Semuc Champey & Las Grotas de Lanquin, Guatemala

From Antigua, we hopped on a bus and headed off for an adventure-filled weekend in Semuc Champey and the Lanquin caves. Semuc is a series of natural, cascading pools in a river in the middle of the jungle, which came highly recommended from my friend Natalia in Sydney (who also recommended La Casa del Mundo). Thanks Nat!

Here is Kyle getting off our shuttle with our tour. We went with Rene from Maya´ch Expeditions and would highly recommend him. He made our weekend truly unforgettable!

A view of the hills that we saw all along the drive through a very remote part of Guatemala.

Checking out the view.

The swedish couple that we were hiking with along the trail through the jungle.

Our first view of the falls. (If you look over at the dark area just to the right of the falls, you will see where we jumped from... 10 meters down into the water. I nearly had a heartache, but I was NOT going to be the chicken that had to climb back up the dodgy rope ladder by myself!! Not a chance. (I just crossed my fingers and hoped not to be leaving collared on a hard board.... Not that it was possible as there are no hospitals and not even a first aid kit with us! Haha.)

Taking the few of Semuc Champey´s cascading, natural pools from above.

Our group and soon to be very good friends.... Roger and Jeanette on the left, and a swedish couple in the middle (I can´t remember there names... oops!) Roger nearly had to push me off the cliff to get me to jump, and Jeanette held my hand several times so that we didn´t fall into the guano in the caves... Lots of good stories there!

Looking down at some others enjoying the water.

The rapids just above the pools where the water becomes very placid and still.

The first pool that we swam in where Kyle managed to find a little cliff to jump off of. Very nice!

Looking into the second pool, and over the embankment is the third, etc.

The 3rd or 4th pool.




The 4th or 5th pool. I´m sure that you get the point, but I just couldn´t stop taking pictures. It was so pretty!

After all the swimming and jumping off crazy cliffs (that easily could have been a trauma call), our guide Rene took us to our next destination: Las Groutas de Lanquin (the Lanquin Caves).

The view of the river outside looking back out from the entrance.

Our guide Rene telling us about what crazy stuff he´s going to make us do next. Sure, going down an extra 400 meters into pitch black into the bat caves sounds like a really good idea....

The early views in the cave.... where it was lit (and not so scary).

And the scary part, where it wasn´t lit. This must have been the look on my face for the entire 90 minutes that we walked, and sometimes nearly crawled, through tight little crevaces with hundreds, and I mean hundreds of bats whipping by, often just a bit too close to your face. Oh shit!!!! How did I get into this!!!

(No picture)

This is the picture that I should have taken of the section of the tunnel that we walked through that was 4 inches thick with guano (bat shit). Ah, the great part is that it not only covered our shoes but our hands as well. (It was so slippery and a bit steep so you had to hold on to keep yourself from falling completely into it....)

It subsequently led to a discussion with Roger & Jeanette (during happy hour, of course) about the time that a bat got into my bedroom, and I used my cell phone from under the covers to call mom (in the next room) to come and save me!!

The monstrous and scary looking spider-like thing that we found in the depths of the cave. I can´t remember what Rene said it was.... kind of a cross between a scorpion and a spider. Ew!

Trip to Museums of Indigenous Music & Coffee

One of the class fieldtrips took me to the Museos de Musica Maya and de Cafe (Mayan Music and Coffee).
(Kyle didn´t make it because he was being a nerd and back at the school learning verbs.... I, on the other hand, was ready to goof off a little.)

A depictation of how the mayans used materials found in nature to make music.

One of their instruments depicting a spirit. (It is played by blowing into a hole at the top.)

The marimba, the national instrument of Guatemala.

And on to the coffee museum.... (Kyle is going to be a bit sad that he missed this. Very cool!)

The whole process of making coffee, from the bean to the cup.

A breakdown of where all the money goes when yuo buy a cup of coffee. Let me tell you, it does not go to these poor guys in Guatemala slaving away in the hot sun for 10 hours a day raking beans...

This was my favorite. It talks about how important the level of roasting is to the final taste of the coffee. Now I know why I can drink coffee in Australia a bit easier than in the US... less acid with the darker roast for espresso.

