Visiting Central America (Part 2) Semuc Champey and Tikal

After this adventure we continued inland to the Semuc Champey. Once again the bad roads cost us a lot of time. This time there was also a Christmas market, which brought almost all traffic to a standstill in Chichicastenango. The city was like a labyrinth, which we skilfully escaped thanks to the helpfulness of the locals, the language skills of Seline and Sandra and the navigation of Benny.
Semuc Champey (in German: where the water disappears) are natural pools made of limestone, which are undercut underground by a raging river in the valley. This jumps out again at the end after a great waterfall. The pools shine in incomparable blue and green colors. An incredible natural spectacle that makes up for the long journey!
At the end of Guatemala we visited the ancient Mayan city of Tikal. To get there we had to go to Flores in the east of the country, where we also dropped off our car. The last trip was tough again. Two highlights: first we had to pass 12 km of off-road with muddy, steep roads. Benny's nerve-racking driving skills got us through safely! 👍🏼 Afterwards there was a river without a bridge in the way, which the navigation system announced to us with the instruction “Take the ferry”. After a short hectic and uncertainty in the car, we waited and waited. In fact, there was a “boat” (more like a motor-driven raft) that regulates daily car traffic across the river and brought us safely to the other side of the river.
Tikal is an ancient Mayan city in the Petén rainforests of northern Guatemala with notable step temples. It was one of the most important cities of the Classic Maya period (3rd to 9th centuries) and is one of the best-researched Mayan cities. The first traces of settlement date back to the early 1st millennium BC. Christ back! We were able to marvel at impressive buildings and remnants from around 1,500-2,000 years ago. You feel like a historian exploring a small piece of human history in this magical place. Two temples offer the opportunity to climb up and see the Mayan buildings rising out of the jungle - almost like a helicopter flight! 😉