Central America part 2
The Lonely Planet Guide, aka The Bible has warnings on every page for Guatemala. Amidst all the dangers of this country, sadly we passed a dreadful accident on our way to Semuc Champey. A huge colourful crowd of townfolk had gathered along the steep winding road to gawk at the crushed vehicle that seemingly took a descending turn too fast, rammed the guardrail and plummented at least 100 meters into a valley in the middle of this village. We also stopped for a requisite ´sticky-beak´. An hour or so later, our comfortable ride on smooth pothole-free roads suddenly morphed into a narrow dirt track winding precariously downhill through a lush and beautiful valley towards Lanquin.
Far along the way of our eight hour journey, we picked up a handlful of seemingly middle-class (for this region) kids who sang Spanish songs at the back of the eighteen-seater minibus. Until then it was just Nova, the driver and I. He was very friendly. He even took us to visit his wife and daughter at their home in Coban and Nova gave the little one some pens and paper she had with her. Many of the local people we have encountered here dont speak English. Thank goodness Nova speaks some Spanish. I am managing to get by on the little I remember from the two courses I took years ago.
The Guatemalan people, with Mayan descent, have round faces, a box-like structure and cafe-con-leche skin, with thick, shiny black hair. I am yet to see a bald man. They are friendly in a shy way and extremely polite with kind smiles. Even the machette-toting teenagers - boys and girls alike. We akso saw a tiny child with a machette-knife almost half his size. Wrinkled, tiny old women with huge burdens literally on their heads, colourful skirts of local weave wrapped around their waists. A very interesting race.
Friday the thirteenth - a good luck day I think. I spent a couple of hours perched on a private dock on River Cohabon at a rustic, somewhat primitive lodge called Las Marias. The sounds of birds and insects, as well as the gentle running water of the river, eventually combined with the Mex-American who came to share this tranquility. The ride here was spectatuclar. Our cameras cannot do it justice. The last nine kilometers getting here were spent in the back of a pick-up truck, hanging on for dear life with our backpacks and some locals. We bumped over potholes and the through forest-like terrain until reaching this little piece of paradise.
Semuc Champey is a beautiful spot with cascading waterfalls and perfect, blue-green pools. The water is clear and we swam with all the tiny fish, using goggles to get the best veiw. Unfortunately it started to rain just as we arrived, but we were lucky to have completed the steep 1.2km hike to the view point at the top of the mountain in a measly half an hour in the dry heat just before that. (The sign says it takes one hour fifteen minutes!). The rain didnt stop us as we figured we were wet already.
The morning was spent touring the Las Marias caves. The adrenalin rush began with a swing and jump into the river. I was kinda scared, but did it anyway. Hmmm, I didnt really want to let go, and that resulted in a minor rope burn. Nothing serious. Luckily we spent the next couple of hours in the cool water underground, where our Spanish guide led the way with his headlamp and we struggled to keep our candles lit whilst swimming through these caves. There were bats and stalacmites and slippery rocks and waterfalls and metals ladders to climb and descend. It was great fun. That night we had dinner with a rather large crowd for this tranquil hideaway (about 20 people), and a Mariamba band played local music for us and some of us danced the Merenge.
The weather has been warm and sunny in the mornings with rain and thunderstorms in the afternoons, then usually dry again by evening. This afternoon we arrived in Flores after a very long and uneventful bus ride. The climate is different here as we move north and eastward and it is hot and humid here. An early night for us as we have a few days of very early starts ahead of us. Tikal tomorrow and then on to Belize for some diving and snorkelling.
Love Karen
Far along the way of our eight hour journey, we picked up a handlful of seemingly middle-class (for this region) kids who sang Spanish songs at the back of the eighteen-seater minibus. Until then it was just Nova, the driver and I. He was very friendly. He even took us to visit his wife and daughter at their home in Coban and Nova gave the little one some pens and paper she had with her. Many of the local people we have encountered here dont speak English. Thank goodness Nova speaks some Spanish. I am managing to get by on the little I remember from the two courses I took years ago.
The Guatemalan people, with Mayan descent, have round faces, a box-like structure and cafe-con-leche skin, with thick, shiny black hair. I am yet to see a bald man. They are friendly in a shy way and extremely polite with kind smiles. Even the machette-toting teenagers - boys and girls alike. We akso saw a tiny child with a machette-knife almost half his size. Wrinkled, tiny old women with huge burdens literally on their heads, colourful skirts of local weave wrapped around their waists. A very interesting race.
Friday the thirteenth - a good luck day I think. I spent a couple of hours perched on a private dock on River Cohabon at a rustic, somewhat primitive lodge called Las Marias. The sounds of birds and insects, as well as the gentle running water of the river, eventually combined with the Mex-American who came to share this tranquility. The ride here was spectatuclar. Our cameras cannot do it justice. The last nine kilometers getting here were spent in the back of a pick-up truck, hanging on for dear life with our backpacks and some locals. We bumped over potholes and the through forest-like terrain until reaching this little piece of paradise.
Semuc Champey is a beautiful spot with cascading waterfalls and perfect, blue-green pools. The water is clear and we swam with all the tiny fish, using goggles to get the best veiw. Unfortunately it started to rain just as we arrived, but we were lucky to have completed the steep 1.2km hike to the view point at the top of the mountain in a measly half an hour in the dry heat just before that. (The sign says it takes one hour fifteen minutes!). The rain didnt stop us as we figured we were wet already.
The morning was spent touring the Las Marias caves. The adrenalin rush began with a swing and jump into the river. I was kinda scared, but did it anyway. Hmmm, I didnt really want to let go, and that resulted in a minor rope burn. Nothing serious. Luckily we spent the next couple of hours in the cool water underground, where our Spanish guide led the way with his headlamp and we struggled to keep our candles lit whilst swimming through these caves. There were bats and stalacmites and slippery rocks and waterfalls and metals ladders to climb and descend. It was great fun. That night we had dinner with a rather large crowd for this tranquil hideaway (about 20 people), and a Mariamba band played local music for us and some of us danced the Merenge.
The weather has been warm and sunny in the mornings with rain and thunderstorms in the afternoons, then usually dry again by evening. This afternoon we arrived in Flores after a very long and uneventful bus ride. The climate is different here as we move north and eastward and it is hot and humid here. An early night for us as we have a few days of very early starts ahead of us. Tikal tomorrow and then on to Belize for some diving and snorkelling.
Love Karen
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