Guatemala - Semuc Champey

Unfortunately, this time we couldn't take a night bus, so we had to leave for Semuc Champey at 8 o'clock. We were supposed to be on the side of the road ten minutes earlier, but we thought, oh well, let's have a relaxed breakfast and then slowly go ahead, they're usually not punctual here anyway. Seriously, our shuttle arrived 10 minutes early to pick us up. Who would have thought... Nobody :D When you try to adapt and it's still not right :)

The journey took about 10 hours. Really great, because I couldn't sleep at all. But it didn't matter, because later on, the landscape became incredibly beautiful. I couldn't look away, I was so fascinated by the beauty of nature ♡ (Sounds cheesy) In the back, someone started singing, it sounded somehow indigenous and fit perfectly in that moment. 

Once we arrived there, we took a shuttle to our hotel El Mirador. It was quite remote, so we had hardly any internet :) (hence the additional note) Being offline for a few days was definitely nice too.

On Sunday, we booked a tour to Semuc Champey. When the shuttle arrived, everyone immediately jumped on the back of the truck to see what it's like. It's so much fun, but hold on tight :D Surprisingly, the road was better than some roads here. 

Once we arrived there, we first went into a cave armed with a candle and great war paint. Walking with a candle is nice, but swimming and climbing with it? So be careful not to let it go out, otherwise it will quickly become dark ;D Mine definitely survived until the end :) Unfortunately, we couldn't continue in the cave at some point, so we had to go back. That's also okay, until we came back to the little waterfall that we were supposed to jump down. There were rocks all around us and it was really dark, we couldn't see what awaited us down there. (logicaly we had to briefly hand over the candle :) ) How am I supposed to jump down there without breaking all my bones? The guide just said 'hold on here and there and go' a little push and plump, you're in the water. Thanks, my dear...

Firm sandals are definitely a must here. I was really happy about my Made in China slippers for 3 euros ;D

With a tire and a road beer, we went tubing. On the way there, we stopped at a waterfall. Some of the people climbed up and I thought, I'll just follow them. I didn't make a fool of myself and from the top, you had a great view. Behind it, there was a kind of small cave where the waterfall 'rained' through. Definitely super beautiful. Now the question arose, how do we get down again? Climbing is possible somehow, but the guide took us to a spot and said 'Jump'. Hahahahaha how funny, I was already scared to jump from the 1 meter diving board at the swimming pool, and now I should jump down there. I don't know how many meters it was, and to be honest, I don't want to know. At least 5 and that thought was enough. I cautiously looked at it and then thought, I really don't know why:'Hm okay... Screw it' (forgive my language ;D) and jumped. Total adrenaline rush for me haha. When I resurfaced, I lost my shoe, but I didn't care in that moment. However, it reappeared on the water surface later on. Very good ;)

I really deserved the tubing with the beer. Annabell and I formed a chain and failed a bit. At first, we were driven somewhere else, but eventually we managed to do it. We were definitely the slowest, but as they say, the best comes last and we wanted to enjoy our beer :D

After tubing, everyone was super relaxed, so let's go for a little hike. Yay.. Off to the El Mirador viewpoint. Once again, we had to climb a beautiful steep mountain with many stairs and it was also extremely slippery. Oh, my knees love that so much... not. But even though I was in pain, I pulled through. Now it's only 2 to 1 for my knees. I'm catching up :D The view was really great too, you could see the 'pools' of Semuc Champey from here. 

After the descent, you had the chance to take a refreshing swim in the pools. I skipped this one, I was already cold and somehow tired. Just looking at nature was also great :)

Then we got back on the truck and headed home. Suddenly, our driver was speeding, I was really scared and held onto the handles really tight, it's surprising that my arms didn't get sore. When we arrived at the hotel, he just disappeared and then we knew why he was in such a hurry. He just needed to pee :D It's not like you could stop in between.

In retrospect, I have to say that we would have liked to explore Semuc Champey on our own. The tour itself was very disorganized and the guides didn't really look after anyone. We were rushed through the park and never knew what would come next. Do we need sturdy footwear or not? Change clothes, or do we go swimming right away? In the end, we walked around all day with wet bathing suits and in between, we were really cold. It's a miracle that we didn't get sick. 

But other than that: Semuc Champey ♡♡♡

(Oops, wrote more than I thought and this time also a picture of us so you can see how pretty we looked, well :D ) 

By the way, the weird thing in my mouth is a cocoa bean. You can suck on it like a candy, but you shouldn't bite on it, it doesn't taste that great :)