The hidden treasures of the jungle

It's been my last week in Guatemala this week and it's been a goody...

We left Rio Dulce in search of more water in the form of a natural limestone bridge with turquoise pools over a river in Semuc Champey.  We headed west along a very windy and bumpy 'road' in a 4X4 truck.  The journey which was long and very uncomfortable was made worse by my feeling a bit peeky.  We were bounced around like a pinball in a machine!  We finally arrived in Lanquin at 7pm only to find that our chosen accommodation was full so we faced another 30 minute truck ride along and equally bumpy 'road' to our second choice of hostel.  Feeling extremely battered and very tired, we booked a dorm room, which turned out to have one open side, put up our mosquito nets and fell into bed.

Our lovely dorm room with one open side!

A view of El Portal hostel.  Our dorm is on the
right, in the roof.

The next day we headed into the National Park of Semuc Champey to discover that it was well worth every bump in the road to get there.  Having purchased our $6 ticket at the entrance, we headed along the path that lead into the jungle and after about 5 minutes were greeted with a magnificent, beautiful sight.  The limestone bridge was huge and the pools were an inviting, mesmerizing shade of turquoise.  The hole place was perfect with unimaginable beauty.  Sadly, the hike up to the lookout was too much for me that day.  Having started the walk, I began to feel sick and dizzy so after a long rest on a rock, I admitted defeat and we turned around and slowly made our way back to the pools.  After a lay down on the bench and a drink of water, I felt better so we went for a dip in the water.  

Excited to be entering the park!

Enjoying the refreshing waters of the pools.

We spent the next couple of hours diving, swimming and floating in the cool water.  The limestone rocks gave create places for perching and watching the world go by.  The little fish happily nibbled away on our feet, giving for a relaxing, ticklish natural pedicure!  We took a swim down to the top of the bridge, where the river cascades over rocks before thundering under the bridge.  This was an ideal spot for an 'adventure' photo and we spent ages getting the right shot.  Both Amy and I are what we have titled as 'photo snobs'.  The definition of this would be that we are extremely fussy about our photos and are not happy until we get the photo exactly how we want it!  Needless to say that that usually means taking lots of shots.  Thank heavens for digital photography!

Enjoying a swim at one of the top pools.

The 'adventure' shot!

Taking it all in, with the river thundering along.

Having enjoyed the pools so much the previous day and having not made it up to the view point, we obviously headed back to Semuc for our second day.  The ticket man recognised us and said 'oh, back for your second visit!' which made us chuckle!  Luckily, I was feeling better and taking it slowly, we made it to the top of the view point.  The view was exactly like the postcard that we had bought in Antigua.  The pools shone crystal clear in the bight sunshine and the changing colours of the limestone created intricate patterns in the bottom of the pools.  We spent a while just staring at the view below us before making the descent back to the ever inviting water below.

I made it to the view point!

Semuc Champey steps gracefully
through the jungle valley.

Closer view of the pools.

Having refuelled back at the hotel, we returned for our afternoon of 'Amy and Helen's Big Adventures'!  We had decided that we needed to make our way down the pools and swim in as many as we could.  This involved a lot of careful walking, some skilful bottom shuffling, jumping, leaping and generally avoiding any misfooting as this would have resulted in potential injury, landing in the wrong water or embarrassment!  We chose the route down carefully, selecting waterfalls that didn't look too step or fast flowing and places where we could see that provided us with a platform at which to stop.  We both loved it so much that we did it twice!  On our return to the top, we noticed more pools that had swimming potential, so decided that we couldn't leave with a second run down the slalom of pools, falls and rocks.  In total, we ended up swimming in 14 different at Semuc Champey and we loved every single one of them!  I think that Semuc is possible the most beautiful 'river' scene that I have visited anywhere in the world.  Simply perfect!

Exploring the lower pools on the bridge.

One of the many water slides
we tackled!

Such lovely surroundings!

Feeling very contented with our two days of water adventure and exploration, we took another horrible, long and uncomfortable bus ride north to what is known as the jewel in the Guatemalan tourist crown - the Maya ruins of Tikal.