The guys working with the beans, during the drying process.

Coffee beans for as far as the eye can see.

Around Antigua and class trip to San Antonio

Some general photos from us around Antigua...

The beautiful cathedral in the town square.

Another view in the town square of City Hall.

The sunset on New Year´s Day.

The parade in the square on New Year´s Day.

Kyle snuggling with Terry, our family´s little pup.

Us enjoying at treat at our favorite ice cream shop, Sarita´s.

Also, during school, we sometime´s take field trips at interesting places to practice listening to different people speaking spanish. Here we went to San Antonio to hear about customs and making traditional crafts. Of course, we discussed traditional weddings, and my teacher volunteered us to be the couple to "get married". (No prob... we´re really good at this now!)

Shots from our Mayan wedding..... wedding # 3.

Sprinkling petals at the end of the ceremony.

And me with our first bub. This particular tying carrying method is used by all women, as it´s really easy to just turn the bub around and give it a bit of a feed.

Unfortunately, the women do all the work here.... carrying and feeding the babies, carrying water, etc. (By the way, a typical family is about 8 kids!!)

Apparently, the wedding night isn´t spent together.... the women gets the pleasure of spending the evening making tortillas.

A mayan woman teaching us to make tortillas.

My first homemade tortilla as a wife (for the 3rd time).

Tikal, Guatemala

On the first weekend that we were in Antigua, we went for a very long bus ride from to Flores to see Tikal (an ancient Mayan village). In order to have enough time on Saturday to explore, we took our first overnight bus ride. Granted we did book first class, but I wouldn´t say that sleeping on a bux for 10 hours is any better than on a plane... Not enough leg room!

As we were only paying for one night, we decided to stay at the posh Jungle Lodge. To my dismay, and the dismay of my spanish profesora, the place was full of americans and everyone spoke in english. (Not good for learning.)

Our private cabin at the Jungle Lodge.

One of the toucans eating berries outside our cabin.

(Tim & Dad, you should love this as I know how much you love Fruit Loops!)

Some of the pretty flowers on the grounds of the lodge.

Me having a walk around the lodge grounds. Very pretty and relaxing.

The entrance to Tikal was a 5 minute walk from our cabin.

The map of the ruins.

Admiring the most famous temple in Tikal.

A look down into the square.

Kyle climbing up another temple for a better look.

One of the beautiful carvings. (I can´t remember what it was of though...)

Checking out one of the tallest temples, with the steepest ladder ever to climb up...

A very scary climb.

Kyle still looked pretty happy on the ladder.

I´m not very afraid of heights, but this was so steep. If you slipped, it was all over. They don´t believe in any safety precautions or equipment in Guatemala. Everything is at your own risk!!

Me not looking quite as excited or happy as Kyle as I climbed very slowly back down...

Hola de Antigua, Guatemala

Hola everyone,
Kyle and I finally arrived to Antigua yesterday, so we are back in touch with reality and will be updating our blog over the next few days. We just spent 6 fabulous days at Lago Atitlan at a gorgeous place built on the side of a cliff that can only be reached by boat and has no telephone or internet access. I thought it was heaven. After all the craziness right before we left, I was really ready to get far, far away from it all!!!

We arrived from Panajachel on Lago Atitlan that seemed to run on Guate schedules... whenever it decides to turn up. We hopped onto our minibus for the 2 hour ride to then move in with the Guatemalteca family that we are staying with for the next 2 weeks. They are very nice and will help our Spanish immensely. The mother, Maria, is a kindergarten teacher and the father is a doctor and a bombero (a fireman). I don´t know how that works but my spanish isn´t good enough yet to ask. They also have a son that is in high school and has studies english for 3 years so he is really helpful when we are in a jam. They also have an 8 week old golden retriever that is the cutest. We´re already are good friends and have cuddles several times a day.

Kyle and started our spanish lessons today. We each have a one on one tutor for 4 hours, so we´re hoping that we make quick progress. There is a lot to learn, but knowing french really helps!

Anyways, we are in the process of updating our blog now so there will be lots of updates very soon!!