Semuc Champey

Our adventure started at about 7am on Saturday morning when Thomas’s friend from med school, Tyler, picked us up at our hotel.  He is also doing his research project here in Guatemala, and he rented a car for us to drive through Guatemala city to Lanquin where we would be staying the night before taking a shuttle to Semuc Champey.  The ride was definitely long and winding, but I definitely loved getting to drive through Guatemala City.  The capital looked very similar to an American city.  In fact there was an American company on every block downtown.  There were the expected companies like McDonald’s and Burger King, but there were also some unexpected ones like Payless Shoes and Chuck-E-Cheeses.  The drive from Guatemala City to Lanquin took about 5 hours, an hour of which consisted of crawling down a rocky road that was all down hill.  It took us an hour to travel 10 km!!  Although the ride was long, the last hour took us through jungle-like vegetation with the humidity to match. We didn’t see a single building until we arrived at our hotel.  The hotel consisted of several quaint rustic buildings whose wooden beams and cabin feel added to the whole experience of being in the middle of a forest.  Just down the road from our hotel were caves called Grutas de Lanquin.  After settling into our room, we walked down the road to check out the caves.  Thomas was like a kid in a candy store.  I have no idea how he moved so quickly through the slippery stone path in the cave.  I was at the back of our group slowly, cautiously walking along, feeling as though I would fall at every step.  The nice part was we were one of the only people in the caves; it was just us and a couple of local Guatemalans. Although I wasn’t quite as adventurous as Thomas, the caves were pretty incredible and I’m glad we got to see all the rock formations at the end of the day. 

 

The next morning we woke up early and had a quick breakfast at the hotel before taking a shuttle a half hour on another rocky road to Semuc Champey.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect at Semuc Champey.  Thomas wanted to surprise me so all I knew were there were some sort of pools to go swimming in.  When we arrived at the park, it seemed like we were the first people to go exploring there.  We climbed up about a half hour on a very rough path described as “difficult” to get to a look at the pools from above.  Although the climb was quite difficult, it was definitely worth it.  The view from above was spectacular!  It helped us appreciate the pools even more when we were on the ground.  On the climb down the mountain towards the pools one of the local workers took us on a path that allowed us to see where the river runs through the opening of a cave.  You could feel the spray of the water as it rushed into the opening of the cave where it would travel underground for about 300m and come out the other end in the form of several waterfalls.  The water that trickles alongside the river created a series of several clear blue pools that are perfect for swimming in.  The three of us spent the next couple of hours swimming in the pools before we had to hike out to the entrance to get out shuttle back to our hotel.  One of the coolest parts of Semuc Champey was the lack of tourists in the park.  For such a spectacular natural attraction, there were barely any people there.  It made us feel as though we were exploring a place never seen before.  Semuc Champey is definitely one of the hidden wonders of Guatemala.  I’m curious to see how it will change as more tourists come in future years.  

Lake Atitlan

The hotel porch where you can wade in the water

I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit this amazing landmark in Guatemala!  This unique lake was formed when the surrounding volcanoes erupted and the land below sunk down.  This newly formed low-land area then filled with rain water creating what is now know as Lake Atitlan.  There are several small towns that surround the lake, many of which are only easily accessible by boat.  Our hotel was located next to one of these small towns and was right on the water.  One of their porches was literally in the water, and you could wade in the lake water using the porch.  Our hotel room was up several long flights of stairs.  Because the hotel is built on a hill, there are layers of rooms separated by winding flights of stairs surrounded by a lush landscaping.  From our hotel room we couldn’t see the land underneath us and it looked like we were floating on the lake.  I tried to capture the view of the lake as the sun faded, but I’m afraid a camera just couldn’t do it justice.

The view from one of many hotel balconies 

Thomas and I horseback ridding

The next morning we took another boat (which you catch by standing on the dock and waving your arms when the boat is in sight) over to San Pedro la Laguna, a larger town across the lake.  Thomas and I decided to go horseback riding-something I have been dying to do since we arrived in Guatemala.   After negotiating a price with the tourism office, a man road up on a horse pulling another one behind him.  Unlike in the U.S. we did not receive instruction on how to ride the horses safely; luckily Thomas and I have ridden horses before.  The horses took off on their own and followed an apparently well-known path back to the stables where they are kept.  Our tour guide then saddled-up another horse for himself to ride and we began our adventure out of the city.  We got to ride on the horses part-way up one of the volcanoes.  The views were beautiful and the horses were so much fun.   However, the best part of the journey was on the way back when it started to rain.  I’m not sure if the horse was just anxious to get back to its stable, or if the rain somehow excited her, but my horse decided to take off trotting… and then galloping.  Some people might have been really scared at this point, but I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.  You see, I have always had a secret desire feel what it was like to ride a horse when it was galloping.  So for me, this was a dream come true.  It was AMAZING!!!  (I would also like to note that our guide was not the least bit concerned that his horse took off running—in the U.S. the guide would have stopped the horse in a matter of seconds). This experience was so thrilling that the next day, when I couldn’t sit down because by butt was bruised so badly, I didn’t even complain (well, I barely complained). 

Our last day on the lake, we woke up early, had a delicious breakfast at the hotel, and rented a tandem sea kayak for the morning.  Thomas and I had a lot of fun paddling around the lake and catching the waves made by the boats passing by.  It was a nice way to spend time enjoying our surroundings before having to head back to Panajachel and go home.  We managed to spend some time in Panajachel walking around and purchased a few gifts for family before taking a shuttle back to Tecpan.  I really enjoyed getting to see the beauty created in part by the tourism around the lake.  It has been an interesting, but welcomed contrast to working in the small aldea (rural village) called Pakip where people are struggling to make a living… more on that later.