Semuc Champey: The Adventure Diaries

Well we did it, we topped the Volcano experience, no easy feat to be sure, but exploring caves filled with water past your shoulder and swimming with a candle in hand was far more wildly stupid and completely thrilling. But leave it to two tiny, little girls to seek out the craziest adventures in all of Guatemala and you would have a pretty fitting description of us. For most, staying at our huespedaje would have been adventure enough. Out in the middle of nowhere we were left the first night with no lights, no idea what to expect and no mosquito net when the generator cut off, unbeknowingly to us (but all too apparent within a few minutes) at 9:30. We’re lucky we had a sheet for a blanket, apparently others were not so lucky in that respect.
However, we were staying at the hands-down BEST place anywhere near Semuc Champey. Guatemala’s premier water park, Semuc Champey is resplendent with natural limestone waterfalls and a tier of perfect aquamarine pools that go from shallow for laying out and sunning to deep enough to dunk in and still not touch the mossy bottom. Add some friendly fish and you have the perfect mixture of natural wonder and comfortable enjoyment. Semuc Champey may just be the most beautiful area in a country as full as hidden gems and rico as any royal treasure trove. Our huespedaje was only an 8 km walk from the falls, right on the bank of the Río Cabahon. Posadas Marias, completly run and managed by a friendly staff of native K’echi Indians was established for vistors to stay in the area while ensuring their tourist dollars were going towards conservation of the sensitive ecological surroundings and into the hands of the people from the altaverapace area. Not far removed foreign investors, which is a problem with many touristy places in Guatemala, a sad fact that does nothing to help improve the lives and surroundings of the true inhabitants. For this reason, accommodations were basic yet perfectly sufficient. The focus was interacting with the area and community, not just hitting another must-see tourist spot.
This is where the caves come in. The Kan-ba caves were dark inside. Dark, and filled with water, and cold, up to your shoulders cold water, and bats. Awesome. And it was, our small group of five including guide, had the caves all to ourselves. Hugging the sides of the cave with water up to my knees and candle clenched tightly, I felt like a pioneer. Scaling over stalagmites or crude ladders held together with what looked like duct tape only to jump down into dark pools below I felt only very grateful I did not go first. Hey it was dark in there, but I didn’t ask too many questions once I realized how fast my candle was burning.
But the exhilaration...if the cold didn’t steal your breath away, the excitement would! It was unbelievable... very, very unbelievable, all things considered this was an attraction that would never be opened for tourist trade in the States. No part of it was for those faint at heart. And when our guide all too innocently joked about jumping off the 30 ft. high bridge into the río where we were currently relaxing in our oddly lumpy tubes... I shot him back a wide full-teeth grin of a smile, “We,” I replied wickedly, “would love to.” Love, might not have been the word I would use as I was flailing through the air minutes later; but it is the perfect sentiment for me to describe Semuc Champey. Loved it, you got to go... And go before they realize taking tourists through water filled caves with candles may actually be a really, really stupid (and dangerously fun) idea.