Wildlife (two, four, and six legged) of Semuc Champey


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Published: May 23rd 2008
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Hiking the Quetzal BiotopeHiking the Quetzal BiotopeHiking the Quetzal Biotope

A lovely cloud forest
As our year here is nearing an end, we have taken a fresh look at the Guatemalan map to see what other places we want to visit before we leave. There are a couple more spots left on our list: the waterfalls of Semuc Champey, and the highland town of Todos Santos.

So, on a long weekend holiday from school, we hired Julio, one of Hugo's excellent guides, to take us to the wonderful sights of Semuc Champey. This is an area north-east of Guatemala City, and about 4 hours' drive from Antigua. (We're going to do Todos Santos next weekend).

We set off one morning, and after chugging through the capital and sloping down into the very hot, almost desert-y area around near Zacapa (lots of catcus, some in bloom), we started up a mountain pass, and found ourselves in the Quetzal Biotope Reserve in the area Alta Verapaz, a very nice natural reserve known for its hikes and bird-watching. Now, the title of this blog has to do with wildlife of Semuc Champey, and I have a nice little Hit List of 5 creatures to write about, but unfortunately this was not a rare creature moment. Despite the many butterflies and pretty birds, we knew we were late enough in the morning that we would miss any chance of seeing the exteremely rare and shy quetzal bird, which is the national symbol of Guatemala. So we settled for a very nice hike into the cloud forest, at an elevation of about 7,600 ft.

We then drove on to our little hotel just outside of the town of Languín, on the edge of the Rio Languín, where our rooms featured thatched roofs and hammocks on the front porch. That first night, as we were reading in our hammocks and waiting for the 7pm dinner call (single menu option - eat it or beat it), I noticed a little movement from the corner of my eye, and upon closer look noticed a pair of toads, making a rather ziggy-zaggy path to our room. Hit List Creature #1! I wasn't looking to spend the night with a toad, or even two, since I already had my prince, thank you very much, so I up and sheparded them out of the path (using the ol' "put-your-big-self-in-front-of-their-path-and-wait-for-them-to-turn-around" trick) and on to the greener pastures of the slope in front of our
Julio showing off our picnicJulio showing off our picnicJulio showing off our picnic

by the waterfall pools of Semuc Champey
porch.

The next morning Steve encountered the 2nd creature on our Hit List: As he was sitting for a nice relaxing read, whom should he discover joining him on his lap but a SCORPION. Yes, if there are any screams out there, I hear ya. Steve, being Steve, did NOT screech or yelp or freak out like I would have. Instead, he sort of raised his eyebrows, stood up so that said SCORPION would drop to the ground, and said, "How did HE get there?!" I was less worried about the source of the scorpion and far more intent on following his destination. As we walked off to breakfast, with the scorpion still on the porch, I have a faint recollection of "Huh. Wonder where he's going to end up" but never really followed up on that, knowing we'd be away for the day. (I will admit that it was a pretty small scorpion, but let's not dwell on that because I'm trying to maximize the drama here).

First item after breakfast was inner-tubing down the Rio Languín - the river was as refreshing as the day was already hot, and our sweet teenaged guide Ludwig seemed to
Hanging around our hotelHanging around our hotelHanging around our hotel

Hospedaje Lodge El Retiro in Lanquí­n. Steve is sitting on the Scorpion Bench. How DID it get there??
enjoy the ride as much as we did.

After drying off (doesn't take much time in this heat!) we headed several miles down a dirt road to Semuc Champey, which is a indigenous term for "sacred water." The falls of Semuc Champey are formed from limestone, and form a natural bridge under which the river Cahabòn flows, and over which flows more water into beautiful turquoise pools before it wends its way further down. It's a great set of swimming holes; some are deep, others are shallow, warm and cool, etc. The limestone rings the pools so that you can swim out and over to any number of natural benches to rest.

We spent a couple hours swimming and soaking up the sun, until Julio announced that our picnic was ready. Say no more! We climbed out of the water and while we were lunching, two young Dutch girls came by to ask us if we had seen their shoes! It turns out that some idiot decided to take the flip-flops from one of the girls, and it happened that she had recently injured her toe (on the cobblestones of Antigua) and had a pretty nasty gash that
Picnic and poolsPicnic and poolsPicnic and pools

of Semuc Champey
didn't want to touch the ground. It also turns out I happened to have an extra pair of sandals in Julio's car, so I gave them to her. She's probably one of the 1% of women in the whole country of Guatemala who could possibly take my shoes and not double over in laughter at their looooong size. She was a good tall Dutch girl, after all.

