Ola again - blog posts coming at you thick and fast - i've realised theres so much to tell you all about that i'd better get on with it!!!Semuc Champey. When i asked people that had been to this part of the world before what i should try and see whilst i was here, Semuc always seemed to come out at the top of everyones list. Infact most people said that if i was to see only one thing then the pools, river and caves at Semuc Champey should be that one thing (you see one of the Crocs by the way in one of the caves, finding his way around with a candle!!) Forget the lava flows of Pacaya and Lake Atitlan, Semuc was the place to head for (which is a good job as i havent hiked Pacaya, mainly because of broken ribs and all the rain we've been having, nor have i been to Atitlan!) So very hungover on a Saturday morning (it had been Monolocos 10th birthday party the night before, free drinks all night, foolish not to take advantage!) i boarded a packed little minibus to take its 14 passengers to Lanquin (the area where Semuc and El Retiro both are.) I'd been told it would be a long journey, but the 9 hours i spent in that little bus, me being of larger frame and all that, really werent the best hours i've ever spent travelling! Its was hot, i was hungover and after about 5 hours i really did wonder whether all this was going to be worth it. As it turns out it was!
We arrived at Lanquin (the village that El Retiro is in) around 5pm and myself and my trusty housemate Melissa (who i'd managed to persuade to come to Semuc aswell) managed to get a lovely little cabin looking down the hill to the river in El Retiro. El Retiro is an eco lodge thats half an hours drive from the pools and caves at Semuc Champey, it really is amazing. Great big bar, very friendly staff, rope across the river, hammocks, everything that a decent traveller would need for a relaxing weekend break! The first night we made a whole bunch of new friends, drank a load of beer, had an fantastic meal (they have a big buffet style dinner at the lodge and the food is just amazing) and learnt a load of new card games (that were all really based on poker and that i have to say i wasnt very good at.) I turned in relatively early as was properly knackered having spent the best part of 9 hours on a bus... and fell into the deepest sleep i think i've been in for a while.
Next morning after a slighty disturbed sleep (i was woken in the middle of the night with Melissa trying to do battle with a frog in the bathroom.... i mean really, he was actually helping us out by eating all the mossies..!!) and slap up breccie of crepes stuffed with fresh fruit and granola (just the best and just what you need when youre off for a big activity day) 20 intrepid explorers climbed into the back of some open top jeeps for our ride to Semuc. You really are right in the jungle in this part of the world, every now and then there might might be a coffee plantation or more bizarrely a cardamon field (Guatemala exports lots of cardamon pods apparently, you learn something new everyday on your travels it has to be said!!) but mostly its all very wild. Our guide, Elvis (the second Elvis i've met on my travels!!) was a spritely little bloke, which given the things we were going to be doing turned out to be quite handy. After half an hour of bouncing along in the back of our trucks (the roads in this part of the world really arent the best) we arrived at a huge river at the base of Semuc Champey. The first thing was to check our back backs into the little cabin there and then take part in the first activity of the day - swing out across the river and jump in. Not hard i hear you cry - i mean we've all done that in the past, maybe not for a while, but all good fun, bit like being 10 all over again. The only problem was the swing was actually quite high and if you mistimed your jump there were some pretty ugly looking rocks nearby. Who cares - off we went! The first couple of guys (i think and Aussie and a South African) that leapt from the swing did actaully do ok, one came a bit of a cropper but not too badly, so when it was my turn to go i was pretty revved up and raring! Only somehow i really didnt quite time my jump that well and ended up plunging the 10 feet into the river side first. It bloody hurt, completely knocked the wind out of me and unfortunately am now nursing a couple of what i think are cracked ribs!! Bugger!! Not what you need when you have a whole day infront of you, clambering, climbing and swimming through and over a load of stuff!! No problem though, my ribs werent that bad at the time, so after everyone had jumped we headed off for the caves......
Now caves.... a place full of bats, water and big rocks. I've never fully understood pot holing and after 3 hours underground i think i understand it even less....The caves at Semuc are relatively famous (well at least they are in this part of the world.) Theyre also very beautiful once you get over the whole being underground thing. Infact a few months ago some American cavers (is that the right word?) came here to try and find the source of the caves. After 2 and a half days underground (yes 2 and a half days.....!) and having travelled around 20 kilometers they gave up. Best option.... the outside world is much better than the world Gollum lives in in the Hobbit i can tell you......!
As we clambered into the entrance Elvis started handing out candles - they were to be our source of light as we ventured through our underground world and i have to admit not for the first time on my travels i thought "Bod, what the hell are you doing...??" You have to wade for the first 50m or so into the caves and thankfully the running repairs on the crocs held up pretty well (you'll be glad to hear that theyre now back to full strength after some super glue and a bit of quick drying silicon.... you'd never know they'd been in the wars at all....!) All ok - until we came to the first big pool. That you had to swim across... with a candle. Now i can swim ok, but in crocs trying to hold a candle in the air... it could definitely be a new Olympic sport i reckon!! Eventually you end up putting the candle in your mouth as its much easier that way and it means you dont lose your light source, i mean a few singed hairs are better than being stuck completely in the dark... it all was actually very good fun! From there we had to climb some rope ladders (not easy), swim through some even bigger pools (more singed hair) and then climb through some very narrow spaces (very hard, even for the new slim down Bod it was pretty tight) to get to a huge pool with a big jump off a rock cliff.... not my cup of tea at all. Thankfully as i'd taken my camera in its dive casing and was therefore able to take loads of pics in our wet underground world, i nominated myself as head photographer so didnt take the 7m plunge myself (what a poof!! , but i have to say i wasnt alone... less than half of the group fancied leaping into the dark....!) Having spent around half an hour there we then had to make our way back through the labyrinth of the caves back out into fresh air. This seemed to take alot less time than it had on the way in... but i guess we were all a little desparate to get out and by that stage alot more adept at swimming with candles in out mouths!!
