(6/24-25) Craziest Day of My Life

Saturday morning, we took off for the full tour of Semuc Champey. After a good 30 min ride in the back of the pick-up truck, we made it to the first stop. Underwater caves! Like the bat caves, I was kind of terrified the entire time but definitely the craziest thing I've ever done. I mean, we were walking through a cave under a waterfall, with just a candle to light the way. Along the way, I climbed up a mini waterfall with a rope, jumped into pools, and fell down toilet bowls. Not a literal toilet bowl, but it was literally a hole that was just black, with a waterfall roaring through it to make it actually seem like a toilet. You just slip through it into a pool of water below. Some people were brave enough to jump off the mini cliff (maybe around 20 feet) that we stopped by, but I couldn't make myself do the climb up. So I jumped off a mini 2 foot high rock. 

Energy for the packed day ahead!

After coming out of the caves, the adventure didn't stop there. The next activity was swinging off into the river. We walked toward the tallest swing I have ever seen in my life. The tour guide went first to show us how to do it. He did the most graceful dive I've ever seen, he literally looked like a dolphin or something. Kurun was the first of us to go for it, and unlike the graceful dive, he somehow flipped backwards off the swing. We all had a good laugh from that. It was so fun to see how everyone jumped off. When I mustered up the courage to go, I got on the swing and let my feet leave the ground. As I swung through the air, I screamed at the top of my lungs and slipped off the swing when I was high above the river. Got an adrenaline rush for sure. Swam back to the edge of the river, and we all did it another time. Except the second time I hit the river face down, which hurt but still fun all the same.

After lunch, it was time for the hike to the viewpoint. By the time we reached the viewpoint, I was dripping buckets of sweat. But the view was so worth it. You could see the beautiful pools below, surrounded by huge mountains of green. Pictures, words don't do it justice.

After obligatory pictures, we hiked down to swim in the pools. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful they were. The water was so blue and clear, and the staircase of pools was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I could have stayed there forever. We had a blast swimming around in the water, and we also went under the ledge of one of the pools. I can't describe it very well, but we went through this little opening in the wall where the ceiling was right above your head. At the end, you had to swim under the water to get to the other side. I felt like Nemo or something, following the sunlight to guide me out. 

As we spent more time in the pools, I felt so small surrounded by the massive creations of nature. It was so surreal being there, and I really felt how big the world was and how small I was. But, soon it was time to leave the paradise and head back to our hostel.

Except the truck broke down halfway there. Which wasn't surprising because we were going up super steep hills, all muddy from the rain. With 20 people cramped in the back of the truck. We decided to get out of the truck and start walking. After some time, another truck came to get us and drive us the rest of the way. After a long day, we were back at the hostel.

Instead of eating the mediocre food at the hostel, we decided to go out for dinner to the #1 restaurant in town, according to TripAdvisor. Literally 30 seconds after walking out, we debated just heading back. The roads were mucky and squelchy from the rain, and it was getting really dark. But, we decided to stick it through. When we got to the restaurant, we were met with a swarm of knats flying around the light. But there was no going back. Thankfully, the food was delicious. 

There was no way we were going back in the pitch black, so we got some tuktuks. Really gonna miss these little guys. We chilled in the common area of the hostel for the rest of the night with some drinks and talked to the other people staying there. Even though we had to get up at 4 AM the next day, we stayed up playing card games and chilling, partly because I didn't want to stay in our room filled with bugs and no door. Yeah, our treehouse room didn't have a door in an area constantly filled with the sounds of insects. But around 2 AM, exhaustion got the better of me and headed back to get some sleep. I really couldn't sleep under my flimsy malaria net that had a hole in it, so I crawled under Sofia's much more secure one. Thanks for saving my sanity and letting me sleep with you Sofia!

After what seemed like minutes, my alarm startled me out of my sleep. Even after multiple snoozes, I couldn't get myself to escape the security of the net. You really feel so safe under there. Eventually, I went out into the open. After gathering our stuff up, it was time to head back to Xela. 

We were all bracing ourselves for a 24 hour bus ride just in case, but it only took us around 10! Including an hour break for lunch at the mall in Guatemala City. It was a breeze compared to the ride to Semuc Champey. For the rest of Sunday, we just chilled and rested up.