen Fluss gebaut sind. morgens wird man von kuhgemuhe und hahnenkraehen geweckt und das hostel hat ein kleines restaurant mit taeglichem buffet-abend-schmaus. wir haben ein barbeque und einen pizza-abend miterlebt, beide mit einer riesigen auswahl an frischen leckeren speisen (hausgemachtes brot, leckerer karotten-selerie-rosinen-peanut-salat, rote-bohnen-linsen-salat, kartoffelpueree, ...).

Amazing day!

1. Cave tour by candle light

2. Bridge jump

3. Local chocolate

4. Climb to view point

5. Swimming in pools

6. Trip to where river disappears into the ground

7. Climbed down rope ladder to where river appears from underneath rocks

8. Jumped from rock cave under waterfall into fast flowing river

The tour is definitely worth it. It's so much better than trying to do it yourself and it's only Q20 more than all the entrance fees!

After hearing the night before that some fellow travellers (Richard, Jenny and John) were going to Lanquin the next morning, we decided to join them and got up at 4:30am to get the 5am shuttle to Guatemala City. From there we caught the 6:30 am Especial Bus to Coban and from there we got the 11:30 shuttle to Lanquin where we arrived 14h00 or so. That left enough time to take a quick nap before going on the Lanquin Bat Cave tour at 17h00.

The Bat Cave tour was great. We went about 1km into a cave who's end still hasn't been found yet (apparently some french explorers went about 25km in but then ran out of time), climbing up and down ever so slippery rocks. Our guide Marco was great and full of information, despite being only 17. He showed us some Mayan sacrificial sites in the cave that are still used today (apparently the number of annual rituals is up from the original 4 to about 10 now as their religion has become mixed with Catholicism and now incorporates aspects of both). We headed back just as the bats started leaving the cave and by the time we got to the cave entrance the sight was absolutely amazing, thousands of bats flying right past us, missing us only ever so narrowly. Quite spectacular. (Oh, yes, also saw and picked up some really freaky looking cave spiders.)

So like I said earlier, we signed up to go rafting and today is the day... there were not enough people for 2 boats so Danielle could not join us but she will be heading East with us in the morning so we can find other fun things to do together in Lake Isabel and Rio Dulce.

Breakfast was sooo good, some french toast and fruit with honey, yogurt, granola and of course coffee!!

The drive to the put in was only about 20 minutes, but of course in Guatemalan style we were in the bed of a pick up truck on yet another rocky road. Our group was two Aussie's, and two other guys from Holland and Canada, Lisa and me. Our guide Simon was hilarious. He has been here for about 11 months working as a guide on the river and has been all over, rafting on the Zambize in Africa and many places in Europe.

We started out by carrying the raft over a bridge to our put in and then had a safety lesson before heading out. The first few rapids were pretty mellow and we practiced working as a team...  then practiced a man over drill, it ended up being 2 men overboard and I lost one of my shoes. Oh well, it was nice to take a dip because its SO hot and humid!

The first large rapid was "Rock and Roll", class 4+ followed by "and then" 3+. The "and then" rapid was named because the first rafting company to run the river scouted Rock and Roll "and then" - went around the bend right into the second rapid right away! We got out, scouted the rapid and went for it... we ended up with what Simon referred to as plan A, versus B, C or my favorite, save yourself... if we would have flipped. The next couple of hours were more mellow, some fun class 2 and 3 rapids.

Lunch was tasty... typical Guatemalan fare, tortillas, beans, rice, veggies, HOT salsa, etc...
After lunch we messed around in and out of the boat as we finished our last hour on the river and all floated through the last rapid in a "chain" of sorts.... most of us were able to lock ankles over the next persons shoulders to form the chain.

All the way down the river we saw locals looking at us with a half excited, half perplexed look on their faces... I'm sure most of them were thinking "loco gringos"!!!

The ride in the back was a lot of fun... took about an hour and I got to hear some cool stories about Simons travel and life in Australia (I need to get down there...)

