Sept. 13: Tikal to Lanquin and Antigua

Tikal was amazing. We toured the ruins, climbing to the top of Temple IV to re-create the famous shot from Star Wars. We saw a group of nuns from Guatemala City ascend steep steps to a temple in full habits, in the 100-plus degree heat of the rainforest. It was such a sight to see these temples and monuments jutting out from the top of the jungle.

From Tikal we headed south, en route to a town called Lanquin, where we wanted to see the famous Grutas de Lanquin, a series of caves that we were told were interesting to walk through. It was a long day, riding 7 hours, with an interesting pit stop in the town of Sayaxche.

 There is no bridge to cross the Rio de la Pasion, so the only choice is the local ferry, a flat barge-type of boat with palapas hanging off of the sides and a bilge pump fashioned out a 4-horsepower engine that seemed to come from a lawn mower. Trucks, cars, people, crowded onto this strange structure, and we paid 5 quetzales per vehicle (about 60 cents) to cross the river.

The road into the Lanquin was a rutted gravel single-lane road down some pretty steep hills and curves, which went for about 6 miles. At one point we were behind a tour bus. The bus stopped short to let another bus by---he began backing up and we knew he didn’t see us. Chris started honking the little Barbie-horn on the motorcycle which did absolutely no good. Finally I managed to jump off of the bike and run up to the bus, waving my hands to avoid disaster.

We arrived in Lanquin late in the day, and as we came into the town and began to search for a hotel, we met Edgar, a local tour guide. He was friendly and full of energy…we told him that we wanted to see the caves, and also go to Semuc Champey, a beautiful series of natural pools and waterfalls the next day, and he agreed to pick us up at 8:30am. The next morning he showed up at our hotel, the rustic El Recreo, in a pickup with the back bed full of 8 other tourists, a great group from Israel, the U.S. and Britain.

We climbed in the back with them and bounced along for about 10 miles, passing the entrance to the Grutas de Lanquin. We finally stopped, got out of the truck and began to climb a hill. I asked Edgar where we were going and why we didn’t stop. He gave me a cryptic smile and said “Oh, amiga, those caves are too touristy; you just walk through them. We are going for a real adventure to the Caves of Camba.”

With that, he brought us to a little hut, and told us to leave everything there that could not get wet. We had to hike up to the caves in just our bathing suits and our Tevas. He then proceeded to hand each one of us a candle. He had a small miners light strapped to his head and stuck a bunch of candles around the strap. When he lit them he looked like a giant birthday cake.

We entered the caves in the pitch dark, a long processional of bathing-suit clad, frightened people with just candles to light the way. Edgar, who we now realized was completely off the wall, was leading the way with the candles burning perilously close to his hair, singing at the top of his lungs the theme from Madagascar. Even now if I hear “I like to move it, move it” shivers of fear run up and down my spine.

We thought we were going to just walk through the caves. No. a river actually runs through the caves, so there were times where we had to jump down from a ledge, our heads going under, not able to touch bottom, times where if we did not hold our candle high enough, the guiding flame was snuffed out.

Then we had to climb down slippery rocks, holding on to stalactites or stalagmites for dear life. I just remember Edgar saying “You take the rock. Now, slowly, slowly.” We got to a point where we had to climb a sheer rock face inside the cave by holding onto a rope under a cascade of water and hoisting ourselves up. The best was when we got to a small hole which led to a deep pool below.

Edgar crammed us all into the small space approaching the hole and told us to wedge our foot on the top and just slide through. All told, it was an amazing experience which I will never, never forget.
It didn’t end there. We came out of the caves exhilarated and tired. We hiked back to the hut and there were some black tire inner tubes stacked up.
Edgar told us we were then going to go tubing down the Rio Cahabon. We descended the riverbank and got caught up in the soft current of the river, floating down, soaking up the sun and trying to get rid of the goosebumps from the freezing cold water in the caves. When we got to the end we picked up our tubes and hiked back to the hut, still in our bathing suits and Tevas. We were then on our way to lunch. On the way, Edgar invited us to jump off of the bridge we were walking across into the river below (8 meters high). Chris of course was game, as were the rest of the guys. I had had enough adrenaline for awhile.
At that point we walked over to a little roadside stand where 2 local ladies were cooking. We had a great lunch of frijoles, mashed avocado and beef which they cooked on a hot metal grill over some rocks. Then it was onto the next adventure!

We then began a serious hike up to the see the waterfalls and the pools of Semuc Champey. What a place. Semuc Champey has a natural limestone bridge, 300 meters long, as well as a stepped series of natural pools with clear turquoise water. The water comes from the same Rio Cahabon where we had gone tubing.

It was a beautiful place, and we swam, hiked and enjoyed the natural beauty. We started to hike down to the waterfall which rose 40 feet high above some pools below. Edgar announced that we were going to jump off of the waterfall and then climb a rope back up. The guys jumped right on it.

The women almost had a revolt. NO way. We watched as Chris and his compatriots jumped into a narrow space, having to avoid the rocks 40 feet below. Crazy.

As we continued to hike down, the skies opened and it began pouring, torrential rain. This was followed by loud claps of thunder and lightning which was getting closer and closer. There was nowhere to go, so we continued to hike down to the truck. Now it gets interesting. With lightening overhead, soaking wet, Edgar herded everyone into back of the truck, everyone holding onto metal poles like human lightning-rods. The guys had cut some banana leaves and were using them as umbrellas. What an experience.
We left Lanquin the next morning, destination Antigua.

 We hit a major rainstorm, with muddy, flooded roads, and saw a car that had just overturned on narrow stretch of road. We misjudged a bit and ended up passing through Guatemala City at rush hour on a Friday. This took over 3 hours, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, stuck behind buses and trucks spewing diesel fumes into our helmets. There was nowhere to go and no way to avoid inhaling the stuff. Arriving in Antigua made it all worthwhile. What a beautiful city. Ringed by volcanoes, it couldn’t get more picturesque. The city is buzzing with parades and celebrations getting ready for Guatemala’s Independence Day, September 15. Whew, time for some chardonnay!