Long Excursion sobre Guatemala: Semuq Champey

2 weeks ago, in between phrase one and phrase 2 of the program, we took a long trip around Guatemala to Tikal, Flores, Cobán, and Semuq Champey. (Pictures to come)
The highlights of the trip:
1) the mayan ruins. One of the 7 wonders of the world--and we were climbing them! (In the states it would be illegal to climb such monuments, but in Guat, we climbed to the top of the piramids, complete with no railings or protection or anything!) Dad you would have been freaking out. But we were very safe. And the view from the top of the temples is unlike any other. From one of them, we could see Mexico. The ruins were located in the jungle--my first time in a jungle, seeing real monkeys that were not in a zoo! They were so cute! And yes, mom and dad, i had been taking my malaria medicine.
2) The second highlight was Semuq Champey. It is probably one of the most beautiful natural sites I have ever seen. The first day, we hiked up a mountain to see a view of the waterfalls, (pictures to come) and swam through the natural ¨pools¨of the waterfalls. It was honestly like paradise. The second day, we explored the underwater caves. The caves was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. When we entered the first cave in the chain, we couldnt see anything. All we could hear were bats above us. One girl even got pooped on. (ick) We had a guide--but we had no light except for the candles we carried. And we had to swim with one hand and hold the candle with the other-definitely scary. My knees encountered quite a few underwater rocks, because we couldnt see where we were swimming. I do not really like not knowing where I am swimming. And all we could hear was the rush of the waterfalls--it was overwhelming. 3 hours later, upon emerging from the caves, my body was in a state of shock. I was shaking from being wet for 3 hours, scared, and with handicapped knees. But after about an hour, as we were floating down the river to our cabins, in innertubes, relaxing in the sun, I started to realize what I had just accomplished and appreciate the experience. I mean, how many people can say they scaled waterfalls (we literally used a rope to climb up and down the waterfall) and explored underwater caves? It was definitely the experience of a lifetime. And definitely adventure tourism that I probably will never do again! Only in Guat...