Semuc Champey fue incredible.
No se palabras en Inglés ni en Español que describir el maravilloso lugar que es Semuc Champey. En una lengua Maya, 'Semuc Champey' se traduce como 'pais en que el río escondito' (o, en ingles, 'place of the hiding river', or 'place where the river hides').
PERO, el fin de semana en que nos fuimos fue una aventura.
Primero, nadie fue al mismo que nuestras planificado. El viaje fue mui bonito, pero tome casí once horas porque nos recibimos un lleno vasillo en el medio del bosque en el medio de la noche. (Supuestamente, usually es una viaje de solo entre seis y ocho horas.)
A las 12 en la noche en viernes, nos cambiamos a montando en la cama de un camion por casí una hora y llegamos al hostal a la 1 en la mañana!
No se palabras en Inglés ni en Español que describir el maravilloso lugar que es Semuc Champey. En una lengua Maya, 'Semuc Champey' se traduce como 'pais en que el río escondito' (o, en ingles, 'place of the hiding river', or 'place where the river hides').
PERO, el fin de semana en que nos fuimos fue una aventura.
Primero, nadie fue al mismo que nuestras planificado. El viaje fue mui bonito, pero tome casí once horas porque nos recibimos un lleno vasillo en el medio del bosque en el medio de la noche. (Supuestamente, usually es una viaje de solo entre seis y ocho horas.)
A las 12 en la noche en viernes, nos cambiamos a montando en la cama de un camion por casí una hora y llegamos al hostal a la 1 en la mañana!
El hostal fue mui bonito, también, pero fue problemas con mucho insectos, porque medio del grupo vivíamos en el segundo piso y las paredes fue construyeron de materiales naturales.
(Because I'm lazy and am also writing this post over a number of days, I am now switching us over to English. Apologies.)
This hike was among the most difficult I have ever done. We didn't take many pictures on the way up, and the ones that people were able to get were at the easier parts of the trail. In about 2.5 hours, we climbed 300 meters through slick rocks, muddy trails, loose tree roots, and any number of other types of sketchy surfaces.
The view from the top made everything worth it. Lydia and I split some 2 for Q5 oranges for the sake of further hydration and our descent ended up being significantly easier (equally perilous at parts, my only slip was on the way back down, but also a little calmer at parts, thankfully).
The view from the top made everything worth it. Lydia and I split some 2 for Q5 oranges for the sake of further hydration and our descent ended up being significantly easier (equally perilous at parts, my only slip was on the way back down, but also a little calmer at parts, thankfully).
However, it was entirely worth it, both the view at the top and the incredible experience we hand pool-jumping, exploring, adventuring, and taking everything back in.
Semuc Champey was among the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
The only thing even similar that it reminded me of was Pagsanjan Falls back in the Philippines. The memories were beautiful, though I have to say I was partial to Guatemala.
Our guide was hysterical and spoke somewhere between conversational and fluent English, so we got along pretty well. We jumped from pool to pool, swam and slid, laughed...and those of us brave enough explored a little micro-cave with about 8 inches of breathing room above the water, where I had the most severe casualty of the day with a pretty good headache from smacking my head. (I AM FINE, NO DAMAGE, STOP WORRYING, I'M OKAY!:)
Semuc Champey was among the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
The only thing even similar that it reminded me of was Pagsanjan Falls back in the Philippines. The memories were beautiful, though I have to say I was partial to Guatemala.
Our guide was hysterical and spoke somewhere between conversational and fluent English, so we got along pretty well. We jumped from pool to pool, swam and slid, laughed...and those of us brave enough explored a little micro-cave with about 8 inches of breathing room above the water, where I had the most severe casualty of the day with a pretty good headache from smacking my head. (I AM FINE, NO DAMAGE, STOP WORRYING, I'M OKAY!:)
This is as far as we got in photo-taking for the day, but our adventures continued. We hiked back to our 'base camp' (another hostal, a sister agency to the one we stayed at) and ate our little home-packed lunches (we were so proud...went to the bodegona, everyone pitched in for whatever they wanted), and we had a little picnic overlooking the river. (My personal finds were apples, carrots, and peanut butter...tostadas with beans and guac were good, peanut butter sandwiches...we looked like a pretty interesting little group of white people, I'm sure.)
