Friday, June 15, 2012

Aventura

For our last weekend trip, we traveled to Semuc Champey in Coban. What a beautiful area! It is tucked within the mountains, a little hideaway in the jungle, with multiple turquoise pools formed by water flowing down from above. I thought Tikal was quite the adventure, but I had no idea how amazing Coban would be!

We started the morning with a hike through the jungle again, climbing up steep hills to get to a crazy view of the pools down below. I was struck by the bright blue water and the multiple falls that created the pools. Even more striking than the view was the sound of the waterfalls as they hit their destination at the pools.



Even from so high up, you could still hear them.

After hiking down, our tour guide told us to leave all of our stuff in a cubby off to the side of the pools and we followed him straight into the water where he led us on a little adventure filled with jumps, rock slides, and even a small cave. We sat on the edge of the pools looking out to the mountains with clear water rushing by us, and I could not have been more relaxed.




After lunch, we continued the day with a little caving adventure. Now, I have been in caves before, but never like this. Instead of having a lighted path, the guide handed each of us a candle that we lit before walking into the mouth of the cave. Within about twenty feet, we were swimming through the cave with only one hand, holding the candles above our heads, following the guides through a pitch black cave, every once in awhile hearing a bat overhead. There were rope ladders to climb up as we worked our way farther into the cave. At the back end, we each took a turn walking under a waterfall before heading back out the way we came in, using the current to help us along as we swam out. The whole weekend was a little retreat to the jungle, once again doing things that I never thought I would. What an adventure.

Photos by Edward Doyle

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