AAAHHH...ANTIGUA!!
the cathedral lining el parque central at nighttime
Journal Entry
February 26, 2006
Antigua, Guatemala
Right now I'm lying on my very comfortable bed in my totally private room in the home of Carolina Jagau, my family host here with the Ixchel Language School. I've unpacked my entire bag and am very happy to be settled in one place for a while. Since I left El Remate only a couple days ago, I feel as though I've been on a most extreme adventure, and really I guess I have.
Rick and I hailed a minibus full of locals in El Remate for a ride to Santa Elena en route to the day's final destination of Coban. Now, when I say minibus full of locals, I mean FULL! I've never in my life seen so many people fit into minibuses like I have since travelling through Guatemala. Even when you think there's no way another child could fit, a woman and her 3 children will squeeze on in, and that's just the people, nevermind all the cargo (which sometimes includes people) on the roof. It's absolutely insane, but it is certainly a sight to be seen and an exciting journey to be had.
Although most conversation on any of the buses was between myself and Rick, it's very clear that Guatemala is full of wonderful people. They are all very quiet and softspoken, even the kids, and always greet a smile or hello with a very warm HOLA and smile in return. The kids are especially fabulous. Not only are they extremely well behaved, even under the hottest and most cramped conditions, but they are truly beautiful and wear the warmest smiles of them all. I seemed to be able to invoke many of them and of course that made me happy.
It took us almost 7 hours, and 4 buses, to get from El Remate in the north to Coban in the centre. As Rick and I stood waiting for our final bus on the busy market street of Raxucha (sp?), a young girl came up to me to sell me some food and instead stayed and chatted with me for the entire 15-20 minute wait. She knew no english, but with my broken spanish we were able to discover much about each other. It took her hearing it a couple times to believe that my family was not only small (one brother, no sisters...couldn't get into the step family explanations as my spanish is defnitely not that good) but that my mama and papa were both far away in Canada. She her self of course had 4 sisters and 3 brothers. She was very taken with my yin yang necklace and very much enjoyed our conversation, especially my full body sign language in trying to explain what my sleeping bag was. She stuck with me until I left, waving at me through the window as my bus pulled away, easily the most jam packed bus of them all. At it's fullest I believe we had 25 people in there, although about 7 of them were ninos.
We finally made it to Coban in the early evening, tired and starving after a long day on the road and many servings of crackers. We found our hostel, Casa D'Acuna with some help from a fellow gringo, in town from LA volunteering with a group called Eco-Quetzal that sounds very interesting and worth checking out in the future. As we wandered around Coban a little after a very expensive (by backpacking standards) but very satisfying pesto pizza, we bumped into our volunteer friend again and chatted with him and a few other American guys in town working on various projects. They all told us that Semuc Champey was a MUST SEE and totally worth every last bit of time and money it would take to get there. I had already caught wind of its existance in an MSN conversation with Pat, but wasn't sure I would have the time. After talking to those guys and seeing a couple photos, which did not do it justice, Rick and I could not resist the temptation to squeeze it in. It certainly added some to the budget but was worth every last penny.
The drive down to Coban from El Remate takes a decided geological turn in the final leg when you cut into the mountain and begin 2-3 hours of switchbacks, peaks and valleys are deep and lush and beautifully green. They are unlike any I've seen before and I can't quite pinpoint why, but my best answer is their depth and dense lushness, if that's a word. Semuc Champey is buried within the depths of this lush jungle mountain. It takes 2.5 hours (partly back up north) from Coban with the final hour or so on a very windy, VERY bumpy road. It's the kind of place (including the surprisingly sized town of Lanquin about 10 Kms before you reach Semuc Champey itlself) that you are shocked to find there because it's so buried. The ride may be bumpy but it's also incredibly beautiful. The whole way down I had a sense like I was descending into a magical place. There were even overgrown parts of the mountains that we couldn't help but wonder whether they were in fact undiscovered Mayan temples.
Rick and I had scored some kind of promotional deal with our fare in that gave us a night's accomodation at the year old jungle hostel retreat Hospedje de la Sapote for a measly 5 Quetzals (less that $1 USD) more than the fare so of course we took it. It certainly seemed somewhat questionable but it was totally legit and the place was a little piece of heaven buried deep in the Guatemalan mountains.
the beautiful cascading pools of Semuc Champey as the day neared dusk
Luck seemed to be on our side all around yesterday as we got a guided tour of the caves near Semuc and a hike in Semuc Champey (National Park) for no more that the price of admission to each. The park itself is a natural wonder with gorgeous blue cascading pools, connected by tiny waterfalls, running through the valley. The pools are deep enough to dive into and the fresh water is the perfect cool temperature. They are really to hard to describe with any real hope of properly converying the beauty, but they will remain on my recommendation list forever. The hike up to the Mirador lookout point is not for the faint of heart or those with full hands. This is the kind of hike that requires special attention to footholes and a hand down for extra stability but it's worth it! Just wish I hadn't had to do it in my flip flops but it took it a bit slower and made out just fine. The sweat was dripping down my back by the end of it all and leisurely swim around the natural pools was the perfect way to end an exhilerating and challenging day.
The real challenge of the day's activities came at the beginning as we made our way deep into the dark caves near Semuc. I'm really not one for caves, they totally freak me out, always have, but I'm on this trip to challenge myself myself so I fought off the creepy feelings and made my way into the dark, with nothing but a candle to guide me, along with the rest of the group. I wasn't sure how long I'd last when, a few steps in, the bats starting chirping and dashing about. It's the bats in caves that really get my skin crawling, but stubborn as I am, I continued on, cause I just really couldn't be "that girl". I sure am glad I did too, because it was an awesome experience. We waded and swam the cave waters, climbed stragetically placed ladders and hopped over internal waterfalls, all with candles in hand and mine only went out once. It was beautiful to take a moment in a deep, dark cave a watch as 18 torches walked, climbed and swam along through, lighting the way. A lazy float, in an inner tube, down the river after resurfacing was the perfect was to close the terrifying and exciting trek into the caves.
Easily one of best parts of my day, yesterday, as meeting John and Jessica, from Colarado. They are two of nicest and funnest people I've met in my trip and I'm only sorry we didn't have more time to spend together. They very kindly gave me a hammock they had purchased in Flores since they had later found two others they liked more and no longer wanted to carry the extra weight. It also doesn't hurt that John picked a beautiful colour palette. It was hard to say good bye to them so soon and truly hop that our paths will cross again either in my home or theirs, wherever that may be.
The mission to make it to Antigua this afternoon made for yet another long day of ahiry bus rides that started before dawn. I could barely keep my head up or my eyes open on the bumpy roads out of Semuc but I did do so long enough to see a big, bright, orange, sun rise up from behind the mountaintops. It was the best sunrise I've probably ever seen and I wish I had a photo to share. I don't, however, and so it will remain a magical picture I hold sacredly in my mind, much like my trip to Semuc Champey as a whole.
Now, I have settled into my home in Antigua and am looking forward to a good night's sleep that will not include the viewing of a sunrise in the morning, though it will still be an early one as tomorrow I begin my quest to become a Spanish speaker.
Good night! Buenos Noches!