We had visited the smaller Maya ruins in Copan, Honduras, but these were on a much grander scale.  Tikal National Park is about 550 square kilometres and only 15% of the ruins are exposed.  The rest is still buried under jungle growth.  It really is like stepping into a world like time forgot, with ruins poking out the top of dense forest and trees growing up the side of limestone staircases.  The gigantic Maya temples dominate the landscape, like modern day skyscrapers.  We had a great guide, who told us about the ruins, pointed out howler monkeys, toucans and coati as well as telling us stories of how the Maya people used the trees and plants.

A temple peeks above the jungle.

Admiring the temples above the trees.

Howler monkeys hanging out in
the trees.

Climbing up some of the temples to explore and admire the views was great.  You felt incredibly small, standing next to these huge temples of stone.  It was fascinating to imagine the 150,000 Maya people living in this impressive city that was now covered with jungle.

Amy and I over looking the Central Acropolis.

Feeling very small on the stone steps!

After starting out so early this morning (the bus to Tikal was 5.20am!) this afternoon has been spent relaxing by the pool at our hotel.  It's terribly humid here so the need for a pool outweighed the cost of the hotel!! (Plus, the hotel that we stayed in last night was horrible so we had to switch!)  The hotel is on the shores of Lago Peten Itza, a picturesque little lake, great for watching sunsets.

Sunset over the lake from our hotel in El Remate.

I have loved Guatemala so much but today is our last day here.  Tomorrow we take another early bus to Belize, the last country that Amy and I will visit together and in fact the start of our last week travelling together.

The beautiful waters of Guatemala

It's been a week of rain, rivers, waterfalls and lakes, sickness and goodbyes.  Rather busy really!

Having completed our second week of Spanish (although mine was cut short by a bout of stomach illness, worse than the last time, but am now fully recovered) we headed off for our final two weeks of travel together.  With the route all planned out, our enthusiasm full to the brim and our backpacks organised once again (a little less crammed full after we both sent our shopping extravaganza results home via courier!) we said goodbye to the family and left Antigua on Friday morning (hoping to leave the afternoon rain behind us).

The best laid plans never usually work out smoothly and our first stop was not where we had planned due to the late buses, missed connections and late arrival into the dodgy port town of Puerto Barrios.  Originally hoping to make it to Livingston, we sadly missed the boat, arriving 2 hours later than expected in Puerto Barrios, in the dark and the rain (yes, leaving it behind didn't work out!).  We found a bed for the night, got taken to a nice restaurant by the owner of the hotel (to keep us safe as the area is unsafe for tourists) and bedded down for the night in the grim little town, planning an early rise and boat ride in the morning across to Livingston.

The next days travel was luckily more reliable and we caught a lancha (small motor boat) to Livingston at 7.30am.  On arrival there we headed straight to Exotic Travel tour office, dumped our bags, ate breakfast and strolled off for our tour of the local area.

We had a very jolly, well rounded local tour guide for the day who took us on a very pleasant walk to La Siete Altares (the Seven Altars).  Walking through the jungle initially proved quite an adventure and we had to navigate a path across the stones of various streams and rivers as well as test our balancing skills on a make-shift log-come-bridge that assisted us over a deep part. Fuelled up on a mid morning snack of mini bananas, we took a 25 minute gentle canoe ride down stream to the mouth of the river at the Caribbean Sea.  There our walk continued along the beach to the entrance to La Siete Altares.

Carefully making the crossing 
on the 'bridge'!

Amy and I both made it 
safely across.

Enjoying the wilds of the 
Guatemalan jungle.

Our mode of transport down 
the river.

The waterfalls themselves were a series of stepped falls, cascading majestically as the river curved through the jungle.  We tentatively made our way further up the river to the top and most magnificent of all the seven falls.  The pool at the base was incredibly inviting by this point as we were both feeling hot and sticky.  The cool water refreshed us immediately and a swim around, as well as a massage from the force of the water was a treat that was well worth the effort of the walk there.

The beautiful 'La Siete Altares'.

Taking a dip in the refreshing pool.

The next day we took a boat ride up the Rio Dulce to the town of the same name.  It was a pretty journey, although didn't quite live up to the hype that we had heard and read about it.  Stopping at a naturally hot swimming pool and the Castillo de San Felipe along the way broke the journey up.  We found a lovely jungle lodge with a gorgeous swimming pool on the banks of the river and spent the early afternoon relaxing before taking a walk to a viewing tower in the late afternoon.  More rain meant that we were once again wet but this now seems to be the pattern of the weather - clear mornings, rainy afternoons.

Looking out of the window in the tower.

