Lanquin, Guatemala

June 17: Coban to Lanquin

We woke up this morning, and Phil's fever had broken, so that was a huge relief. He still definitely did not feel 100%, but there was improvement, so we packed very leisurely, and headed our for a quick breakfast at the same restaurant, where Phil was able to secure some delicious chicken soup and I ate some eggs. Also, it turns out the owner is a husky breeder, so we got a sneak peak of one of her recent litters--so cute!!! Then we headed off to find the Maya museum, but it turns out that it is now closed. On our way back, Phil heard some Marimba music, and his ears perked up. Phil has been wanting to see a live marimba band since we got to Guate, so we stood around the entrance and tried to glance inside. A nice Guatemalan lady who spoke great English noticed our faces asked us if we needed some help, so we told her we were wondering if it would be ok for us to go inside and listen. We weren't sure if the place was a nursing school or a nursing home, but she went inside and asked, and apparently it was a birthday celebration for all the elderly people (we were now assuming it was some kind of nursing home, although all the residents seemed to be in quite good health). We walked in, and there was two marimbas, one giant one being played by four guys in camo outfits, and a second, smaller one. We tried to scoot to the side of the giant ballroom-like room , but one of the older ladies started yelling "Baila, baila!!!" ("Dance, dance!!"). So Phil and I obliged, to cheers from the entire room. It was kinda cool. But, since Phil still wasn't feeling so great, we stopped pretty quickly. However, there was no rest for us. At the end of the song, an older lady (just a bit taller than my belly button) grabbed me and we started dancing. A young woman grabbed Phil, and we were off. At this point, the cameras came out, and Phil and I were probably being videotaped by at least five or six people. We danced a couple more songs, and then decided we should probably get on our way, so we thanked everyone and left. We headed back to the hostel, then off to the bus station to grab a bus to Lanquin. A very very bumpy two hours later, we made it to Lanquin, and headed to Zephyr lodge.  

Zephyr lodge is one of those places you hear about before you even get there, so we made sure to make reservations because it's usually full. Zephyr is set on the top a of a hill, with gorgeous views of the river and surrounding valley. We were briefed on Zephyr's rules, set our bags down and grabbed some amazing dinner, chicken curry and a pizza. We set up a tour to the caves/Semuc Champey, and then we had some drinks and played a few rounds of rummy with a nice pair of sisters from the states before we headed to bed. 


June 18: tour of the caves and Semuc Champey

We woke up, grabbed some breakfast, and we were off! First, a 45 minute super super bumpy ride in the back of a pickup with 18 other people. Then we got out and walked for just a few minutes until we got to the front office desk, where we took off all our clothes and shoes, stuffed them into our bags, and were handed a candle. Then we went up a short set of stairs, lit our candles, and went into the cave. This caving experiences was definitley on the top of coolest things we've ever done. We were at the back of the group, which was rather large, so there was a lot of waiting, but basically, we followed this underground river through its cave system. For the most part, it was either ankle- or knee- deep, but there were lots of parts where we had to swim, with one hand (the other one is holding the candle), and very softly so that you don't kick any random rocks to hard (you kick and punch rocks anyway). There's one part where you have to climb up and down some ladders, another where you climb up a waterfall using a rope (at this point I fell down, but fortunately didn't get hurt too badly). Then you keep going till you get to this one spot, where it is "deep enough to jump into the pool below you." This was definitely the most sketchy part of the tour, because, by this point, basically everyone's candle is out (the guide set up two or three around the pool so there would be at least some light). We climbed up about 10 feet or so, and jumped in the direction the guide pointed in. And we survived! Then we headed back out in the direction we came in, trying to light our wet candles,which turned out to be a bit more difficult than we expected. The last thing we did on our way out (on the way in we climbed up a ladder and around this area), was squeeze through this tiny passageway where the river was flowing, then go underwater with the river under some rocks. The guide was yelling "left, left!!" so you just had to take a giant breath and hope you were going under in the correct direction. Apparently I didn't take a deep enough breath, or maybe I just didn't go "left" enough, but I tried to come up a bit too early, and smacked my head on the rock. Fortunately, the end of the passage (and some much desired air) were close by, and I emerged only slightly freaked out and slightly bleeding. Then it was only a few more minutes to the exit of the cave. We walked back down the stairs and grabbed our stuff from the shack. 
Then we continued our day by jumping off at 12m bridge into the river, which was quite exhilarating. After taking a quick break for lunch, we started hiking to Semuc Champey. Basically you just hike up a giant hill for 15-20 mins until you get to the view point, snap a picture and then head back down the hill to swim in the pools. We spent about two hours swimming in the pools, with our guide showing us various places to slide down and jump off, and even go into a mini-cave that only fits your head. Exhausted, we headed back to the truck for the 45 minute ride back up the bumpy road to Zephyr. Once at Zephyr, we enjoyed a shower, a nap, some dinner, and then bed.


June 19: Hanging out and tubing the river
Today was a relatively relaxed day. We woke up, ate a leisurely breakfast and read for a few hours. Then we scarfed down a quick lunch before heading out to go tubing down the river. We hopped in the truck, with tubes and everyone's pre-ordered beers in a mesh sack. It was a quick 10 minute ride to the river, where we promptly hopped in and cracked a beer. We floated for a few minutes, then stopped for a while to consume some beers, then continued on down the quiet river, with a few patches of "rapids" here and there. After about three hours, we got to giant tree, and everyone got out and we drove back to Zephyr, where we enjoyed our last amazing-view-shower, some dinner, drinks and bed.