Lanquin & Coban

So I arrived in Lanquin after two long bus rides (one bumpy as hell) and made it to this place called El Retiro. It´s a lodge with bungalows and dormitories for travellers just outside of Lanquin on the side of a crystal clear river. The reason I came here was to visit Semuc Champey which is a series of natural pools and waterfalls that you can swim in. There are also tons of hiking trails around the area with lots of different flowers and wildlife I have never seen before (there was this one spot that had so many bright orange butterflies). I think that this place was the most beautiful spot in Guatemala I have been to yet! I have never swam in such blue natural pools that run in a series of steps throughout the mountain rock. You could start swimming down low in a pool and climb up into the higher ones all the way to the waterfalls or vice versa. We had very hot weather that day so it was great to be so close to the water. It wasn't hot like the waterfall, but it sure was refreshing and absolutely breathtaking! I still can´t believe I was there. After that I visited the Grutas de Lanquin which are these caves that are completely full of bats in which you are able to wander around in, I think it is called spelunking or something like that, anyways it was really neat to check out all the different rock formations and see the bats lining the top. Most asleep, some active though. They scared the crap out of me. It was kind of creepy being in there, like being in some weird horror movie. Anyways, it was a great experience... At sunset all the bats actually leave the caves through the entrance and wander off into the night. It was really slippery in there from all the bat shit so you had to be really careful when walking around so you didn't end up smashing your head or another body part against the hard rock. When we left the caves (We as in this girl I have been travelling with for the past week from France. She speaks very little english and my french is horrible, but we have been having a great time together otherwise and have just decided to travel together for awhile.) it started pouring, the heaviest rain I have ever been caught in! The walk back to our lodge was about 35 minutes so by the time we got back we were completely soaked. We stopped at a restaurant on the way to eat something and hoped that the rain would stop, but of course it did not.
The next morning we left for Coban (about two hours from Lanquin) which is where I am right now. We stopped here to visit a coffee farm (Finca Santa Margarita) and take a tour of the place. It was really neat to see how the beans were grown and processed from the plant to the bag. I had no idea how it was done! Guatemala is the fourth largest exporter of coffee in the world, so there are tons of farms around here. I am not a huge coffee drinker so I don't really know if it is that good or not, but I do know that it is a little different in color and taste from that I usually have back home.
So tomorrow morning I am going back to Antigua to meet a girl I met during my week in school there and then Saturday morning we are off together to Lago de Atitlan and to travel the western part of the country. I am sure there is only more excitement and adventures headed my way in the last 13 days I have here...

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