Waterlilies across the river.

Castillo de San Felipe.

Today was our second day in Rio Dulce and it was fantastic!  We took a little bus to El Boqueron, a steep sided canyon with striking rock formations, howler monkeys and trees growing out the sides of the cliffs.  I felt like I was in the scene of an Indian Jones movie!!  We jumped off the bus at the sign for El Boqueron and walked down to the edge of the river.  Deserted is the only word to describe where we stood.  There was no sign of other human life.  After 5 minutes and wondering what our options were, we spotted a guy wandering down to the river on the other side.  He got in his little boat, rowed over and said it was 15 quetzales per person to be rowed into the gorge.  A bargain of a price (about £1.10) we hopped on board and set off!!  It was only a short journey, but it was peaceful, spectacular and extremely enjoyable (other than when I screamed as he pointed out an extremely hairy, long-legged spider on a rock right next to me!).

Perched on the rock in the middle 
of the river, in the canyon.

Views down the river.

Back on the side of the road, we waited only moments for a bus to pick us up and deposit us at our next stop of the morning, further back down the road at La Finca Paraiso (the farm of paradise).  This is yet another beautiful waterfall, but this one is naturally hot, yes, a hot water waterfall!

We paid the fee, followed the little man in the wellies and cowboy hat and after about 5 minutes, were greeted by the spectacle of the water gushing over high rocks, steam floating above the water and a second, lower level waterfall sending cold water to mix in with the hot from the big fall.  It was just magical!

Wasting no time, we de-clothed and dived in the water.  Being submerged in cold water, while hot water pounded your head was certainly a unique experience.  We scrambled up the side of the falls, clinging onto tree routes and making good use of the foot holes, to reach to top where the hot stream fed the falls and little thermal pools were perfect for soaking.  A group of Mexican girls were covering themselves in mud, so, listening to their advice on the right kind of mud and good techniques, we duly joined in.  Covering ourselves in mud from the edge of the pools was very funny but actually gave my skin an amazing natural exfoliation and it's never felt so smooth! 

Soaking in the steaming hot pools

Looking lovely and muddy!

At the top of the spectacular falls.

Having rinsed off, we carefully picked our way down the side of the falls for another dip in the cool river before heading back to the road, where once again another bus popped round the corner to take us back to town within minutes of our arrival on the side of the road.

Rio Dulce has been heaps of fun but tomorrow we head off for the next stop which just happens to be by more water again!

An amazing Guatemalan experience

It's been a week of hard Spanish good eating but most of all a huge amount of shopping!  The quote of the week comes from Amy and is..."Helen, why did I buy a frigging table runner?!"............


Our crossing from Copan Ruinas in Honduras to Antigua in Guatemala was extremely easy as we were travelling in a little tourist shuttle.  We've been told that public buses in Guatemala are not safe to use so we will be travelling on tourist shuttles throughout our whole time here.  There are lots of travel agencies in Antigua advertising various routes and it seems that wherever you want to go, there is a shuttle that will take you there!

We went straight to the school on our arrival and were greeted very warmly by a member of staff.  She called the family that we will be staying with for the two weeks while we study at the school.  They live very close to the school, only 5 minutes walk away.  Our house has 2 ladies living in it, a mother called Cornellia and her daughter called Irma.  The son (Teco) visits the house everyday and is extremely chatty!  He met us at the school with a beaming smile, warm handshake and bubbling with enthusiasm.  He said that school was for learning, but the house was for lots of practise!!  I felt so welcomed by all the family straight away.  They keep saying to us that "it's your house too!". Cornellia, the mother is one of the cutest little old ladies you could imagine!  The houses is bustling, busy and feels like a haven.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday we spent wandering around what is a stunning, beautiful city.  Antigua is a small city of cobbled streets, colourful buildings and grand churches.  Sounds a lot like Granada in Nicaragua I know, but this is even more eye catching and picturesque.  Surrounded by 3 volcanoes, every direction that you look in the city means that you have a vista of at least one of them.  Locals pass the time in the gorgeous central plaza, delicious fresh fruit is abundantly available from little men and women selling a wide variety from small wicker baskets or carts and once again there are cafes and restaurants with the delightful courtyard gardens.  This is most definitely my favourite town/city in Central America so far.

Amy and I on the main street.

