Candle-lit caves - Semuc Champey, Guatemala

We had another mission of a journey getting to Lanquin - a 10 or so hour journey involving multiple forms of transport, dirt roads, and cramped seats. Surprisingly, Guatemala has been one of the hardest and most uncomfortable and expensive countries to travel in. There are tourist shuttles that exist, but by avoiding this option, we were in for some pretty interesting travel experiences. Poor Tom spent a 3 hour bus trip on bumpy roads with this little fella sleeping on his knees!



Cattle-class or human transport?
It was all worth it though when we went on the trip to Semuc Champey. It is located in a valley with a surrounding forest that overlooks circular turquoise pools. The water was absolutely exquisite for swimming in, which is exactly what we did.



We tend to avoid taking tour guides, but this was definitely an excursion where one was required. Our guide took us from pool to pool down natural slides, to a rickety bridge for jumping off, then we hopped into some tubes and floated down the river before lunch. We finished off the trip with a tour of the caves by candle-light, no head lamps or lights, just us and the bats. We literally had to swim one handed through for most of the caves, dropping through pitch black waterfalls unaware of how long it would take to drop into the pool below. Totally exhilarating stuff and definitely a test on the nerves!