Since were approaching the 90 day limit on our Guatemalan visas, it was time to make a visa run to Belize. Although we were moving on from Guatemala, the 90 day visa is for the entire C-4 countries region (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua), not the individual countries. Honduras and Nicaragua were our next intended targets, so we needed to move north to reset our visas before heading south.

We made our leave from Guatemala by way of Rio Dulce and Livingston. In both places we took it pretty slow and had a quiet relaxing time. It rained the whole time we spent in Rio Dulce (4 days), which was fine by us, as the hotel had wi-fi and we needed some time to catch up on our blogging anyways.

In both towns, the only notable day trips we made were visits to the local waterfalls.

Getting My “Geek On”

The Hot (or more accurately, lukewarm) Waterfall:

Rio Dulce is close to the famed Hot Waterfall at Finca El Paraiso where water is geothermally heated to about 30 degrees Celsius before cascading into a quick flowing cold river below. Getting there is as simple as taking a half hour collectivo ride from Rio Dulce for 15Q and paying a 10Q entry fee at the finca. The entry fee includes the cost of a guide who walks you down to the waterfall, strips down to his speedo, and spends the day swimming with you. He showed us where to swim across the quickly flowing river and where to climb up the waterfall to sit at the top in the warm pools.

It was a lot of fun swimming the quickly flowing river, and bathing under the warm spray. Truth be told, when we were sitting in the warm pools at the top of the waterfall, we found the water was not as warm as we had expected. It was still a lot warmer than the river it flowed into though, leaving no doubt as to the earth’s heating potential. This lukewarm waterfall was the result of all the aforementioned rain…when the river is swollen, there’s just too much water for the ground to heat as hot as it usually does.

The Hot Waterfall

Las Siete Altares (The 7 Altars):

Las Siete Altares are located 6 km north of Livingston along Guatemala’s Atlantic Coast. Every local that we talked to in Livingston recommended the walk, and raved about its beauty. The walk was fun, but not really that beautiful in my mind. Mostly, I noticed the lack of a walking trail, sketchy bridges (one of which I had to construct myself) and a lot of plastic garbage. I don’t think I can emphasize that enough, A LOT OF PLASTIC. Mostly we saw the remains of pop bottles, plastic forks, shoes and flop-flops. It was enough to make us want to rid our lives of plastic.

Although the 6 km plastic landfill took away from the beauty of the walk, the waterfall itself was impressive. The water flowed through several pools reminiscent of Semuc Champey. There was a small cave behind the waterfall with space to sit, and a couple of pools deep enough to jump into. Like Semuc Champey, we also found the fish that nipped away at our toes (and, for something new, our stomachs). We’re still not fans of fish pedicures, in case you’re wondering.

Plastic Shores

Ashley Making the Waterfall Look Good

Final thought: Waterfalls always make for great photos, but these Guatemalan falls made for especially good day trips. It’s something special when you can put the camera down, hop in, and go for a refreshing swim with such great scenery.

We wrote another guest post!  This time it was part of a fun series put together by On a Junket.  We were asked to detail our top 5 travel moments, and our worst five.

You can read our first instalment here: Traveled Earth’s Mike & Ashley Top 5 Best Travel Moments

This trip is truly my first chance to immerse myself in new cultures.  And the more I learn about Guatemalan culture, the harder I find it is to explain how we do things in Canada.

In Canada, we often think of countries like Guatemala as “have-not” countries riddled with violence and poverty.  What we don’t bother to consider are all the positive aspects of the culture.  Like:

• The abundance of fresh, local, and organic fruit and vegetables.  If mangoes aren’t in season, you can’t buy them.  If you purchase fresh meat, odds are really good that the animal was raised just outside (or maybe inside) town and was slaughtered that morning.
• Less waste. If something still works, it’s not replaced every few years with something newer.
• Everyone takes public transportation.
• Less debt. While the average person does not have much money, they are also not in debt.

In Canada, on the other hand, the average person is in debt and will spend between 25 and 30 years of their lives that way.  We borrow money to pay for what I now realize are massively oversized homes, new cars, and bigger and better stuff.

