After leaving Panajachel and the lake I went to Antigua Guatemala, which is a beautiful colorful city surrounded by volcanoes. When I arrived there I ran into Jonny and Claudine who I had met during the volcano climb in Xela. The next day I was in a van with Jonny and the two Australians Danny and Sean, on our way to Lankin and Semuc Champey. It was an intense drive, with no driving map of Guatemala, only a small portion left over from the Mexico driving maps, there was a lot of asking for direction, stopping in little towns and pretty much taking the one road that passed by every small village as well as Guatemala City on the way there. Danny and Sean had been driving the van since California and surfing theis way down trhough Mexico and now Central America.
Danny with his bean paste on one of our food stops
We thought it was going to be a five hour drive, that later turned into 8 hrs and a great part of it was in a small windy dirt road, which we approached a it got dark. Johny Utah (the great white van) gave us a few scares on the way, one of them consiting of Sean screaming ¨I have no brakes, I can´t stop¨ while driving downhill in the small road on our way to Lankin. For a few minutes we were all holding on and freaking out with Sean deciding that the only way we could stop is if we run the car into a wall so that we won´t lose control and fall of the cliff. Thankfully we were able to stop when an uphill came and we all rested for a bit, thinking of our next plan and letting the brakes cool. It was dark, we were tired and just wanted to arrive so we got back in the car and with little brakes were able to arrive at the lodge, where Utah decides to fall into a deep sleep and not turn back on. So we had to push him into his parking spot.
Utah being checked out by some very difficult to find and convince to work mechanics.
Sean, worried and waiting...
After two days of looking for mechanics, having electrical mechanics from other towns come into Lankin to check out Utah, different diagnosis, the help of a local expat, many money negotiations, trips to the bank, and hammock time while waiting, a minor problem was found, Utah was fixed (sorta) and we began our fun
We signed up for a tour of caves and Semuc Champey through the place we were staying and the next day all of us and other people hopped in the back of a pick-up and drove the first adventure of the day: Caves. Before getting into the caves we all stripped down to our bathing suits and tied our flip-flops to our feet. Each grabbed a candle and followed the guide to one of the most exciting experiences I have ever had. Our candles were lit and with water up to our waist we began to explore the dark caves filled with bats over our heads. As a group we climbed rocks with waterfalls splashing on us, swam holding candles in our mouths and jumped into small dark holes not knowing where we would end up. After the caves we had some fun with a giant swing that would drop us in the river, explored waterfalls, jumped off some small cliffs and then went to a small hike to explore Semuc Champey and swim in the beautiful lagoons.
El Grupo
Floating down the river
Crazy hole we jumped into in the cave
Semuc Champey view from the mirador
Semuc Chmapey lagoons
Semuc Champey is where my van trip with the Aussies began and also where we met Lauren and Nath who were staying in the cabaña above us. After a few hours of talking we had made friends for life who we would travel with for the rest of Central America.
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