Adios Guatemala

Now I've finally made it out of Guatemala after 2 and a half months. My day trip to Semuc Champey was a really good time. It was probably the scenic highlight of the whole country. It was a bit hard to get to as we had to drive over some pretty rough roads, but it was a spectacular place. There were 10 of us on the tour including the driver and guide. When we got to the first stop on the trip, the guide said we had a choice of seeing the standard cave by foot, or going to another cave where we would have to swim through the cave, and also we could go floating down the river on an inner tube after. The choice was unanimous for the partly underwater cave, but we really had no idea what we were in for. We were told to leave everything behind but sandals and a bathing suit. Our lights were a candle for everyone and we were on our way. The water was quite cold but soon we got used to it. As we got into the cave the water got deeper and deeper until we had to swim. The trick is to hold the candle above the water if you still want to see. We were told bats lived in the cave but they didn't bother us. There were some ladders to climb and descend and also some tight openings to squeeze through, but everyone lived so we all had a great time.

After we got out of the cave, we relaxed in our inner tubes and floated down the river. The water was cool, but refreshing. In the afternoon we saw what we came to see. Semuc Champey is a beautiful spot where the majority of this river flows underground through a tunnel in the limestone. On the top of the bridge some of the water flows into these pools that form a series of steps down to the bottom. You can't go through the tunnel, but you can swim through the pools above. You have to see it to believe it, but I don't think the pictures do it justice.

After that I returned to Coban, then headed north to El Peten province to get to the ruins of Tikal. Tikal was once the largest Mayan city, but was abandoned around 800AD, but nobody knows exactly why. The city was rediscovered in the 1800's and gradually they are uncovering the pyrimads and buildings that were buried under the jungle for over 1000 years. It was quite a site to see, and I spend most of a whole day there with a guide. I stayed close by in the island city of Flores, and ended up staying there longer than I thought because I got really sick. I had to go to the hospital, and it was quite an ordeal, but I'm alive so I don't really want to tell that story.

Then when I felt a bit better I headed southeast to the Rio Dulce, and then by boat to Livingston and Puerto Barrios. The whole area around there was very moist, humid, and hot, in fact it rained most of the time. Some of the sites along the river were pretty cool and there were tons of birds. I sped through Peurto Barrios and then made a run for the Honduran border. Now I've finally made it out of Guatemala and on my way south. Right now I'm in San Pedro Sula.

Coban Alta Verapaz

Coban is a small city in the centre of the country. It´s not as high as Xela, but it feels colder because of the moist climate. It is about 1500m above sea level and frequently misty and damp although today is nice. Before I came here I spent a couple days in Antigua. It was similar to Xela in that it had a lot of colonial building, cobblestone streets, but it was definately more tourist oriented. The setting was spectacular being surrounded by 3 volcanoes, unfortunately there were no live demonstrations of lava to see! One of the days I did an afternoon trip to the Pacaya volcano. The bus turned out to be an old chicken bus that seemed to be a lot less powerful than the normal ones I've been on. Maybe it was all the gringos. Luckilly it was only about an hour and a half to the 1800m elevation on the volcano, so I only had to suffer for a while. The seats on these buses are always too close together to those with long legs. From the point where we got off the bus, it was about 2 hours to the summit. It was pretty steep most of the way, and we stopped every 15 minutes or so. The path started out paved, then turned to dirt with steps, and then the vegetation disappeared. The winds picked up near the top, and the final few hundred metres of the cone were really steep, and loose. At the top we reached the edge of the crater, but we couldn´t peer into the crater because of the thick smoke. Sometimes the wind would blow the sulfur smoke back at us, but mostly the smoke was headed in the opposite direction. It was hard to stand because of the extremely strong winds. There wasn´t actually a lot to see in the crater, but at least I can say I´ve been on an active volcano. The way down was hard on my knees because we didn´t stop too long for breaks as it was getting dark. Made it back in one piece though.

More photos here.

Habitat House

The last day on the job for all of us as the house is more or less complete. Here are the four paid workers posing in front of the house. The three on the right are brothers, the youngest on the right is only 16 and he works full time. It does not seem like he wants to go back to school ever. The last day was pretty fun although it was still a lot of work trying to get everything finished on time. The whole house took only four weeks to finish, but the owners will have to do the finishing touches like painting, wiring, and getting the water hooked up.

More photos of the house here: Habitat for Humanity house in Olintepeque

Monday I leave Xela for other parts of Guatemala. I will try to see Antigua, Coban, Semuc Champey, Tikal, and then head southeast to the Atlantic coast and then to Honduras after that.