After ten or fifteen years of living in the same house that we still owe the bank money for, we will somehow find the extra cash needed to renovate it or buy a bigger one.  It’s the same with buying new cars.  Worst of all, despite our high salaries and “high standard of living”, our food is rarely fresh or local.  The majority of it has traveled farther than we could ever hope to.

Now, try to explain to a Guatemalan that our way of life is superior.

Now don’t get me wrong… Guatemala is not Utopia.  It has more than its share of problems.  According to the World Bank, 51% of the population is living at or below the national poverty line.  Many families in San Pedro live off of beans and tortillas three meals a day, as they can’t afford to buy the fresh produce or meat in the markets.  Recent history is full of bloody violence (that I can’t help but feel some guilt for as a North American).  Non-profit organizations can be found in every town and city to help poor kids go to school and get enough to eat, as there is no government assistance.

Still, the people I meet in Guatemala are HAPPY with their lot in life.  They accept that there are many economic and governmental problems, but are still hopeful that change will happen.  They value their family, their friends, and their health above everything else.  Work stays at work and as for money, they get by with what they’ve got (with a smile on their face).  They know that life can be hard at times, but they never forget to really live that life.  Not a bad way to live, huh?  It makes me question the Canadian mindset that bigger is better and that we should spend our entire lives working to accumulate stuff.

Before we left, we sold our house.  Sell vs. Rent was a big, long drawn out debate for us… and the fact that our house was “too small” definitely factored into it.  In retrospect, our house was not too small.  In fact, it seems huge now.  (As my Spanish teacher says, it was a mansion).  We actually had a whole room we hardly ever used except to store stuff that we never used.  How can that be too small?

Every day I encounter new ideas that challenge and shift my worldview.  I am definitely not the same person that stepped onto that plane three months ago and I already have a different set of priorities for my life.  If Guatemala has taught me one thing, it’s that less is more.  Now hopefully I can live that principle.

Why is it you never hear Robin saying “Holy Guano Batman!”?  I mean Batman operated out of “the Bat Cave”, and if it’s anything like the bat caves we visited in Lanquin, the stuff is everywhere. Then again, these bats didn’t have Alfred cleaning up after them.

You mean I’m walking on bat poop?!?

The Grutas de Lanquin are located a reasonable half hour walk from the town of Lanquin.  At the entrance, there is a lean-to complete with a guard waiting to collect your 30Q entry fee. The caves are huge, extending several kilometres into the earth. According to our guide book, the full extent of the caves is yet to be fully explored.

A small part of the caves near the entrance is normally lit.  The power was out when we arrived though, so we recommend bringing your utility belt, including your own light source and shark repellent.  You never know when you might need some shark repellent.

Don’t get caught in the dark…

As you may have figured out, the caves are full of bats (and where there are bats, there’s guano).  If you really want the full bat experience, plan to visit the caves just before dusk.  When the sun sets (about 6:30pm) the bats take to the air. It’s a good idea to be near the entrance at this time where you can spend a half hour or more watching thousands of bats soaring over you and around you to get to the entrance.  As I understand, this performance is repeated nightly, same Bat Time, same Bat Cave.

Zork!

Spooomf!

Flap!

It was a very cool experience to be in a bat cave.

We were asked a few weeks ago to write a guest post for Nomadic Vignette as a part of their Destination Home Series.  Sorry to disappoint everyone back home, but we chose to write about our home away from home at the time, San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala.

Check out our story on Nomadic Vignette

While many Guatemalans we have talked to have not had the opportunity (re: money) to travel their own country, those that had all told us that Semuc Champey is the most beautiful spot in the country.  And I think they’re right.

Semuc Champey is only eleven kilometres outside of the town of Lanquin, but it takes about 45 minutes in the back of a pick-up to get there.  The ride is incredibly rough and bumpy, but we proved that even a bottle of champagne (for Ashley’s champagne birthday celebration) can handle it… almost.  The champagne blew its own cork after chilling for an hour in our hostel’s fridge and half of it hit the floor.

