Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - More Guatemala

Our story continues in the town of Flores, which is where most people set up who are interested in seeing Tikal. As I mentioned at the end of my last post, we took the overnight bus up from Antigua, and I was fortunate enough that though still a bit unsettled, I was feeling better for the most part. The medicine we picked up at the pharmacy did its job well.

Tikal is one of the great ancient Mayan cities. You will remember that I visited Copan in Honduras. This is the same sort of deal, but only on a much grander scale. Tikal was rediscovered in the early 1880's, and there are some impressive pictures taken then of what the temples looked like before being cleaned of the vegetation that was growing on them. Of course, now the plazas have been completely cleaned up and it is one of the largest tourist spots in all of Guatemala.

This is the one place in Guatemala I really wanted to see before getting into the country. Ruins seem to be a polarizing tourist attraction. You either like them or you don't. I love them. It is just fascinating to me that humans during any time period could build something so grand. The tops of these stone monuments literally stick out above the forest canopy! If you had asked me 48 hours before we actually arrived at Tikal how long I would have wanted to stay there, I would have told you the whole day. Unfortunately, the damp heat of the day along with the fact that I had almost no calories in my body from being sick left me feeling pretty weak and tired after merely an hour. After walking around the Grand Plaza, and climbing a very large staircase to see how the monument tops really do break the tree line, I was in need of getting into the shade. We decided after two hours there that it would be best to head back to our hostel for a bit of food and a nap. If I ever return to Guatemala, I will return to Tikal.

Thankfully, I was hungry that afternoon and the food I ate remained with me through the night and into the morning. In my mind, I declared myself well when I woke up and decided some dairy would be fine for breakfast. No problems there either. This was good because we were headed out on another six hour minibus journey. Our destination this time was a remote ecological wonder called Semuc Champey.

In the indigenous language, Semuc Champey means, "Where the water runs under the land." As the water comes down from the mountains, there is one spot in the limestone deposit where the water has carved its way through the rock and a natural overhang has been formed. The water becomes quite turbulent in this area. However, as the water goes underground, a bit of it remains above and nature has left a series of seven aqua blue pools. This is the draw. The pools are deep enough to swim in, and the fish in them are anxious to check out your toes if you stand still long enough.

I jumped into several of the pools for a swim. The water was crystal clear and much less cold than I thought it would be. It was actually quite comfortable to stay in for awhile. Tezra wasn't feeling well, so she took the photos. Before we left to go back to our hostel, I took a fifteen minute hike up one of the surrounding hills to catch an overhead glimpse of the pools. What a magnificent view! The forest just opens up, and I could see the tiny specks of people swimming in the water below.

After two nights at Semuc Champey, we started to make our way back to Guatemala City so we could head out to El Salvador. There was one last thing to do though. It would be a travesty for a coffee lover like me to leave Central America without touring a coffee farm. The town we were switching buses in had a small scale plantation on its outskirts, and we headed over that way for a tour before the bus left. It was a brief tour, but interesting to see the beans growing and hear a bit about the process. Plus, we were treated to a cup of their coffee at the end of the tour, which was delicious!

That night we stayed in Guatemala City, and left on the morning bus the next day to spend my birthday in San Salvador, El Salvador.