Blue water and dark caves - Semuk Champey

A nine-hour shuttle ride north of Antigua, near the town of Coban, lies an area where rivers carve their way through sandstone. This has resulted in not only huge cave systems but also canyons where the water overflows and underflows the rock. The turquoise blue natural pools of Semuk Champey are particularly famous.

I had booked a hostel close to the park entrance. However, that also meant that after the nine-hour mini-bus ride to Lanquin (the nearest village), I had to take a half-hour ride on the back of a truck to the hostel. But it was worth it in every way because on the journey, I met two Germans, a Brit, and a Dane whom I joined the next day.

In the evening, the girls booked a tour through the hostel for the next day, which included a cave tour and tubing. That sounded good, so I decided to book the same tour without further researching. It turned out to be a good decision. We spent the evening playing cards because the hostel was well-equipped and had a good bar, but there was nothing around and the Wi-Fi was turned off at night. But that added to the great atmosphere in the hostel!

The next morning, our guide picked us up and we walked to the entrance of the caves. I had imagined a walk through (probably well-lit) stalactite caves for the cave tour. But it turned out to be more adventurous... At the entrance of the pitch-black cave, each of us was given a wax candle and then we entered the water. It was initially knee-deep, but eventually, we had to swim with the candle in one hand. We climbed over rocks, clung to the cave walls, and finally reached a waterfall about 2.5 meters high. At first, I thought our guide was joking when he said we should climb up the rope fixed above the waterfall. But no, it was not a joke! The highlight of the cave hike was jumping from a cave wall into a deeper pool of water. I think we all felt a bit like Indiana Jones... Afterwards, we returned to the exit and to the less adventurous part of the tour. For about half an hour, we drifted down the nearby river on an inner tube. After the tour, I went to the Semuk Champey National Park with the others, which was just a few minutes' walk away. We decided to hike up to the viewpoint first to see the pools from above. That meant walking up steep stairs for half an hour. But as always, the effort was worth it. Up there, we had a breathtaking view of the pools and the incredibly green mountains all around. And we definitely deserved the refreshment in the pools after the hike! There are four pools arranged in steps. The rocks between the pools are eroded in a way that they can be used as slides. So, we splashed around in the turquoise blue water for a while before heading back to the hostel machten.Am the next day, I stayed at the hostel, prepared for the next part of my journey, and relaxed because I had another long travel day ahead to my next and final destination in Guatemala.

Side note on the Israeli travel community (my experience and observations):

In Semuk Champey, like at Lake Atitlan, you meet many Israeli travelers. Many of them travel in larger groups and mostly stick together. I was surprised when I talked to a few solo Israeli travelers who told me about the global community among them. In many places, you can find Israeli communities that organize celebrations on major holidays or simply meet regularly for meals. The door to these communities and gatherings is open (especially) to all Israelis, even if they are only in the place for a few days. There are also some Israeli expats who operate hostels in Guatemala, including my hostel in Semuk Champey. As a young Israeli woman I met on the bus explained, the Israeli travel community knows which hostels are run by Israelis. But they also know if a hostel owner has done something wrong, and that often means that a lot of Israeli tourists will stay away... By the way, this wasn't the first time I heard about such meeting points. I had already come across one in Vietnam, where I met a young Israeli man who told me about it.