That late afternoon, at dusk, we visited the Caves of Languín, which is basically the other big destination in town. In we went (spelunking!) and saw pretty neat stalagtites and stalagmites as are the norm in such caves. This cave also happens to be the home of about a bazillion bats. As you know, bats are very wonderful creatures who fly out at night to feed on insects. They are Hoover vacuums for insects, and without them the world would be a lot buggier. So I rather enjoy bats (I like their German name, Fliedermaus, better, because a flying mouse sounds a lot less like a vampire-y).

So at around 6:30, we see the first of the bats head out from the cave and start darting around the jungle, eating up
The waterfall pools of Semuc ChampeyThe waterfall pools of Semuc ChampeyThe waterfall pools of Semuc Champey

taken from the top of a hiking path
them bugs. After a few minutes, the trickle of bats turned into a veritable WHOOSHING of a trillion bats heading out the cave. (The actual number, according to Julio, is 4,000 per minute. So my math is not far off).

I walked back up to the entrance of the cave and could literally feel my hair being swept back by the wind generated by the exiting bats. It was a really cool effect, but one which I didn't really need to linger on. That, my friends, was Hit List Creature #3.

Moving right along the Hit List of Creatures, we come to the part where, as I'm getting ready for bed and brushing my teeth, I noticed a dark shadowy thingy move under the legs of the shelving in the bathroom. My curiosity piqued (and I had the time, because I was only 30 seconds into the required 2 minutes of brushing), I brushed and stared, brushed and stared until, on the other side of the shelving unit, I saw this HUGE BEETLE emerge. I was sure it was a beetle and not a cockroach because it had those really dramatic horns on it. (See picture). I gave
In the Bat CaveIn the Bat CaveIn the Bat Cave

You could feel the whooshing of the wind as they flew by.
a sort of muffled yelp (sending toothpaste foam spraying), and immediately shut the bathroom door because this bug was big enough to not fit under the 1" clearance of the door. Knowing he was trapped, I calmed down because it was clear this was a pretty slow beetle (I mean, it took over a minute to crawl through the legs of the shelving). I finished my brushing, made Steve promise that he would keep that door closed (because the head of my bed was about 18 inches from it), and decided I would be really grown up about this beetle and not freak out. The thought of trying to crush it was out of the question: it would have made both a crunch and a squish sound and would have required more squishing force than my stomach could handle. Plus, I had left my special Bug Squishing clogs back in Antigua. So #4 on our Hit List was pretty much left alone. He looked pretty dumb.

While Steve was in the bathroom brushing his teeth (behind closed door), I called in and asked if he wouldn't mind getting my chapstick for me from my makeup bag. Steve doesn't like to deal with my makeup bag, so he just handed me the whole bag when he left the bathroom (closing, according to about 14 reminders to the effect, the door behind him). As I started rifling through the bag for the chapstick, up popped our final entry, #5 in the Hit List of Creatures: a cockroach! By now I was getting a little creature-weary. I had decided that that which did not kill me would make me stronger. I also know that no-one dies from a cockroach bite/sting (unlike SCORPIONS), so I just flicked him off my mascara tube and right into the toilet. Flush...one less creature to think about tonight.

At this point, put yourself in my sandals and try setting yourself up in your mind for a good night's sleep. Remind yourself that we're in mosquito country and this area is a possibility for malaria. Yeah, sleep wasn't going to work much for me either. It was also very hot, so the very desirable thought of pulling the sheets over my head was difficult, creating a massive internal struggle over which was worse: being too hot or exposing my skin to any number of creatures, known and
Shower visitorShower visitorShower visitor

I found this in our bathroom at night and made sure to shut the door so that this critter wouldn't crawl under it and into my bed!
unknown. I decided that my best recourse at this point was a healthy dose of denial and drugs. I took a Benadryl, tuned in my podcast (Fresh Air), and went to my happy place.

Sunday dawned fresh and clean and a cursory look at my skin revealed no mean, swelling, poisonous bug-bites, so the happy place worked. As we drove home we stopped at the town of Cobán, known as a major coffee and cardamom center. It also was hosting something called "Mariathon!" in celebration of the Virgin Mary. The town square was abuzz with music blaring over loudspeakers from a little music group, whose members were more likely chosen for their devotion than for actual talent. Which, in my book, is just fine for a local Mariathon. I snapped a couple of pictures of a procession coming out of the town's main cathedral.

After that, just a long drive home. The Hit List of Creatures had taken their mental toll and I slept in the car most of the way. Creatures (and my drama) aside, Semuc Champey is incredible and worth the visit!


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Mariathon!Mariathon!
Mariathon!

All Maria, all day long. Here a group of singers were belting it out for the crowd.


8th July 2008

Thats my boy Steve!
Sounds like my kind of adventure! I have read that the smaller the pinchers, the stronger the poison in the scorpion's telson (stinger thing). Grace and Lucas should do a scorpion research project, they are actually amazing.....how long can one stay alive underwater? Have them look it up! (Yikes! I sound like a teacher!)

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