9 - 13 July 2011
After coming down from our camping trip up Volcán Pacaya, we grabbed a massive lunch (including fresh mint iced-tea) before packing our things for the 2pm departure. We weren't sure if there was an ATM in Lanquin so Lawrie ran off to the ATM in town at the same time the driver arrived for our shuttle (15 minutes early). Luckily he didn't leave, but in the rush to grab things we forgot our books!
As we drove out of town we were hit by a massive storm, lightning striking trees near us and hail. Thankfully it only lasted two minutes. We were the only ones in the van until Guatemala city, where we picked up three more people. We arrived in Cobán in the dark, still a fair distance from our goal, where we swapped drivers and headed out to El Retiro. We checked in, nearly stacking in on the slippery paths made from river rocks and promptly fell asleep.
We awoke Wednesday to a beautiful view at El Retiro in the morning, thankfully it wasn't raining all night, it was just the sound of the river. We had breakfast (very tasty!) and set out to explore the caves and to book a rappelling tour.
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| The view from our balcony. |
Once at the caves (only 30 min walk away) we took ourselves on a tour. The caves were extensive and slippery however some sticky patches (guano) existed...luckily they had a hand washing basin at the entrance!
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| Where the river exits the cave system. |
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| The formations are quite pretty. |
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| The toad. |
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It was quite a large main chamber.
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After returning to El Retiro, we grabbed a beer to relax before Kitty pointed out to Lawrie that there was a guy surfing in the river. They'd strung a line across the river with an inner tube bungee system attached to an old door. It was great fun, but needed some more rocker to really get on the plane.
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| Lawrie surfing in the river. |
We met a few Brisbanites in the hostel and had a few beers that night. The wet and slippery paths finally claiming a victim, with Kitty slipping off the balcony stairs. A bump to the head and very sore hips and sides were the results (they put in a hand rail the next morning and fixed the loose steps). Thursday was spent sleeping/sore and for Lawrie, surfing the river.
Friday we went on a tour to Semuc Champey, which is a limestone bridge across a powerful river. Our first stop was a two hour tour, by candle light (and non- waterproof cap lamp) through a wet cave system. We swam and slid through the cave, went under a waterfall inside and got to jump into a deep pool! Unfortunately the cap lamp didn't hold up to well and wouldn't turn off! It was a great tour but no photos as we don't have a waterproof camera.
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| Waterfall coming out of the cave. |
Next up we took tubes up to near where the river emerges from under Semuc Champey, paddling furiously to get into the best rapids. After this Lawrie jumped off the bridge (9.5m) a few times before we walked up to the park and to the mirador for a view of the pools. It started to rain as we got near the lookout but we got a quick few photos!
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| The river and forest were very pretty. |
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| Lawrie on the bridge |
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| Spectacular on a clear day, pretty cool on a rainy one! |
We walked back down to the pools for a swim & saw where the river went under the limestone bridge. There was a massive amount of water here, but our guide said that sometimes the river goes completely over the top of the pools. The top pools are filled by little creeks from the mountain side and also from underground springs.
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| Looking upstream at the top of Semuc Champey |
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| Where the water goes under, Kitty in background. |
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| Beautiful spot out of the rain near a cliff edge. |
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| The rain stopped occasionally. |
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| The water had an amazing colour. |
After the pools we headed back to El Retiro, had another huge buffet dinner and had an early night, ready for our trip to Flores and Tikal
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