CHAPTER 8
I pulled out the map of Guatemala and unfolded it across the dashboard. We had just driven the 2hrs south from Flores to Ruxruja, and were faced with a fork in the road: we could travel the long way around to Semuc Champey via Coban on the main highway- a distance of 150 miles, or, if you looked really closely at the map, there seemed to be a nice little shortcut through the mountains that was only 30 miles or so. Never mind that it was only shown on one of the four references we had- our map, our GPS, and our two guide books- our map was the most detailed of these, so it would make sense if it wasn’t shown on the others. “Well, which way should I go?” Kacey asked me as we came to the intersection. “Um… left- ya, go left. It should be a nice drive through the mountains, and even if it is a dirt road, we’ll still get there in an hour or two.” I replied, only slightly unconfidently.
Five hours later we finally pulled into town. The road had started off as a nice paved highway, but after only a few miles became a construction zone. There was heavy machinery everywhere, and the road now looked like a newly tilled farmers field- huge chunks of dirt and rock ready to be flattened by the steam roller. There weren’t any other cars there, and the construction workers looked at us as if we shouldn’t be there either, but we hadn’t seen any “road closed” signs, and one worker waved us on through. It was a good thing we were in the truck, any other vehicle without 4-wheel-drive wouldn’t have made it more than a few yards. As it was, we were having a pretty bad go of it ourselves. The ground was slightly muddy because it had just rained, and we had to keep moving else we would get stuck. Kacey kept her foot on the peddle, dodged a few earth movers, mud from our tires spraying everywhere, and we were safely through. Her first time 4-wheeling: a complete success!
We soon learned the reason for all the construction- the old road was little more than a dirt track. One lane of twisting, winding switchbacks up and down the steep valleys. The road was so bumpy, strewn with pot holes and littered with big loose rocks, we felt like the truck was in one of those machines they have at the paint store used to shake up your gallon of Dutch Boy. It was clear why all the tour buses leaving Flores to Semuc Champey took the long route, but with the absence of any better justification, we were treated to five hours of some of the most beautiful scenery in Guatemala- that none of those dodgy bus travelers will ever get to see! The views were stunning: vibrant green valleys unfolded below us highlighted by rays of sunshine punching through the towering thunderheads.
Samuc Champey is an amazing natural wonder. Set in the bottom of a deep canyon cut out by a raging river, is an almost fairy tale setting. The river, over the millennia, found a weakness in the limestone bedrock, and a long tunnel was formed under the original river bed, which the river now flows through. The 300 meters of rock left intact above the tunnel has become a series of cascading pools, most as big and deep as large swimming pools. The water in the pools is fed by numerous mountain streams and also the river it’s self, and is as clear as glass. The pools are ringed by tall bushy grass, but perhaps due to the chemicals leaching from the limestone, there aren’t any plants or algae growing in the water. We spent a whole day swimming and jumping from pool to pool, with long breaks of sunbathing and relaxing in between. With the hot sun bearing down, the water took on a faint tint of aquamarine, the rocks where the color of spicy mustard, and combined with the mottled greens of the jungle background, it felt as if we were in some made up world- a ride at Six Flags perhaps, or maybe the set of a movie. All I can say is that if Semuc Champey was in the US, it would probably be a National Monument or something. But as it is, it is safely stuck far away in the remote mountains of central Guatemala, with few visitors, and little fame- just how we like it: hard to get to, and a gem for those who do.
The hotel we were camping at (they let us pop the camper top in their parking lot) was friendly and popular, but they had one more great trait: they happened to own a cave, a product of the same process that made Samuc Champey, and as guests of the hotel you got a pretty nice discount for a tour. They told us to wear our swimming suits because there were some sections you had to walk through water. We showed up at the ticket booth at the entrance, and the guide promptly got down on his knees and started tying strings around our sandals and ankles to prevent them from slipping off. I thought this was a little odd, if we were only going to be walking through a few sections of water, but he assured me it was necessary. We climbed the trail to the cave entrance where the guide handed us each a long thin candle. There was a stream coming out of the opening, and a lit candle set on a ledge. One by one we stepped into the cold water, lit our own candle from the burning one, and waded into the cave. After a few turns in the tunnel, it was completely dark, except for the string of bobbing candles. The floor of the cave alternated between knee deep sections of cold flowing water, and gravel banks above the water level. As we went further though, the water sections became deeper and deeper, until we got to one where the guide jabbered something at us in Spanish that I couldn’t catch, and made some hand signals above his head. One by one we started into the water, but you couldn’t touch the bottom! We had to swim, holding our flickering candles above our heads, kicking carefully, to avoid the jagged rocks hidden by the black water. After this first swim crossing, only a few of us still had lit candles, and those of us less skilled relit our candles from theirs (turns out that I need 2 hands to swim apparently, but Kacey would do good in the Special Olympics- she was like a one armed fish!). I wasn’t quite sure what we would do if we all happened to dunk our flames, but fortunately it never happened… until we rounded a bend and could hear the roaring sound of a waterfall. We had to swim through a long narrow ally with little overhead room, which opened up at the foot of a 20 or 30 foot waterfall streaming out of the wall above us. There was a rickety metal ladder attached to the wall, practically in the flow of the waterfall, which we swam up to and climbed to a opening in the wall near the top of the fall. This time everyone’s candle went dark, but the guide must have had some waterproof matches, because when we got to the top of the ladder, a candle was stuck in a crack in the wall, softly burning, which we used to relight ours. This circuitous cave exploring went on for about one hour, culminating at a deep pool (though we didn’t know this at first), where the guide asked for a brave volunteer. Before I could put my hand up (ya right) a young girl from Guatemala City jumped up and the guide helped her climb about 15 feet up the wall of the cave, and told her to jump. I don’t think she quit knew what she had signed up for, but her jeering friends, and the effects of peer pressure soon got to her, and off she went! It seemed to take a little long, but she finally resurfaced, all smiles, to the cheers of our group. After our brave Guatemalan lemming came through unscathed, we all took a turn scaling the wall and plunging into the murky water. The whole experience seemed like a scene right out of Goonies.
So, after cliff jumping by candle light in a cave hundreds of feet underground, and sunbathing on the edge of glass clear pools on top of a natural limestone bridge above a raging river, our time in Semuc Champey came to an end, but our intrigue with the natural beauty of Guatemala was just beginning. Our next stop: the volcano ringed wonder that is Lago Atitlan.
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