That night the sky opened up and we were treated to an amazing lighting show and buckets of rain all through another amazing family style dinner at El Retrio.
 
Since we first arrived in Lanquin we have been trying to figure out the best way to head East to Lake Isbel and Rio Dulce... meeting other travellers we were able to put together a group of 9 people headed in the same direction. So Lisa and I arranged for a private shuttle bus - 100Q each for the 4.5 hour journey over dirt roads to El Estor... more to come soon about that adventure but now were off to happy hour...

J and L

The morning shuttle was uneventful except for the driver tying to charge us four and a half times what the locals pay for the trip they pay 7, we pay 25 hell no! We ended up at 20 only because our brains were not functioning at 4.30am... The ride was ok for the firt 45 minutes until they started piling the people on. Within 15 minutes we literally doubled the number of people in the van from the US version of a full van (all the seats are taken, 15 people) to a Guate full van (its never really full FYI... only boats can be full and thats only because they can sink!!) of 25+. Lisa really enjoyed an old woman sitting half on her lap and some guy passing gas behind us all WAY before she got her coffee.

We arrived in Lankin around 7am and made our way to El Retiro... the best place around for backpackers!

This place is cool... we got there at 7.15pm and hung out while they mad the first pot of coffee (we were so psyched) and waited for reception to open so we could have a chance at getting a room. This place is really popular... they have a great atmospshere, amazing food/ drinks, cool people and tours. We signed up for the cave tour to Semuc Champey that was leaving at 9.30am and for river raafting that was the next day. Lisa and I ended up with a private room (shared bath-naturally meaning a hole in the ground and a cold shower that required the use of sandals) and all the girls got hammocks or dorm beds.

After a tasty breakfast we jumped in the back of two pick up trucks for the 30 minute ride to the caves. The scenery is amazing...and the roads very bumpy!

We never imagined that the cave tour could be so amazing. It consisted of all of us swimming around in these dark bat caves lit soley by candles we were holding above our heads. It was absolutely magical. We walked and then swam through these caves as they deepened, only to end up in a formation at the end...told the best was yet to come. We were led in groups of 5, Joe and i lucky enough to be in the first group...so we were not yet aware what was in store for us. Little did we know that the guide would be bringing up to climb under a towering waterfall. Water poured over our heads as we searched for a ladder on the opposing side. We were shaking. Maybe partly from cold, and partly from adrenaline...but it was one of the most insane and amazing things we have ever gotten to experience. Only in Guatemala do they allow you to do this kind of stuff. It´s absolutely crazy. After we left the waterfall we went back through the cave and exited the cave. We played on the rope swing into the lake, had lunch, and then jumped off a huge freaking bridge into the water....yes i did it too...not just joe- soo scary!! We then went to these beautiful limestone jungle pools situated above the river. There were many beautiful falls, some great hikes and views. The last fall was HUGE. Our guide led us down it(big surprise) via rope ladder and we were able to explore behind it.  Again, only in guatemala! Then we headed back to El Ritero tired and hungry for the famous wednesday night bbq.

We stuffed ourselves and headed to bed so we would be ready for a funfilled day of rafting.

If the idea of spending a day swimming through pools of torquoise water, diving into a crystal clear pool from the edge of a small waterfall or hiking many small trails through jungle, then this is the place for you. For the prive of 10 quetzales (under $1.50 USD) you can spend the day at this beautiful park. The pools are formed by travertine dams, which are in turn formed by the dissolved limestone of cave systems forming upstream. This limestone is carried in the water and turns it the signature blue color. The limestone is slowly redeposited to form these dams. When one is at the Semuc Champey, one must be careful not to slip into the short cave which goes under the entire feature. The entrance is a gaping maw at the upstream end of the Semuc, which is where you want to watch your step. Two people have fallen in here, and both were swpet into the cave below and killed in the raging water. The downstream entrace is calm, and when water levels are low it can actually be explored, if only for about forty feet. There are also many hiking trails, some with wonderful views of the Semuc Champey or other parts of the Cahabon River. Although we did little hiking, we were still able to see several reptile species along the trail, so keep your eye open while you're hiking! I'd suggest getting there early morning so as to avoid crowds.

