Antigua Photos (9)
Lago Atitlan Photos (4)
So while David was supposed to be heading south, I convinced him that Guatemala was on the way, even though it resides north of El Salvador. I enticed him with rumors that Guatemala had some really good things to jump off of, and that about clinched it. So off we went to Guatemala, our mission clearly defined.
Chapter 1 - Rope Swings, Bridges, and Cave Cliff Jumping
First up was Semuc Champey. Things started off good (there was a high pier and rope swing into the river in front of our hostel), and they just got better. The area was beautiful, and very quiet; our hostel was the only real building in the area.
After getting some time in on the rope swing and pier, David, myself, and Vicente (French traveler) went off to do a two hour cave tour. We walked up river along the road a few minutes, and climbed up a hill alongside a pretty cascading creek flowing into the main river, which exited from the mouth of the cave we were going to explore. Our right of passage to the caves was an even better rope swing, with maybe a 15 ft drop into the water. We had some fun throwing ourselves off of that before setting off for the actual tour of the caves.
L - Original group, Dave, Vicente, & Me
R - Cascading falls coming from the caves
Fun on the rope swing
Dave (L) and I, recognizing...
Bats!
L - Scaling up into a cavern to avoid a tour group
Afterwards we headed up to the National Park of Semuc Champey. A natural land bridge, it has some natural swimming pools on top of the bridge, replenished with cascading water, while the majority of the water flows beneath the bridge and back out the other side. It was a very pretty place, and the pools were awesome to swim in.
L - Outlet under landbridge
R - Inlet
Pools atop the land bridge
On the way back David and I were rushing to catch a bus, but stopped off at a road bridge in order to, you guessed it, jump off it. It was about a 30 ft drop, and tons of fun. Unfortunately because of the rush, we don't any have photos of it.
Chapter 2 - The Stomach Wants In on the Action
Next up was Anitgua and Volcan Pacaya, but you will have to ask David how the volcano went because I was too busy being sick. Apparently it was jealous of all the fun I was having, so it decided to do some twists and sommersaults of its own, and I spent the night expelling nigh my entire body mass in fluids. Antigua was just a colonial city full of gringos, so I didn't really like it. Moving on.
Chapter 3 - Cliff Jumping into the World's Second Most Beautiful Lake
We left after just a night and went to Lago Atitlan, which some explorer called the most beautiful lake in the world. Spare him my Tahoe friends, as he was not so fortuitous to have visited our dear Tahoe before making such an unfortunate statement. I have been to both, and am therefore qualified to tell you that Tahoe puts Atitlan to shame. However, Atitlan is indeed a beautiful lake. Three volcanoes rise out of the north-western shore, which is quite dramatic (no pictures though because it was cloudy when we were there, and I only saw the view on the bus ride out). David and I spent our day jumping off some cliffs, a few times, and then some more. Unfortunately David and I parted ways here. I will miss you bro, and wish you all the best on your adventure. May you find many worthy places to huck yourself from, I will do my part on what is left of my trip.
Fun on the rope swing
Our equipment included 4 candles, a lighter, and one headlamp to light our way. So, latinly prepared, we set off into the darkness. Walking, swimming, and climbing our way along, we saw bats, some cool rock formations, and even did some cliff jumping inside the cave itself. Stick your candle on the wall, scale up the wall, aim for the circle of light the guide is pointing at the dark water below, and go for it. Epic.
At one point our three candles went out, and we were falling behind the guide trying to help each other relight the candles. The fact that we were swimming at that point further complicated things, and in the process, all the candles went out. So then it was a scramble in the dark, swimming and choking on water and our laughter, to try and follow the guides faint headlamp far ahead in the cavern. The tour was about two hours and we saw maybe 2 km of the cave, whose caverns apparently go 20 km farther up. The next morning we went back to take some photos and swing on the rope swing some more. We went 007 styles into the caves, since we weren't really allowed to be there, and four of us had to climb up into the higher reaches of a cavern to evade a tour group making its way out. They had no idea we were up above them watching them go past. It was fun.
Bats!
L - Scaling up into a cavern to avoid a tour group
R - Haunted Cave?
Afterwards we headed up to the National Park of Semuc Champey. A natural land bridge, it has some natural swimming pools on top of the bridge, replenished with cascading water, while the majority of the water flows beneath the bridge and back out the other side. It was a very pretty place, and the pools were awesome to swim in.
L - Outlet under landbridge
R - Inlet
Pools atop the land bridge
On the way back David and I were rushing to catch a bus, but stopped off at a road bridge in order to, you guessed it, jump off it. It was about a 30 ft drop, and tons of fun. Unfortunately because of the rush, we don't any have photos of it.
Chapter 2 - The Stomach Wants In on the Action
Next up was Anitgua and Volcan Pacaya, but you will have to ask David how the volcano went because I was too busy being sick. Apparently it was jealous of all the fun I was having, so it decided to do some twists and sommersaults of its own, and I spent the night expelling nigh my entire body mass in fluids. Antigua was just a colonial city full of gringos, so I didn't really like it. Moving on.
Chapter 3 - Cliff Jumping into the World's Second Most Beautiful Lake
We left after just a night and went to Lago Atitlan, which some explorer called the most beautiful lake in the world. Spare him my Tahoe friends, as he was not so fortuitous to have visited our dear Tahoe before making such an unfortunate statement. I have been to both, and am therefore qualified to tell you that Tahoe puts Atitlan to shame. However, Atitlan is indeed a beautiful lake. Three volcanoes rise out of the north-western shore, which is quite dramatic (no pictures though because it was cloudy when we were there, and I only saw the view on the bus ride out). David and I spent our day jumping off some cliffs, a few times, and then some more. Unfortunately David and I parted ways here. I will miss you bro, and wish you all the best on your adventure. May you find many worthy places to huck yourself from, I will do my part on what is left of my trip.
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