What´s Black and Blue and Scraped all over?

Lizzy!

 

So on this, our 68th day, we celebrate Guatemalan Independence Day.  Festivities seemed to have begun full fledged yesterday as people from all around began coming into this small town of Lanquin for celebrations.  Firecrackers (more than normal, which is already lots!), whistles, chants, drumming and other music -- it seems to be a festive affair.  But the day is still young, and expectations are still high.

 

In the last week, we have traveled quite a bit staying no more than two nights in any given place.  It began with crossing just over the border into Honduras to see the Mayan ruins at Copan.  They are supposed to be some of the more pristine ruins, very well maintained and home to the "hieroglyphic stairway", which archaeological linguistics have discovered as telling the history of this sophisticated society.  It is also the longest known consecutive hieroglyphic script.  It was the first of many ruins we will encounter.

 

We then headed back into Guatemala and on to Rio Dulce, a riverside town on the Caribbean side of the country about 50 miles inland.  We stayed at Bruno´s and quickly learned this particular area is one of the safest harbors in the Caribbean, evidenced by the probably hundreds of not-so-small sailboats and yachts docked to wait out hurricane season.  (It was also a pleasant reminder that we are still in hurricane season and NEVER know what the weather is going to be.)  We got there just in time to see a beautiful sunset from the top of the longest bridge in Guatemala.  We woke up the next day and walked to a castle once used by Spanish conquistadors as a holding (torture) cell during the Spanish inquisition.  Destroyed by earthquakes of the past, it was reconstructed in the 1950s and now a tourist site and the surrounding park a popular swimming destination for locals, mostly because it is HOT there.

From there, we zig-zagged (after missing a bus) back west and stopped for the night at a national park, Biotopo del Quetzal.  The cool mountains were a welcome after the coastal heat.  While there, thanks to the keen eye of the hotel owner´s daughter, we actually saw a Quetzal, the Guatemalan national bird.  It is a brilliant green, with a mix of teal, and known for its extremely long tail.  The Guatemalan currency is named after it.

 

While there, we started our ongoing game of Rummy (or maybe Gin or Gin Rummy...anyone know the difference).  A few more rounds since and the score stands for now at...

 

Lizard = 1995

Bob = 2190

 

We woke up early the next day to finish our trek through Coban to Lanquin, where we have been for the past two days.  Luckily, there was dorm space available in El Retiro, a highly recommended hostel in town.  The first afternoon, we walked to the Lanquin caves for some amature spelunking (the kind with electrical lighting and stairways throughout).  We took a nice tube ride down the emerald green river to get back to El Retiro in time for the evening´s festivities: an international game of Monopoly (where Campbanetti enterprises represented US capitalism well), an insane buffet feast for dinner (which is apparently a bi-weekly affair which we might just have to stick around for again!), and a little drinking and dancing to heal the Monopoly wounds (you know, the usual "foreign policy" of smoothing over of Capitalist effects).

 

Yesterday was perhaps our most spectacular day so far on our trip, certainly adding to the list of things you will not find anywhere else in the world.  We visited the pools and caves of Semuc Champey.  We still felt a little tired after a night of monopoly and dancing, but quickly woke up after a 30 minute winding ride through the mountains in the back of a pick-up truck.  The pictures we took couldn't´t possibly capture the beauty of the mountains; it was breath-taking!

 

We arrived at the entrance of the park and split into two groups.  Our group was a melting pot of nationalities and made for an entertaining day.  We started with a 45 minute hike up an incredibly steep hill (love our keens!)to the ¨mirador¨, which was a look-out point above the pools of Semuc Champey.  Millions of years ago the river cut through the mountains of limestone to create pockets of pools.  However, the pools are not supplied by the water of the river, but by the water that runs off of the mountains.  The river now circumvents its original path as it cuts through the mountain from a different route.  This phenomena has created one of the most beautiful attractions in Guatemala.   

 

After sufficiently capturing photos of the amazing view, we hiked another 30 minutes to the pools.  Our guide and adventurous group didn´t waste any time and quickly dove into the first pool.  This led to a 40 minute session of "pool hopping", where our guide brought us from one pool to the next.  The depth of the pools varied greatly and we were able to dive into the middle and swim to the nearest embankment.  From there we would climb out of the water onto the slippery limestone to the next pool.  So incredibly fun. 

 

After a super-healthy lunch of chips, peanut butter and crackers, we headed to the caves for an experience unlike anywhere else in the world -- probably because it would never be deemed safe enough anywhere else in the world!  It took almost two hours going in and out.  We each carried our own candle and walked, waded and swam through the water filled caves, all while trying to keep our only light source alive and well.  There were ladders precariously tied to stalactites, that often led us through extremely narrow passages just (barely) enough for us to squeeze through.  There was even one small pool we came to that couldn´t have been more than 15 feet in diameter where we voluntarily climbed 10 feet or so up the side of the cave and jumped in.  (Let me repeat, the only light source was 12 candles, some of which would go out from the splashing canon balls!)  It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time (as you can imagine has been a trend with our experiences).  Are we glad we did it?  Absolutely.  Will we do it again?  Hell no!

 

We finished with the caves around 4:00 pm, but we couldn't leave without one more adventure. A few people from our group, including Robert, found themselves standing on top of the bridge.  They jumped into the rushing river forty feet below them!  Unfortunately, the camera was running low on battery power, so "Bob" had to jump in twice.  The second attempt left him with a sore bum, but an excellent picture!

 

Bruised, scraped, exhausted, and happy, we rode back to the hostel to enjoy dinner with our international crew.

 

What can we do in Mexico......