Sensational Semuc Champey

Friday 2pm I left Antigua for the 5hr trip to Lanquin.  I arrived 9hrs later at the hostel only to find out they hadn't received my email, had no booking for me & no beds left.  However they did have a spare hammock out the back and that's where I ended up for the night.

The next day I joined a day tour of Semuc Champey.  Amazing.  And the tour guide was excellent and there was a good group of single-serving friends on the tour.

It was seriously one of those days where you are just 'wow, this is the best day ever'.
We started the morning with a cave tour.  The caves had underground streams in them so all we had was bathers, shoes and candles to light the way.

We had to scramble over rocks, climb rickety ladders and climb a rope up a waterfall.  You had to swim along holding your candle above your head.  At the end it opened up into a fairly deep pool.  Up on one side you could climb up and jump off.  It was about 3m high, but if you jumped too high you would hit your head on the ceiling and if you jumped too far out you'd hit the rocks on the other side.

So I climbed on up.  It wasn't til I got to the top that I remembered I don't really like heights or jumping off things like this much.  I must have looked like I was shitting myself because everyone was cheering me on.  So I jumped, it was way easier than trying to climb down again, and I didn't want to look like a pussy in front of everyone.  Peer pressure such a great thing.  It was so much fun.

Outside the caves there was a river and a swimming spot with a great rope swing from this huge tree.  In the water were a couple of old guys having a bath, soaping themselves up while they watched us on the swing and nodding their approval and giving you a 'muy bien' if you landed well.  It was a great swing, about a 4m drop when you let go above the water.  One of the girls did the hugest belly-wacker I have ever seen.  She just dropped straight on her gut from about 4m.  And yeah it took her a long time to get out of the water, the next day it was all red and bruised looking. Ouch!  And the old fellas were all 'ohhh muy malo'.

So after the caves we went to Semuc Champey.  First we climbed to the lookout where the view was just sensational.  The pools of Semuc Champey lay in the bottom of a steep, narrow valley. The series of pools run along the bottom and the water is a bright aquamarine and crystal clear.

So we went down for a swim and went from pool to pool sliding down the rocks like slides and jumping off others.  A perfect day.