El proximo dia

We rose the next day, happy to be clean and rested and securely on the ground. After a somewhat disappointing breakfast, we began what we thought would be an easy trip to Semuc Champey. Much to our horror, the roads from Lanquin to Semuc Champey were similar if not worse in spots than those we’d encountered the night before, and again we found ourselves waiting on the side of the road for a road construction crew. When we were able to pass, we continued to scrape along the road with worrying regularity and found ourselves in a few spots where they rocks were so pervasive that the tires simply spun while the car remained stationary, enveloped in the smell of burning rubber. Finally, an excruciating 45 minute drive later, we arrived at Semuc Champey, where we happily left the car behind us in the parking lot.

Semuc Champey is a protected natural area that contains various natural caves and part of a river that flows in a torrent through one of these caves and out the other side through stepped waterfalls into pools of startlingly blue, crystal clear water. We walked up to the top of the falls to marvel at the shear power of nature and then made our way back down to the pool of our choice where we spent our time lounging in the water and seeing who could catch the most minnows with our bare hands (Score: Rachel - 1, Sharon and Kevin - 0). After our swim, we climbed up to the mirador where we had a bird’s eye view of the entire scene.

Wanting to be sure we reached the caves in time to see the bats, since we had missed them the day before, we left Semuc around 4:00 in order to give us enough time to get to the caves by sundown (figuring in time for unanticipated - or actually now pretty much anticipated - stops for road construction). As we drove out of the park, we soon found that the way back was going to be much harder than the way down because we were encountering the rocks as we ascended, whereas before were simply descending through them. After the first incident of tires madly spinning on the rocks, Rachel and I began to get out and push the car up the hill, not only to provide force, but also to decrease the weight in the car.

While we were successful in our efforts, each time it was a little frightening because when Kevin released the clutch there was a moment when the car would roll back heavily where we had to jump free to assure that we weren’t crushed and also because the tires were spinning on the rocks, anyone standing to the side of the car (to, for instance, avoid being crushed) was in direct line of the rocks shooting out from underneath the spinning tires. At one point, we reached a spot that was so steep, that we required the assistance of two (extremely nice, helpful) men who jumped out of a passing pick-up to help us. When we finally reached Lanquin and parked the car in the parking lot of the cave, we were approached by a small boy, who, tracing his finger through the filth on the windows, remarked, "pequeñita, carita."

We had arrived early enough to spend some time exploring the cave, which was immense and free of obvious tourist intervention save for the bare bulbs strung throughout on wire to light our way and a few rails to allow for safe passage over the rocks. The railings were necessary because the floor of the cave was extremely slippery, until that is, we came to the part where the floor was covered in half an inch of bat feces. While glad to have the traction it provided, once I learned what it was, I admit that it somewhat tempered my enthusiasm and I was glad when we left the cave and were able to wash all of the "mud" off of our legs, arms and shoes.

The cave opened out onto a beautiful river and since we still had time to kill until sunset, we ventured down to the shore where some Guatemalan families were picnicking. Following Rachel’s brave led, Kevin and I both eventually got into the freezing water for a brief dip.

Come sundown, we found ourselves alone in the parking lot, where we were finally able to watch the stream of bats as the left the cave in search of their evening meal.