We found heaps of craft markets around the city while we strolled around and all of the stalls and shops has such a wonderful array of different things that the sight was amazing to behold.  There was such a variety it made me wish that I had saved all my shopping for here!  Amy says that the likelyhood of us leaving here with the same amount of bags is not very high as we both love to shop!  This was where the shopping marathon started!

Having a break from shopping in the markets.

More markets!

After a week of intense Spanish lessons, we took a well deserved weekend away at Lago de Atitlan in the western highlands.  The lake has a dramatic backdrop of 3 volcanoes (yes, three more volcanoes!) and it's shoreline is dotted with traditional Mayan villages were the people still wear traditional Mayan clothing and the culture is incredibly strong.  The town of Panajachel was our base and we found a bustling street filled with cafes, craft stalls and travel agents.  This is where our shopping marathon continued!  Very much a tourist town, it had a magnetic charm that made us want to stay longer.

The main street in Panajachel.

Mayan women and children.

Enjoying dinner in a lovely cafe, 
with a new friend!

We took a boat trip visiting 4 of the towns around the lake on Saturday and discovered pretty villages with winding streets, cute cafes and lots of crafts to buy.  We added to our present haul from the day before very easily!  Climbing the steep cobbled streets of the towns gave a wonderful vista of the lake and sitting in the pleasant cafes with a nice fresh juice and yummy cake was a very relaxing way to spend a day!  We returned to Panajachel in the afternoon for more cafe hopping, a little more shopping and a good natter about what a lovely couple of days we had had.

The busy streets of San Pedro.

The beautiful church and garden in San Pedro.

Looking out over the dock.

On Sunday we headed to the town of Chichicastenago, famous for the enormous market that is held there twice a week.  It turned out to be a pretty jaw dropping sight as local and tourist markets intertwined down narrow, cobbled streets.  Vibrant colours of flowers, fruits, vegetables and crafts were everywhere that you looked.  The market was very overwhelming and I didn't enjoy the constant feeling of being pushed and shoved.  Our tranquil and enjoyable shopping experiences in Antigua and Panajachel were as far from the markets here as possible.  After battling our way round the markets and making a few more purchases, we retreated to the calmer environment of the Santa Tomas hotel for a cup of tea!

Flower sellers at Chichicastenago.

Colourful threads ready to be woven 
into beautiful fabrics.

We returned to Antigua in the afternoon feeling tired, a bit battered and with our bags a great deal fuller and our wallets a great deal emptier!

People who I have met throughout the years that I have travelled always tell me how amazing Guatemala is.  I´ve been in Guatemala just over a week and totally see what they mean.  So far it is my favourite country in Central America that we have visited.

A lot of heat and a bit of history!

I really am not a fan of boat travel and this trip we have been on a rather disturbing amount of boats!  Our ride over to Utila was rough and as usual not especially pleasant in my eyes.  On arrival, we were greeted (or rather bombarded) by extremely enthusiastic member of the various dive schools on the island, all wanting out custom.  As soon as they heard that I was not in the least bit interested in diving, they lost interest in talking to me rather rapidly!!

View round the bay of Utila Town

As we walked through the small town along to Altons (on recommendation from a previous hostel) we found it to be calm, very cute looking and with lots of cafes.  On later inspection, we discovered that all the cafes were pretty terrible, it is an extremely hot place and there are many sand flies that inhabit the island.  All in all, the place didn't really live up to our initial ideas of it as we walked through.


Amy is a keen diver so her two days on Utila were taken up with diving.  I am most definitely not a diver because it really hurts my ears but do enjoy snorkelling immensely (staying on the surface is far more preferable!).  I booked myself a place on a dive boat going out in the afternoon, got my flippers, mask and snorkel all ready and set off for an afternoon of fish spotting!  The snorkelling was pretty good and although the coral wasn't the most colourful that I have seen, there were lots and lots of pretty fishes darting around and some interesting pieces of coral to marvel at.  In total, I was snorkelling around for about 2 hours.  Needless to say I was pretty much pruned by the end of it, as 2 hours in the water is sure to make you very wrinkly!!


