Semuc Champey
GUATEMALA
Awesomely Awesome
By AARON
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
So after Lyndi and I got to see the ruins in Tikal, we finally got to start heading south for our journey. It had been kind of confusing telling people that we were “making our way down to South America” when we were constantly heading in the wrong direction. We purchased a ride down to Semuc Champey, through Los Amigos, the same place we bought our Tikal tour through. The ride was great- it was a tour company that basically took Lyndi, me, and about 8 other backpackers down to our mutual destination of Semuc Champey.
If you spend any time in Guatemala and talk to travelers on where to go, there’s a 100% chance they’ll mention this place. EVERY city in Guatemala offers excursions and trips to this beautiful place, and everyone has the same opinion: it’s awesome (I decided to show off my vast plethora of vocabulary knowledge and kick it up a notch to “awesomely awesome”, and really pull the reader in).
Arriving in the small town of Lanquin, which is about a half-hour ride from Semuc Champey, a lot of backpackers got out to stay at a popular hostel called “El Retiro”. Lyndi and I had heard great things about this place, but decided to stay at another place called “El Portal”. We did this because El Portal is located in Semuc Champey, about 20 meters from the entrance to the park. It’s also located right on the river, and near a bridge that you can jump off of (oh yeah, we did), into the river. There’s also free tubing down the river, and best of all, at the end of the day, after hanging out at Semuc, you can just walk back to your pad instead of riding in the back of a truck for 1/2 hour to your hostel.
On our way down from Tikal, Lyndi and I met a guy from Germany named Mirko. He had been studying Spanish for 8 months in Mexico, and was fluent in English, Spanish, Portugese, and German. He decided to come with us to El Portal, and the three of us ended up getting a dorm room for only 40Q a person (about $5US a night). At El Portal, we met “El Patron”, or manager of the place, named Julio. Aside from being extremely helpful, the guy was just plain fun to be around. The three of us got to know him well through all of us talking and Mirko translating anything we couldn’t understand that Julio said in Spanish (thanks Mirko).
The next morning, we headed to Semuc Champey, which was a long, grueling walk of about 3 minutes, and paid our 50Q entrance fee.
The park is set right on the river, with a pretty challenging trail that you take (recommended first) uphill to a beautiful lookout post high in the mountains that overlooks the river. After Lyndi, Mirko and I climbed to the lookout and took some pictures, we descended down to the actual river to get some swimming in. Being a popular place, the river had a bunch of swimsuit-clad tourists, wading, jumping, and swimming in the many lagoons that were separated by mini waterfalls every 40m or so. At the start of the lagoons, there is a surging river that actually goes underground, and comes out somewhere downstream. It is labeled as “very dangerous”, and tourists are cautioned to be careful, but you can’t help but be captivated by the rapids, and curiosity of where the river goes. The river actually enters into this black abyss that heads underground, only to emerge again somewhere downstream. Between this are the 6 or 7 tranquil lagoons that are composed of smooth rock, and crystal clear water, each separated by waterfalls ranging from 3m to 15m.
We swam, took pictures, and enjoyed the beauty of the place for a couple of hours, and then decided to head back to El Portal. Once we got back, Mirko opted to lay in a hammock and read, while Lyndi and I decided to get our tube on. Grabbing some tubes (and a beer each) we headed down to the river to tube the 1.5km stretch of slow moving river just downstream from Semuc Champey park. (On a side note, we taught the phrase “it’s beer-thirty” to Mirko, who finally got it right after numerous times of quoting ‘hey guys, is it beer-and-a-half yet?’).
Walking back from our tubing, Lyndi and I passed a futbol game going on amongst the locals from Semuc. Not being one to pass up a game of soccer, I ran home like a little kid, put on my sneakers, and went back and stood on the sidelines looking anxious. Apparently that look is universal, since it only took a couple of minutes for one of the guys to look over and ask “quieres jugar?”. It was a blast, and although we were kicking around an uninflated ball (it had seen better days), none of the guys seemed to care. This was their village, their own little dirt field, and their national sport, and everyone was just plain having fun. Once again, I can’t stress enough the kindness of the Guatemalan people.
The next morning, Lyndi and I decided to do the cave tours, which was another grueling 3min walk across the river, where we paid our 50Q entrance fee, and since no one else was there that morning, got our own personal guide! The Las Marias Caves are a natural cave system that you take a candle into, and follow your guide through the darkness, in water that ranges from waist deep to 5-6m deep. Nothing beats swimming in total darkness, with only a candle to light your way (that you have to hold above the water of course, lest you want to swim in the darkness with the cave bats! Oh yeah, there were cave bats). There was even a mini waterfall inside the caves that we climbed up via ladder and knotted rope. The whole tour took about an hour, but was well worth it, considering it was my first cave tour, and the fact that we got our own “personal guide”.
Returning back from the caves, I went back again that day to play soccer with the locals, this time bringing a new soccer ball with me that Lyndi and I had purchased earlier that day as a gift for “the guys”. They loved it, and I played for about 2 hours with them, until mother nature decided it was time to quit, as the sun set on Semuc Champey.
Waking up the next morning, Lyndi and I said a quick goodbye to Mirko, and our gracious host Julio, and paid for our minibus to take us to a town called Coban, where from there we would make the long 8 hour journey to the town of Quetzaltenango, also called Xela for short, for our one month of intensive spanish classes.
