View of the pools from a lookout high above
The hostel here sits right on the river, a series of thatched huts serving as dorms and rooms. Cows wander around the large property, occasionally stopping by the hammock area to have a leisurely chew on someones towel or bathing suit left out to dry. There's a dock to lie out on, fields of grass, firepits, beautiful scenery of both the nature and animal variety, a cool river to beat the heat, and fun and interesting people to hang out with. All these factors and more combine to make it a very difficult place to leave. Sure, there's also somewhat scary and euphemistically named "eco-toilets" that contain strangely detailed usage instructions for what appears to be a hole in the ground and have nearby buckets of lye. Yes, occasionally turning the shower knob can lead to a disconcerting electric shock. Admittedly, the sight of the staff emptying all the mattresses out of the dorm room next to mine and performing a complicated anti-bedbug process is somewhat disturbing. Of course without these charming little hiccups I probably couldn't get a room for 4$ a night and the place would most likely be a boring resort style hotel catering to a richer and older crowd. So, I wouldn't dream of complaining.
Cow that tried to steal and eat my board shorts
An extremely popular destination it has a lively restaurant/bar and every night plays host to buffet style meals, happy hours, drinking games and dancing. There's even a giant, scaled up set of Jenga blocks that stands over waist-high, every block with different rules such as "Jump in the river or drink 5". Very fun. It's interesting to see how, as every day a new group of tourists arrive and leave, the scene subtly changes. Seems to be at least 50 different people staying here at all times with large groups leaving and arriving daily. Getting some decent Spanish practice after making friends with a local who works behind the bar for the hostel.
Our previous group of 5 travelers was down to just Mike and I, and we made the most of it, enjoying some really fun days and nights before he had to head back to Antigua for Spanish school. The Semuc Champey tour includes a couple hours in this incredible limestone cavern. Our exploration of it just scratched the surface as the tunnels extend for over 10 kilometers. Filled with gently flowing water that is often deeper than I am tall and dark side passages with roaring waterfalls that I imagine would sweep you deep into the mountain, to be entombed forever. The rock formations in the cave are also very interesting despite the lack of light to see as much of them as I'd have liked. The passage through the cave, with a large group of people and only a couple guides was a bit cold and at times kind of scary. The only light is the lit candle that each person carries, casting strange shadows and giving the whole thing the feeling and appearance of some arcane and primitive cult-like ceremony. Something very evocative of ancient ritualism about a long line of people holding candles filing through a dark limestone cavern with water up to their necks. There's places where you have to climb up or down rickety metal rungs or swing through a cascading waterfall holding tight to a rope, giving the whole thing that wonderfully Central American feel of dubious and tentative safety. Can't say I've ever done anything quite like it before.
Els and I chilling out in the pools
After emerging, teeth chattering, from the cave we headed for the park and a lazy rest of the day swimming in the pools, relaxing and hiking up to a nearby lookout point. It's a beautiful area and it was nice the sun finally deigned to come out for awhile. Had so much fun we went back the next day just to spend the entire afternoon hanging out in the park and jumping off a nearby bridge. Jumping off of things seems to be somewhat of a theme of this trip... After a long day at the park, me, Els (a very nice Belgium girl I met), and Rikki (another nice girl) decided a nice sauna was in order. The thing is a wood heated hot-box, hotter than anything I've ever experienced, hot like the burning inferno of hell. Might not have been the best idea to match Els' determination to stay in for a neverending 15 minutes...After stumbling gratefully out, probably seconds prior to death, and into the river, I lay back on the dock and noticed that the entire world was spinning crazily and the stars were doing vaguely hallucinatory movements, jumping around wildly and such. Had a lot of fun nights, we celebrated a full moon for 3 nights straight as no one was sure which night was the "actual" full moon.
Uhhh, that´s me in the background to the left....
A familiar pose
The form of transport most common in the area, and the one we used, involved packing as many people as possible into the back of a pickup truck modified to hold cattle. That combined with the mountain roads led to some pretty painful rides as you had to continually brace yourself and tightly grip any available surface to avoid being thrown around. My personal record down here was 25 people crammed into a van that was made to hold 15 at the very most. Was really quite impressive actually.
Mooooooo!!!
Another fun activity is floating lazily down the river, an hour's stretch worth, soaking up the sun and enjoying the amusement of watching people who are inexplicably unable to steer an innertube get stuck in various branches and obstacles. Was planning to leave on Saturday and meet Els and Rikki in Rio Dulce, but felt compelled to stay another couple of days. Even now I can feel my brain inventing rationales and reasons to further extend my stay. Could easily do this for a month rather than a mere week.
Another cool thing is the nearby bat cave unleashes thousands of bats every night at dusk and they swoop along the river eating hateful mosquitoes. There's a rope stretching across the middle of the river by the hostel (the current's pretty fast) and you can hang on to it, stationary in the middle of the river as the seemingly neverending bat swarm rushes over your head and by your face, often swerving at the last moment to avoid collision. It's kind of creepy and freaky but at the same time a very cool and unique experience.
Seems to be a different group of revelers every night, and even though it gets a bit annoying going through the same questions/answers time and again (Where you from, going, been? How long? What do you do back home? etc?) it's still cool to meet new and different people every night. Still on my 1-man mission to try and show people that Americans are not some monolithic and homogenous culture, where every single person is a bible-thumping and war-mongering demagogue. Actually won a game of Texas Hold-Em Poker!!! I never win.
Last night in Lanquin I walked up to the actual bat cave to check it out. Pretty spooooky. Some 16 year old kid smooth-talked me into agreeing to have him ¨guide¨ me through the cave, but the buck fifty tip was well worth it just to practice my Spanish and have him take pictures of me. It´s incredible how many bats there are, a neverending stream of them flying madly around and out of the cave. I know they´re not likely to hit me but it really is hard not to flinch when they´re flying right at your face. Was very cool though, they turned off all the lights in the cave and have you stand in the entrance in pitch blackness and you can feel the thousands of bats just whooshing right past you.
Sonofabitch tried to put that spider on me! Uh uh!
Finally managed to drag myself away from Lanquin and headed to Rio Dulce, a small town on a Lake, with it´s river namesake leading out to the Carribean Coastal city of Livingston, my next destination. Spent a two nights in Rio Dulce at a Hostel on the Lakeside, accessible only by boat. Was nice, though the hostel seemed to be a bit inland from the lakeshore in what can only be described as a swamp. Small cabins and dorms connected by dockways over the swamp along with rather gloomy lighting conspired to give the place a bit of a horror movie waiting to happen feel. This wasn´t helped by the large taciturn Swiss guy who ran the place, closely resembled a walrus, and seemed to communicate only in grunts. Did manage to make a daytrip to the only hot waterfall in Central America. Natural hot springs bubble up from the ground into a small river which then pours over rocks into a normal river. You can stand in the cold water as the hot waterfall pours down on your head or climb to the top of it and soak in the pools up there. Was very pleasant even though you´re unable to safely jump off of it!
Just arrived in Livingston, it´s like a whole other country, with a lively mix of West African slave decendants, Maya, and regular Spanish speaking Guatemalans. Will head to Belize next to spend some lazy days on the white sand beaches of the Keys. Getting down to the last couple months of my adventure, will be good to head home and see everybody. Take Care! -Azi
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