After a very long bus ride from Guatemala City to Coban and then onto a minibus from Coban to Lanquin, we came across the most brilliant hostel ever!! The rooms are all cabinas built on stilts and set across the sloping hillside. A path lead from the top Cabina and reception area down to the river and to the open air restaurant. There were hammocks aplenty and lots of quiet places to just chill out and enjoy the warmth and beautiful scenery.

The place was very busy and almost full but we got a `loft`of a cabina as our room. We had a ladder to take us up to our little loft room and there we had a bed and thats it!! There was no door, just an open gap for us to crawl into from the ladder and the roof was made from thatched straw. T`was fab!!!

On the first night it rained so the sound against the thatched roof was gorgeous! One of the pet cats joined us in the night, scaring the life out of me as I felt something warm and furry lying on the bed next to me! (Yikes!!). I soon found out it was the cat thankfully and not a rat or something!

We had dinner at the hostel in the open air restaurant by the river. Dinner was a set meal so whoever wanted dinner gathered at 7pm and we all ate together. The food was wonderful!!!

This place is a must. I think its called an Eco-Lodge because you put lime/ash dust on your poo instead of flushing a toilet but I digress. El Retiro is about a mile outside Lanquin (not the 500 metres the sign tells you!) and is on the mini-bus route to and from Coban. The accomodation here is 1. Bring your own tent and pitch it by the river... 2. A Hammock in an open sided hut by the river... 3. One of 4 beds in a straw hut dorm... 4. A double bed private straw hut... 5. The loft of one of the dorm straw huts. We took a loft...It was so cool! We had our own ladder (seriously) up to our doorless doorway. Our room was cool and breezy as the roof didn't meet the floor (fine until you're getting changed and a gardener walks past and sees your pearly white arse smiling back at him - they expect him out of rehab quite soon). This made it so lovely when the rain started in the middle of the night...falling asleep to rainfall is so relaxing. When you arrive the staff set up your tab which is paid at the end of your stay so you can lock all valuables away in one the locker available. The reception hut has 4 computers for internet at Q10 an hour and has details of the tours avaiable as well as bus times (marvellously inaccurate!!) to get back to Coban. Down at the river is the bar and restaurant. Every evening pretty much all guests convene for the 7pm dinner. The lodge runs a set menu with lovelies such as 'all you can eat Mexican' on Saturday and 'pizza and chips' on thursdays. It's like a fully clothed hippy comune in the evenings with candlelight, great food and chatter. There are also breaky and lunch menus and its all vegetarian!

This place is fabulous, simple as that. Sleeping accommodations are a number huts on stilts rising up the side of a river bank. I got a single room for 55 Quetzales a night (that is about £3.60). Other sleeping arrangements range from hammocks (25Q) to dorms and shared rooms. The whole setting is beautiful; wooded mountainsides rising up from a feisty river with a pretty strong current. Seriously, if you're a poor swimmer, beware! Deciduous trees vie with their conifer cousins - it is quite odd watching hummingbirds trying to get nectar from pine cones - and at night, the whole place is lit up with fireflies. El Retiro is also "all inclusive" in that you pay for everything at the end. Make sure you bring enough money, it can turn out expensive because of silly little things like getting 75 albums off their network for 200Q (£12). Yes, the hostel has 450,000 songs on their system, fabulous for all those tired MP3 players (unless you have a Sony). Other attractions include an onsite bar and restaurant which is reasonable, internet connections, eco toilets (you put quicklime on your poo). They also put 5% on your bill at the end. Not because they are mean, but to help pay for local projects for Guatemalans. The lodge arranges tours to the nearby attraction such as Semuc Champey and the bat caves and the shop at the top hires out inner tubes and takes you upstream so you can float down the river and back to the hostel. Fab. All in all, one groovy place. In the middle of nowhere, but it is worth it. Utterly.