Early to rise this morning for our big Day of Adventure! We booked a tour to visit Semuc Champey, a national park about two hours away from Coban. Difficult to get to, but well worth it! We arrive at Semuc Champey and begin our hot, humid walk up to the lookout (El Mirador). Once there (and all nice and sweaty), the view was AMAZING! We looked down onto a series of tiered turquoise pools that form a natural limestone bridge over the Cahabon river. The river runs under the pools and comes out the other end. I haven’t seen anything quite like it before! During our hike we saw an owl, a poisonous snake, and many colorful butterflies.
After a quick lunch, we start our adventure! We swam in the clear, cool pools (with some small fish swimming around us). It was great to cool down after our long, humid hike. We moved from one pool to the other, and even got to repel down a small waterfall to get to the last pool. This part was really fun, but definitely a little dangerous. We repelled down a rope with knots tied into it – No helmet; No harness. But it was so much fun! And then we had to climb back up the rope!
After the pools, our guide, Rudy, took us to some caves nearby. We did not go to the famous Lanquin caves, but to Kanba Cave. It was great! We all donned our headlamps and received tapered candles to enter the cave. It was full of water! We walked and then swam in the cave, going up a couple of ladders and ropes along the way. The water was cool, but not too cold. The candles were a really nice touch, but I kept putting mine out in the water!
After caving, we picked up some inner tubes and finished our day with a lazy float down the river. This day was full of adrenaline, and one of my favorite days of the trip! Some say that Semuc Champey is the most beautiful place to visit in Guatemala, and I just might have to agree with that!
We arranged our tour with a company called Aventuras Turisticas, based out of the Hostal de Dona Victoria hotel in Coban. Our guide, Rudy, worked for a company called Maya’ch Expeditions, and he was fun and energetic!
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.