After a LONG day on several buses, ending up exhausted and still 2 hours away from our destination we were in Coban. A nice town, everything a traveller needs to get ready for Semuc Champey. The next day, up bright and early, we were barreling down the windy and bumpy road to Semuc Champey- an area that is being considered as 1 of the natural wonders of the world. In order to get to Semuc Champey we climbed in the back of a pickup truck and held on tight! 7 bumpy kms later and we arrived at Las Marias caves. With [View Full Entry]

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Well Lizzie and I got our first taste of real travelling together. We left Flores and decided not to get the overpriced tourist bus, but use the regular transport to get to Coban. It was an experience in itself, and took us much longer than if we got the tourist bus, but we saved about 50% and feel more hardcore! We left at about 8 in the morning and got to laquin at 6pm, we did this via one tuk tuk, and 4 minibuses - collectivos -. The little mini buses were fun, but tiring as we often didn{t have a [View Full Entry]

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Back to internet so time for an update on whats been happening. Leaving Flores our 5 hour directo bus turned out to be anything but. After 5 hours we pulled into a larger than expected town but were pleased to finally be there. You can imagine our surprise when we suddenly realized we had sailed 1.5hrs past our turn off in order to drop half the collectivo (minibus) off. Just to add to our smiles and head shaking the driver dropped us in a car park outside a shopping mall while we waited for him to pop home for lunch his [View Full Entry]

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Last weekend we went to Paradise, otherwise known as Semuc Champey. It is a series of limestone pools set atop a cave where the river flows through. The water is crystal blue/green, with tiny fish swimming in it. It is an oasis in the jungle. It's not very easy to get to either, as the roads are still partially unpaved. But the bumpy ride is worth it. It is a beautiful place. We spent all of Saturday swimming in the pools. Our accommodations for the evening were quite interesting. We did the whole weekend as a package deal, so we had [View Full Entry]

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Sometimes its good to have a little something go wrong now and then. It reminds you that you are not invinceble. After leaving Tikal and Flores behind me and Barton took off for Coban, on our way to the limestone and the caves at semuc Champey. A few miles down a very well paved highway the road appeared to end in a small lake. We noticed however that a small ferry took you across. AS we drove on the ferry a man was selling 1 dollar fried chicken baskets. Health concerns aside when you are on a small ferry in the [View Full Entry]

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Catching the 6 am lift from Casa Luna, we squeezed onto a crowded microbus with no other gringos and wound speedily through the narrow, pre-dawn streets of Coban. Once again, the leg room proved to be insufficient for our lanky frames, but our first glimpse of the jungle set our minds at ease (kind of). The sun began to rise behind dull clouds and thick blue fog only once we left the buildings behind for dense forests of dark green pointed by sharp, exotic palm fronds. We picked up and dropped off many - men, women, children - all with the [View Full Entry]

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With Nicole on the computer by my side, I write to you from cool, rainy Coban, Guatemala. I currently have my shirt pulled over my nose because the fumes from some stupid diesel car parked outside are making me light headed. After a VERY long ride from Flores, we finally turned off the paved road and spent the next hour on a twisting, rocky, pothole ridden goat trail. We both felt pretty beat up at the end of the journey. Our final destination was the Hotel Portal, a 5 minute walk from Semuc Champey. The first night in this place wasnt [View Full Entry]

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Semuc Champey could very well be on the list of the most picturesque places in the world. It is an amazing place of pools of caribbean blue water on top of a limestone bridge that spans over the actual river. With natural waterfalls and many small nooks to loose yourself in on a hot day, it was a wonderful respite for the kids and adults alike. Unfortunately, we ventured here on a Saturday, when other Guatemalans are taking their weekends to also enjoy the site. But once the showers came in and the busloads left, it was quite serene. We crossed [View Full Entry]

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So the journey to get to Semuc Champey will forever be burned into my memory. Step 1- take a shitty chicken bus that should hold 12 people but packs 22 on a windy highway for a few hours, step 2, on the turn off for Lanquin (a town right by semuc champey) it says the town is only 11km away yet it takes over an hour to get there because the van is driving on nothing that remotely resembles a road. At one point we had to stop because there was a semi on the road clearing large rocks from the [View Full Entry]

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After a relaxing time in Belize, if not damn expensive, I headed down to Cobán in the Alta Verapez highlands, a lush green plateau in Central Guatemala atop a limestone shelf marked with fast rivers and huge networks of caves. I spent the first day mucking about Cobán, and treated myself to an expensive ($4 US) dinner at a Chinese joint; a welcome break from chicken, rice and beans. I went on a cool tour of a coffee finca owned by German immigrants. Cobán is renown for it´s perfect altitude and soil that yield supposedly the best beans in Central America, [View Full Entry]

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