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After successfully summiting 5 volcanoes , my next stop was Semuc Champey. This is a natural 300 m limestone bridge, under which passes the Cahabón River. Atop the bridge is a series of stepped, turquoise pools.
I woke up in the morning , had my breakfast and then bus arrived for pick up to Lanquín. This is a long bus ride of 8 hrs from Antigua via Guatemala City . There is a tourist bus stop at Lanquín. Transpiration from various hotels come there to pick up tourists.
Next day was fully devoted for Semuc Champey. I woke up at 6 , had breakfast at the hotel and then was ready by 8 for pick up. Our pick up van came at 9ish and then it was 1 hr ride to Semuc Champey for the full day.
First stop was at Kanba caves. We had locker where we kept all our belonging .
Visiting the Kanba Caves turned out to be one of our highlights of my time in Guatemala. As I entered the cave and started to wade through the shallow cold water, darkness soon defended and the only source of light was flickering candles, I could not help but thinking the activity I was about to start is a little foolhardy. There is however a certain beauty to the cave which is amplified by the twinkling flames and near darkness of the surroundings. The lack of light heightens your other senses to the smells and sounds of the cave’s echo along with the sound of your heart beating faster with the adrenaline of the experience.
When I first entered the cave, the water is around knee-deep. This does change within minutes to be above my waist and before you know it you can no longer touch the floor. I had the option of going for a one-handed doggy paddle with your candle held aloft or pulling yourself along the ropes set up throughout the cave for safety and ease of passage.
The first major obstacle I met with is the waterfall climb, in honesty this is probably the most dangerous in the Kanba caves but there is a ladder you can take if you doubt your upper body strength. The climb is around 3 meters with decent places to place your feet and a rope to heave your way up.
On the way out of the Kanba caves I was a little sad it was only an hour long. I absolutely loved the excitement of the unknown. I can’t deny it was nice to have full use of my eyes again and to be greeted with the heat of the Guatemalan jungle.
Once out of the cave we walked up little bit to a viewpoint to see the waterfall. There is also a rope swing to jump to the middle of the river , however I skipped the swing
Next was tubing in the river. It is a relaxing activity where one can relax in the tube and can use the hands to control. You can even purchase a beer while in the tube.
After depositing our tube , next was nice a long lunch. The lunch was quite good and you can eat as much portions of chicken or meat you want for a fixed price.
After lunch was the climb to the view point. The El Mirador viewpoint climb at Semuc Champey in Guatemala is a hike upto the rocky overlook with view of the turquoise pools . The hike is about 30 minutes each way . The stairs were cut but due to rain it was very muddy and slippery.
After the climb , final activity for the day was to relax and unwind in the turquoise swimming pools. We swam through the pools , discovered blue caves . It was not a sunny or warm day but still it was very relaxing.