Our second day in Utila saw the temperature rise even higher.  I decided to go out for a walk in the morning to 'Pumpkin Hill'.  This however proved to be harder to find that I had expected.  I'd asked for directions, followed them explicitly and still not managed to find the hill.  After about an hour and a quarter of walking in the relentless sun and surviving walking along a particularly treacherous section of path that was all sharp coral, I was near the base of the hill when the path abruptly came to an end.  It was at this point, extremely hot, sweating profusely and rather fed up, that I decided to give up.  Heading back, very carefully to the beach, I took a refreshing dip in the ocean before heading back down the runway of the airport to the path back to town.  Luckily, I was passed by a local on his motor bike who offered me a lift.  I gladly accepted as another hour walking in the blazing sunshine really wasn't appealing.  He was ever so friendly and told me that I would have been better off climbing Stuart Hill as it's right in town and has better views!  This was information that I could have done with about 2 hours earlier!!

The spot where I took a refreshing dip 
after the long, hot walk.

On my return to town, I spent the rest of the afternoon dipping in and out of the water at the end of the jetty outside out hotel.  It was the best way to stay cool in what was pretty unbearable heat.  Managed to spot a couple of eagle rays milling around the jetty in the late afternoon too so that was great to see.

Sunset from our jetty.

We left Utila the next day, both feeling pleased and ready to leave.  We went  in search of better restaurants, less sandflies and cooler temperatures!


After a long, long day of travel on what were pretty uncomfortable buses, we arrived in the beautiful, gorgeous little town of Copan Ruinas.  It's in the west of Honduras, right near the Guatemalan border and is famous for the Maya ruin site called Copan.  Here we discovered good restaurants, less sandflies but sadly, not that much cooler temperatures.


I was feeling a little peaky on our first day here so we had a relaxing day, sampling some of the cafes, visiting all the cute little shops, spending a bit of money and taking in the picturesque views around town.  It really is one of the prettiest towns that I have visited so far in Central America.  Steep cobbled streets lead up or down to the lovely central plaza, where palm trees sway in the breeze, local cowboys hang out and the white church sets a photogenic backdrop.  We discovered lots of great cafes with good juices and delicious meals.  Dinner one night was at 'Twisted Tanya's' where they actually have a backpacker special on the menu!  Our favourite cafe though was 'Picame' - really friendly owners, great food and reasonable prices.  Couldn't ask for much more!

The cute, cobbled streets of Copan Ruinas.

The lovely Central Plaza.

A line of moto taxis waits to whizz 
people around town.

The reason to visit Copan Ruinas is to visit the Maya ruins.  This is a set of ruins renowned in the Maya world of Central America for their intricate and beautiful carvings.    The site itself was not that big, but did have some impressive structures, especially the hieroglyphic staircase.  It dates from 400 AD to 800 AD and covers the 16 kings of Copan.  The different temples and stone carvings were hidden by overgrown jungle until archaeologists began to uncover it.   We had paid for a guide who sadly turned out to be less than enthusiastic and not very informative so our knowledge of the place wasn't really any greater than before we went in.  It was nice to walk around though and imagine life going on years and years ago.

One of the example of the intricate 
carvings of the Maya people 
of Copan.  This one is showing
Eighteen Rabbit who was the 
13th King of Copan.

Looking like a spectator watching over 
the football field.

The very impressive Hieroglyphic 
staircase. 

On our final day in Honduras we took a brilliant and very fun tour up into the surrounding hills to learn how to make corn tortillas and clay pots.  'Lucas' was the delightful 61 year old lady who was showing us how to make the tortillas.  We had a go at all four stages - grinding the corn, smooshing the corn on a stone slab, moulding the balls of dough into flat circle shapes and finally cooking them on a ceramic, circular hot plate.  The shaping of the dough turned out to be much harder than expected and neither Amy nor I managed to get them as neatly circular as Lucas did.  Mine kept getting stuck to my hands and then tearing, developing little holes in the middle!  Once the tortillas were ready we ate them with scrumptious black beans and ground, roasted squash seeds.  It was simple, but really, really good to eat!

Having a go at smooshing 
the cornmeal.

Feeling very proud of my 
little tortilla!

Enjoying our tortillas and delicious 
beans with our guide.

Second activity for the morning was making clay pots in the traditional style.  This was another thing that Lucas made look extremely easy, but Amy and I faired much worse!  Moulding the clay with our hands was fun though and we ended up with something that almost resembled the beautifully finished ones that we had been copying.

Having a go at making the pots.

My finished pot is a bit misshapen, 
but not bad really!

After three great days in Copan it was time to pack up and leave Honduras. 
Next stop GUATEMALA!!