Another Volcano and Paradise

Since my last post, Jess, Christie and I have traveled much more of Guatemala, enjoying almost all of it! Friday night I met them in Antigua, this apparently colonial and beautiful town. We were less than impressed by the gringo overload, though they had enjoyed a long day of biking. Saturday morning we woke up in the rain that thankfully cleared before we got to Volcán Pacaya. It is stunningly beautiful, sitting at 2500 meters and still active. The lava just constantly flows, rather than erupting violently, so the top layers cool and harden while the red-hot lava flows underneath. Where there are cracks in the lava you get steam and heat that is perfect for roasting marshmallows and sausages (we did the former, other guys did the latter). They were done really fast and tasted much better than those roasted over camfire coals!

We got back to Antigua for a hasty walk through town in the pouring rain. Here, at one of the largest fountains in Central America, Christie was let down by her leaky $2 umbrella!

Once in Guatemala City 2 hours later, I was incredibly impressed by the hotel there--spacious, clean, no cockroaches or mold = luxury! Early the next morning we set off for paradise--Semuc Champey. When we got to our hotel, we refreshed ourselves by swimming in the river, jumping off the rope swing, and tubing down the river. I put my practice from Maine into good use because the river was really high and I needed all the upper body strength I could muster! My arms are still tired, by the way.

The next day, we went on a tour of the nearby caves. This was no ordinary cave tour, though, because it started with jumps into the river on a rope swing--a swing that you actually sit on until you fly off into the middle of the river. We weren't worried about being wet, though, because the majority of the caves were covered in water. We spent about 90% of the time wading or swimming in the water, with our one lone candle held high above our heads. There was a giant waterfall we had to scale on a ladder or rope (we all chose the ladder), and a deep pool where we jumped off from the rocks and stalactites above. By the end of the tour, we were down to one candle for every 4-5 people, but it was one of the most fun things I think I have ever done!

After lunch and a brief rest, we set off for the real attraction of Semuc Champey--the swimming pools. Over the Río Cahabón, a series of over 35 natural pools are on top of a huge limestone bridge. The river passes under it into a cave and comes out the other side. The pools range from really deep to shallow wading pools, but they're all blue and green and incredibly clean. I could have swum there for days--it really is the closest thing to paradise that I think I've ever seen!















Sadly, we tore ourselves away wee the next morning to arrive in El Remate, a little town on the Lake Itzá in the northern part of the country. There we downed an enormous pizza and proceeded to swim in the lake with all the locals who were doing their washing. We went to bed bright an early in order to get up at 3:30 the next morning.