Blogs from Verapaz Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Wczoraj autobusem turystycznym dojechalem do Semuc Champey. Tym razem nie zdecydowalem sie na chicken busaze wzgledu na odleglosc i duza liczbe przesiadek. Droga z Antigua do Semuc Chempey zajmuje minimum 8 godzin (autobus turystyczny) i ostatnie 30-40 km jedzie sie jeepem szutrowa droga :-) Cala podroz jest bardzo meczaca. Zarowno ze wzgledu na jakosc drog jak i upal. Ale na koncu czeka raj, czyli Semuc Champey:-) Miejsce to so seria niezykle malowniczych kaskad i basenow z turkusowa woda, w ktorych, pomimo tego, ze jest to park narodowy, mozna sie kapac. Dosyc odlegla lokalizacja miejsca i ciezki dojazd sprawiaja, ze nie ma tutaj zbyt wielu turystow. Jadac do Semuc Champey mijamy miasto Coban, zalozone przez niemieckich kolonistow w czasach boomu na kawe i da sie tutaj wyczuc pruskiego ducha:-) Jest czysciej i architektura jakas taka znajoma. Na ... read more

As we were warily wading through the passages of a pitch black water-filled cave with a candle in hand, hearing the sounds of interior waterfalls and squeezing between rock formations, the thought crossed my mind that Indiana Jones is just a film, but this is the real thing. Deep in the jungles of Guatemala after a 15 hour journey over bumpy, rain-ruined roads, we had found ourselves in the village of Lanquin and exploring nearby Semuc Champey. We had been looking forward to visiting Guatemala to such an extent that it was often a little hard to appreciate the other places we were exploring. Now that we are here, I’ve realised that even the greatest expectations could not possibly lead to a sense of being underwhelmed in what must be Central America’s greatest jewel. Guatemala is ... read more

Today we did our first official tour, our guide started by pointing out plants along our walk, there was some pod he opened up and it was orange inside he shoved his finger in there and began to paint streaks on all our faces. He pointed out coffee, coco, and some interesting spices. We entered the park and hiked up a mountain for maybe 45 minutes, it was grueling and quite steep in places. As I grabbed the earth to climb up I envisioned mistakenly placing my hand on a snake or some poisonous creature. After all at breakfast there was a trantula although that seemed to be the least scary thing of the day. One of the locals picked it up and it even crawled on someone's chest. At the top there was a viewpoint ... read more

200 meters shy of the entrance to Laguna Lachua I grabbed my pack from the bed and waved farewell to the three kind men in the white beater pickup truck. These friendly chaps had taken pity on me, this pathetic foreigner standing on the side of the road so early in the chilly morning, hand waving frantically for anyone to give her a lift. The clouds were low, the weather was nippy, but my spirits were high. I had wanted to get to this lake for months and now I was a one-hour, 4-kilometer jungle walk away. Before I was allowed to enter this protected National Park, however, I needed to register and pay the entrance fee as well as cough up the dough for two night’s accommodation at the hospedaje on the lake. Ledger signed, ... read more

Friday was a trip from Antigua to Coban. The sole purpose of this lengthy (7 hour) trip was to get closer to the Semuc Champey, which we will visit tomorrow. We were picked up from our hotel in Antigua by a mini-van. We were the first on, and took the seat behind the driver. It turned out to be the roomiest spot on the bus, but it was a very long ride in a not so comfortable van. We picked up more people than was comfortable and finally left the city about an hour after we were first picked up. We had an Australian couple, a French couple, a guy from Tyler, Texas, one from Houston and another female. We had some traffic, but otherwise the roads were generally good. We ate lunch at a roadside ... read more