Fresh air.... its something i've never really thought about before but after 3 hours stumbling around underground it was amazing!
Next stop was the cabin again top pick up some tubes and drift down the river for an hour or so. Bliss, well blissish as the tubes werent that big and i really had to wedge myself into mine to stop myself falling out (thankfully for you all there arent any pictures of me wedgeed in a tube, i guess i did look rather comical though...). This resulted in my poor backside taking a knock or two as we went through the rapids, but it was more than worth it. Watching the world drift by as you float down the river was really rather pleasant. Lots of banter, lots of "oh my god, cant believe we survived the caves...", lots of comparing cuts and scratches we all seemed to have as a result of banging against the rocks.... really rather nice. The only bad thing about this part of the day was drifting under the big bridge that we'd been told we had to jump off (well you had the option of jumping off) It was bloody huge... around 40ft and the river as it went under it was relatively narrow and rather fast flowing.....mmmmmm... more, do i really want to do this.
We hopped out of our tubes - walked the 20 minutes back up the hill picked up all our stuff and walked to the bridge. From up here it looked even bigger, the river even smaller and more fast flowing than it had seemed from the tubes. Nevertheless Elvis climbed up top and performed one of the best swan dives i've ever seen. No turning back now Mr Griffiths (especially as they'd been rather alot of banter on the walk to the bridge and i'd bigged myself up maybe a little too much for my upcoming jump) I wasnt the first go i have to say. But after rather alot of "go on then..." i climbed over the metal barrier and stood above the river. God i was sh*tting myself (excuse the French), i'm not sure i've actually ever been that scared in my life (even the Great Brawl of Cirencester 1991 wasnt this bad.... mind you i was rather drunk then and completely sober now) There was nothing else to do but step forward and drop.... and drop.... and drop and then hit the water and disappear under. And then hit the bottom, which was largely sand so it wasnt that bad.... The euphoria i felt when i surfaced, well i really cant describe it. I know they say adrenaline is an amazing thing..... i can tell you it really is. I swam to the shore, clambered up the rocks and sat down laughing my head off and shaking like a leaf. It was great!!
After everyone had taken the plunge (and pretty much everyone did) we then had to hike up to the pools further upstream to see Semuc Champey proper. The pools here have been carved out of the limestone over tens of thousands of years and many people say its the eight wonder of the living world. It really is pretty impressive. You hike through the jungle (again!) and suddenly come across a huge waterfall above which are the pools. Its stunning i have to say and Elvis said its even better from the Mirador (basically a huge viewing gallery) up above in the jungle canopy. About a 20 minute stroll. Yeah.... like really..... climbing Everest would have been easier than this 20 minutre stroll. After 30 minutes i was about two thirds of the way up, sweating profusing, cursing and not for the first time that day wondering if this was really worth it. But once again i wasnt disappointed. The views from the top were amazing (i'm not sure that if i'd been told it was a 2km hike climbing around 300m vertical metres i'd have been so enthusiatic to get up there.) Lots of oohhhs and ahhhhs, sitting down, sharing a tale or two and taking pics (these you really should check out on facebook - theyre awesome.) The hike down again was alot quicker than the hike up and we spent the next couple of hours wallowing in the pools. Bliss. There was another late afternoon jump if you fancied it (by this stage not everyone did) and after the brave and foolhardy had completed that we headed back to the jeeps for the ride home.
There was more fun and japes on the drive back as we gave a big group of Mayan children a lift, and as luck would have it they had a cooler full of beer. And i had Q100 bizarrely enough for 10 beers (and there were 10 of us..... what a coincidence!!) Much merryment, singing, waving at random workers in the fields. What an amazing day out. We got back to the lodge and once again the travelling gods had smiled upon yours truely.... it was a Sunday and the staff of the lodge (who were prdominately English and Irish) had decided to prepare a roast chicken buffet. A roast on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere with plentiful beer, poker and giant Jenga. How could a trip end in a better way.
I probably shouldnt mention the skinny dipping incident with 10 of my new chums after a skinfull of Palestine Libras (lethal) due to a giant Jenga forfeit... but running starkers into the river in a thunderstorm had to be the highlight of the Sunday evening. I dont think i've laughed so much (well not since i'd jumped off the bridge anyway!) for a while. Another blissful nights sleep and then another long bus ride back to Antigua. What a weekend.
I'd better sign off as this really is a rather long blog and i need to preapre to leave this great country for my trip to Belize and back home.... so until the next installment.
Adios Amigos
B
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