As you may remember, from time to time our plans change, based on recommendations of fellow travelers. We had no intention of travelling to the remote Semuc Champey, but have been told over and over that it is an absolute must if we are in Guatemala. We knew the ride wouldn't be pretty but we decided to brave it anyway and away we went.
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| Try 13 1/2 hours! |
With our tablets charged we were ready....after 3 hours stuck in traffic we knew this would be a long ride...my friend Candy asked me what it was really like to travel with the kids...honestly, I would love to tell you we played licence plate games and other various car ride activities , did some homework, and just talked..but really we watched downloaded Netflix almost the entire way. We were all crammed into a shuttle like sardines, two by two, I sat with Johnny and the girls sat together, if we did not have tablets I have no idea how the ride would have went...but as it was,except for leg cramps here and there, and Anneka occasionally feeling sick, the ride was fine...(and Johnny and I crushed a whole series). We arrived in Lanquin (a small town about 1/2 hour away from Semuc Champey). 13 1/2 hours after we left Atitlan. We had booked a very cheap,( kind of gross and cool all at the same time) hostel for two nights so we could enjoy Lanquin the next day, (we heard there is a cool bat cave and that you can go river tubing).
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| beautiful views from our gross/cool hostel El Muro |
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| Market day in Lanquin, very authentic, we were the only tourists there |
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The tiny town of Lanquin
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The next morning we woke up walked the small little town, checked out the market, got some fried chicken (Central Americans LOVE their fried chicken!) and booked a tube ride through our hostel, after a little debate about pricing we were off. Tubing was fun, would have been much nicer if the sun was out, as it was overcast the kids were a little cold but we made the best of it...
At about 4 we took a tuk tuk to that bat cave. As we were walking we met a local who offered to take us through the cave (for a small fee of course) we took him up on his offer and went inside...this cave was so impressive, huge cavernous areas 50 ft high in some places. The most amazing site was at around 5:30 we walked to the entrance and just sat still...thousands of bats were leaving the cave at dusk. we just sat there mesmerized as they swooped passed our heads, it was pretty crazy to see.
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| the entrance of the bat cave- me with our guide |
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| This is actually inside, pretty crazy how big the cave was |
That was it for Lanquin, not a heck of a lot to see see or do, but a gateway to Semuc Champey, if I had to do it again, we probably would not have stopped in Lanquin I would have just kept going...as Semuc is absolutely incredible. We stayed at an awesome hostel, (up there in the top 5 nicest places we have stayed). The tour was at 9:30 in the morning, so we really had no time to explore, Greengo's hostel sent a big 4x4 truck (looks like it was from the set of Jurassic park) to pick us up from El Muro. We then traveled 40 minutes up a windy bumpy dirt road to Greengo's where we literally dumped our stuff, and joined the tour.
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| Our ride to Greengo's Hostel |
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| Our beautiful hostel for the next couple of days...We stayed in the light blue building at the back overlooking the river |
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| The dining area where we enjoyed the BEST MEALS so far on this whole trip...seriously amazing food. |
Our full day tour included a visit toi the Ka'Ba Caves, river tubing, a hike up to the overlook El Matador, lunch, a short hike to a spectacular water fall and Semuc Champey
Now by this time we were old pros in caving...girls and I were fully confident this would be an amazing experience. We managed to get a life jacket for Liv and Anneka, (not mandatory, we insisted- crazy!), were handed a candle each, and proceeded to follow our group into this very dark, very wet looking cave...the further in we went the deeper the water was, before you knew it, we were waste deep with nothing to see but the person in front of you and the occasional stalactites sticking out. They had ropes above you in the deeper sections, and our guide was great with the girls helping them through he more difficult parts. We had to climb up a latter through a water fall, slide through a hole to a pool of water and we all were given the opportunity to climb up 4 m high rope ladder to jump of a rocky ledge into pools. (Anneka and I passed, but Johnny and Liv braved the jump). All this was done by candle lite. Unfortunately I do not have any great photos but have a look google , search caves in Semuc Champey and you can check out all the images to have a better idea.
For anyone who has read my Facebook, you will know how incredibly proud I was of the girls. They both dug deep, faced fears and came out as warriors
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| Our guide paited our faces with the soot from the caves, in Mayan Fashion |
After the caves we went for another tube ride (different river then the day before), walked to a beautiful water fall then stopped for the most amazing lunch.
Semuc Champey means "
Where the river hides under the stones" is a natural monument in Guatemala, it consists of a natural 300 m limestone bridge, under which passes the Cahabón River. Atop the bridge is a series of stepped, turquoise pools, perfect temperature to swim in, jumping from pool to pool. the waterfall was at the bottom of the pools.
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| from the lookout...it was a looooooong way up! |
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| with Mia a little girl we met that spent the day with us |
As usual, pictures do not do this place justice, it really is a natural wonder, just so lovely. We went back the next day to just to swim and take it all in. In the afternoon we headed back to Greengo's where we met some awesome travelers and hung out all evening playing beach volleyball and eating the MOST amazing food. This place was pure bliss, we could have easily stayed another couple of days.
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| one of the pools |
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| The water really was turquoise, looked different from every angle |
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| Greengos |
