A whirlwind of Semuc Champay and Tikal

Last week went at light speed. After leaving Antigua I went to Lanquin to see the natural caves and pools of Semuc Champay. The hostel I stayed at was perfect, nestled down by the river amongst mountains. I slept outside in a hammock and woke up each day with the sun. Huge, delicous dinners were served communally in a setting of great people watching. I signed up for a tour of the caves and Semuc Champay, which was a trek in true Indiana Jones fashion. We started into the caves wearing just bathing suits, each of us holding a candle. Apparantly they extend a full 11 kilometers, of which we only explored about 500 meters. At points we had to swim stretches while holding our candles above water, duck under waterfalls and climb over lumpy stalagmite formations. It's another world in there. At points the surface of the rocks look slimy and fleshy, at others reptilian, and sometimes crystaline. Whatever the case they look like they are growing, which I suppose they are in their eternally slow way. Finally out of the caves we took a quick float down the river before heading to Semuc Champay itself which is a series of natural pools created at a point in the river where the water rushes under the limestone bed and the water that percolates up through the bed creates a series of clear and cool pools. It was well deserved relaxation after a day of caving and hiking.

The following morning we headed to Flores, a small town in the middle of a lake which is close to the Tikal ruins. Found an awesome restaurant where I had an avocado, banana, yogurt and honey smoothie. The next morning, it was an early rise to get to the ruins before the heat set in. Tikal, I love you. Wow. I can't even put into words the majesty and mystery. The jungle had swallowed the whole massive thing up until it was discovered in 1840something. They have only unearthed about 30 %. Nobody knows for sure why Tikal was abandoned, possibly drought, famine, overpopulation. But once humans left it, the jungle reclaimed it completely. While walking through, our guide was pointing out all the covered up pyramids and they just look like big hills except that the tree roots sit on top of the earth instead of borrowing deep. It is unbelievable that these structures were built without the use of the wheel, and without any metal tools. The traditional building method of the Mayans was to build on top of existing structures. The interior spaces never changed and are tiny as most of life was lived outdoors. But after significant events, a new layer would be added to an existing pyramid by building up all surfaces by about 3-4 feet. I couldn't help but see the parallel with the final layer that the jungle added.

pools of Semuc Champay

Temple IV

Jungle vertigo