The next adventure was also beyond words.
We each got a handmade candle and hiked through some amazing caves. Water went from dampness on the floor to neck+ deep and back to ankle deep and using the sides of the cave to guide us forward, entirely by candlelight. We climbed up some rope ladders and made some jumps from rock to rock. (Stuff that would never be legal in the states due to a whole lot of liability, but we had an incredibly time and were perfectly safe.) At the half-way point, I climbed to the highest point and jumped into a little pool in the pitch black. So many endorphins mixed with adrenaline, happy campers out of all of us.
Our final obstacle coming back out of the cave was a foot-first slide through a hole between 2 and 3 feet in diameter. Bent legs, slick rock, rushing water, and I was the second person through (after a hippie English guy, who was a hoot!).
Laughs and adventures and a very good sleep that night, we enjoyed it so much and regretted nothing about our weekend.
In attempts to summarize the weekend, we brainstormed countless one-liner blog titles to explain our adventure...so, for your entertainment, here's a big handful of blog post titles this weekend could have been given and, as needed, their explanations:
The next adventure was also beyond words.
We each got a handmade candle and hiked through some amazing caves. Water went from dampness on the floor to neck+ deep and back to ankle deep and using the sides of the cave to guide us forward, entirely by candlelight. We climbed up some rope ladders and made some jumps from rock to rock. (Stuff that would never be legal in the states due to a whole lot of liability, but we had an incredibly time and were perfectly safe.) At the half-way point, I climbed to the highest point and jumped into a little pool in the pitch black. So many endorphins mixed with adrenaline, happy campers out of all of us.
Our final obstacle coming back out of the cave was a foot-first slide through a hole between 2 and 3 feet in diameter. Bent legs, slick rock, rushing water, and I was the second person through (after a hippie English guy, who was a hoot!).
Laughs and adventures and a very good sleep that night, we enjoyed it so much and regretted nothing about our weekend.
In attempts to summarize the weekend, we brainstormed countless one-liner blog titles to explain our adventure...so, for your entertainment, here's a big handful of blog post titles this weekend could have been given and, as needed, their explanations:
- "this would be totally illegal in the states"
not a single liability wavier. - "never going home"
- "when 6 hours becomes 11: driving in Guat"
- "I feel like a manatee"
sometimes, when you're floating in paradise, people say weird things and everyone channels their inner manatee - "chacos appreciation post"
i hiked a mountain in them. then i swam in them. then i went spelunking in them. chacos for the win. - "Do you have a boyfriend?"
my guide, trying to be conversational, also trying to figure out if i'd go on a date with him. he was 18. - "varying degrees of insanity"
- "fitting big people in little places"
the story of cave spelunking; 'you mean i'm gonna get through *there*?' - "and to think our guide wore flipflops"
he did, not even kidding. - "did we just do that?"
- "little cave, big headache"
you'll have plenty of room, he said. lots of room to breathe, no worries, he said.
he lied. - "getting whistled at by a 6 year old"
- "this is aMAzing!"
the inflection is incredibly important, credit to the always lovely becca r - "driving with a very flat tire"
you can't change flat tires when it's after 10pm in the middle of a jungle, especially if you don't have a spare - "(basically) tarantulas in the shower"
- "I'm drinking coffee for your protection"
not a whole lot of sleep that first night. - "is this real life?"
- "waving at children from the bed of a pickup"
literally the most beautiful children I have ever seen, thinking it's hysterical to wave at the very white tourists and giggling and getting excited when we waved right back. - "try not to die!"
- "sleeping with bug spray"
i put it on right before bed. both nights. no joke. - "this is my happy place"
- "You want buy chocolate? Chocolate delicious!"
- "I feel like I should be coming up with a lot of really deep metaphors"
when everything is beautiful and you're messing around with caves and springs, but the words just aren't there. - "What even is life?"
- "gotta get all of my $55 worth!"
the joke of the weekend. any one of our activities would have been worth every penny. - "all the bugs"
- "I don't have a word for this"
some of us are nearly bilingual, still, this experience was too much for words.