Unplanned trip to Guatemala - Adventure Semuc Champey

Guatemala wasn't originally on my travel plan, but after some conversations with other travelers, I decided to make a short detour there. First, I took a bus from Hopkins to Punta Gorda and then a boat from there to Livingston in Guatemala. The next day, I continued on the beautiful Rio Dulce to Frontera and then took a bus from there to Lanquin, 1 hour on a somewhat decent road, 4 hours on a bumpy dirt road 🙈 But the tiring and long journey to Lanquin, which is really somewhere in the middle of nowhere, was worth it.

The next day, I went with a group from the hostel to Semuc Champey, standing and clinging to the railing for 45 minutes on the open platform of a jeep. First, we went into a cave, equipped only with swimwear, shoes, and candles. I didn't really know what to expect in the cave and I have to admit that I was a little scared. Right at the entrance of the cave, I met Nathaniel from Israel, who seemed to be even more afraid than myself. So we teamed up and immediately noticed that we were both equally silly. Together, we fought our way through the cave with silly comments: we swam with the candle in hand, climbed over rocks, climbed up a waterfall, and went through narrow gaps. At the end of the cave, there was an opportunity to jump from a rock 3 meters high into the water. For some reason, I climbed up the slippery rocks and was almost peeing my pants while doing so. The guide gave the instruction to jump exactly in the middle, but it was stupid that the cave was only lit with a few candles and you could hardly see anything. However, the option to climb back down the rocks seemed even more dangerous than jumping, so at some point, I gathered courage and just jumped into the darkness. And actually, it wasn't that bad at all, but my legs were shaking for minutes after the jump. On the way back, we had to slide down a narrow gap into another cave, my personally worst moment. I clung so tightly and for so long to the rocks that I slid down very slowly. After about an hour in the cold water of the cave, we were all relieved to come back into the daylight.

After a relaxing bath in the river with a warm waterfall shower, the next adrenaline rush was already on the program: on a swing, you could swing yourself over the river and then jump from the swing 3 meters high into the cold water. The first time, you had to overcome yourself to let go, but then it was just so much fun that we all dared to swing several times.

After a delicious lunch, we had to hike steep and strenuous for about 20 minutes to the viewpoint overlooking the terraces of Semuc Champey. The view over the turquoise water terraces was simply fantastic. After we were all completely sweaty from the hike, the joy was even greater to finally jump into the natural pools and cool off. In the late afternoon, we took the jeeps back to the hostel.

This tour is definitely one of the best on my trip. The day was simply a perfect mix of adventure, adrenaline, nature, and nice people.