We bought a tour to Semuc Champey from Coban.  We paid 300 Q (about $37 CAD) per person, which included transportation from Coban to Semuc Champey, one night’s accommodation at a pretty nice hostel, all entrance fees, and tour guides.  We costed it out, and this is about the same as all the individual pieces.

The tour started with a sweaty half hour hike up to a mirador (or lookout).  From there you can see the attraction that Semuc Champey is famous for… a natural limestone bridge over Rio Cahabón, with a series of stepped pools of cool, flowing river water.

From there, we carefully descended the slippery path to a spot where we could hop into the pools for a swim.  With the instruction of our guide, we jumped, dove, and slid down into a series of refreshing cool water pools.

At one point, the guide had us sit down on the limestone, cross our arms in front of our chests, and slide down 10 or 15 ft as if the waterfall were a water slide.  Unfortunately, my typical clumsy ways got the better of me and I banged my elbow so hard that my entire arm went numb.  Which isn’t the best feeling when you drop into water that’s deeper than your head.

  Ashley’s elbow post-Semuc Champey

I wasn’t about to let a silly accident spoil my time though, and loved every minute in the pools.

Hidden in the depth of the pools, there were fish that apparently love to nibble toes and feet.  Having a fish nip at your heels is a bizarre sensation… one that isn’t particularly pleasant.  I understand that in some parts of the world, people pay money for this kind of “fish pedicure”, but I can’t understand why.

We eventually climbed back up the waterfalls and steps of the pools to return to our stuff.

After ordering lunch at our hostel, we grabbed some tubes for a nice, relaxing 20 minute float down the river.

On the walk back to lunch, our guide climbed up on the guard rail of the bridge and started joking about jumping off.  We all thought he was kidding/crazy as we considered the water flowing by about 40 feet below him.  But then he jumped and did a swan dive into the river.  Everyone kind of stared at each other in shock, until he quickly swam to the shore, ran back up to us, and asked who’s next.  After that, it was every man for himself.  All but one of the guys in the group took turns jumping in.  Not to be outdone, I stepped up as the first female to do it.  Once I climbed out onto the rail, I realized I may have bit off more than I could chew so to speak, but there was no turning back.  I rallied up the courage and jumped.  About half way down, I realized I was still falling.  It was a great sensation to plunge into the river (and more importantly, to resurface).  I would say it was even better than the time I went bungy jumping in New Zealand.

The bridge Mike and I jumped off

After a much needed meal, we walked about 5 minutes to the Grutas K’anba, a water cave system.  We got a new set of guides who passed out candles to everyone in the group.  For nearly two hours, those candles were the only things between us and total darkness.  It’s important to note that the caves are filled with water, and at many spots in the tour, the water is deeper than your head.  We’d have to swim with one hand, while struggling to keep both our heads and the lit candles above the surface.  At a couple points, the guides grabbed the candles we had babied so carefully and blew them all out… sending us swinging on a rope through a waterfall, or dropping through a small opening into deep pool in complete darkness.

The day we spent at Semuc Champey was worth every penny that we paid (and then some) .  There was enough going on that it could have easily filled two or even three days, or like us, you could cram it all into one.  If you’re planning a trip through Guatemala, this is definitely a must-see location!

You can see more photos from stunning Semuc Champey in our photo gallery.

San Andrés Xecul is located a short chicken bus ride from Quetzaltenango (Xela).  It’s snuggled up against the mountains, giving the whole town a steep slope.  They have an indoor market, plenty of dyed threads hung out to dry, and two brightly coloured churches. I believe one of the churches is actually a cenotaph commemorating those who died during the civil war.

If you’re in Xela and decide to make the trip, be sure to get on the direct chicken bus.  We made the mistake of hopping on the first bus going in that direction and were dropped off on the highway about 7km outside of town.  Also note that there are two San Andres in the immediate vicinity, so it is necessary to specify which one you desire to go to.

Without further ado, I give you the Technicolor Dream Church (and the cenotaph):