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Published: January 16th 2010
We took a mini van shuttle to Coban. It was about a six hour ride and along the way were several small mountain villages. Every area has their specific style of dress. The woman wear brightly colored long skirts and a very unique style top. In this area, it is primarily a solid colored lacy blouse. We came here to go to Semuc Champey and to visit a Finca or coffee plantation. In lieu of staying in Lanquin, which is closer to Semuc Champey but also much more rustic with a lack of hot showers and the other basic necessities of life, we decided on Coban. We took a 12 hour tour with Maya ch Expeditions. The ride is pretty rough as it takes about 2 hours to go 30 miles. Approx 15 miles is curvy mountain roads and the rest is bone jarring gravel roads. Fortunately there was that hot shower back in Coban!
Semuc Champey is a series of limestone laden water pools of brilliant blue colors of pools. It is set in very mountainous region which also allows a beautiful view from a lookout above if you are energetic enough for the climb! After hiking Volcano Pacaya,
this was a snap! It was great place for lunch. Too bad we didn’t have some champagne to go with the view of Champey! It also has the unique feature of an underground cave under the pools; however, the only people who went in by accident were crushed by raging water!
Afterwards, we went to the Lanquin caves. These had a lot great formations, however, the footing was very uneven and several people slipped on the wet uneven surfaces. The lights are run by an onsite generator which they turn on when people are touring, however, they flicker quite a bit which adds to the suspense of the cave. The cave was also unusually warm - possibly nearby volcanic activity? Another feature is that at dusk, you can watch thousands of bats fly out!
If you have ever been to Plitvice in Croatia, the pools are not nearly as large, the falls from pool to pool are not as inspiring and access is pretty tough. It does offer a fantastic view from above which one should not miss.
Next day, we visited Finca Santa Margerite. This coffee plantation is approx 125 years old and grows Arabica mountain
grown coffee. This was our first time at coffee plantation finding out about the different types of coffee plants and process to making it a product. Good time!
We are also finding out about the love of fireworks by Guatemalans! It seems any kind of event, birthday party, holiday or just any day, is an excuse to set off fireworks! From 6:00 AM to 3:00 AM , blast those babies off. Just goes to show you this isn’t California!
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Wayne L. King
non-member comment
trip
Hi Leona & Frank, your trip seems great so far....limestone pools & caves are awesome. Wayne & Phyllis