Semuc Champey - Guatemala

I believe we have arrived at one of the most beautiful places on earth... Lanquin, Semuc Champey in the highlands of Guatemala. Our bus ride though the mountainous, greeny country side passing tiny villages watching locals in bright traditional dress go about their daily lives. We are staying at this really cool hostel called Zephyr in the mountains with an amazing view of a valley and river. First things first upon arrival grab a hammock with a view and a Gallo cerveza and 'tranquillo the f&$# out'... In Robs words! Today was probably the most amazing day of the year... Yup definitely tops every other day this year... We all piled into the back of an open truck, about 22 squished like cattle into the back with no sitting room just standing... Set off on the 45 min ride along a steep, bumpy, rough, slow road through the mountains to a little place called Semuc Champey with no clue just how much beauty we were about to see and what thrilling experiences we were about to embark on. Semuc Champey is famed for its great natural limestone 300m long bridge, on top of which is a stepped series of pools of cool, flowing river water. The water stems from the Rio Cahabon and much more of it passes underground, beneath the bridge. Although this bit of paradise is difficult to reach, the beauty of its setting and the perfection of the pools, which range from turquoise to emerald green, make it definitely worth while. We pulled up to this turquoise blue river where they told us to put all our possessions in a little hut so we could start the activities for the day. Rope swing into this beautiful turquoise water was to start then the 2 hour journey through a 300m depth cave all by candle light. We swam, rock climbed, dropped through crevices, jumped from cliffs in the cave into an abyss of blackness, climbed up a rock wall with a waterfall flowing over it, holding on for dear life hoping the pressure of the water wouldn't push us flat back onto the rocks. Pretty much the best cave experience ever... Minus the few bats we saw! after that intense excursion almost drowning trying to keep our candle out of the water, scaling up the wall and jumping into dark dark holes I thought maybe a nice break and lunch was in store... The guide yells out who is jumping off the bridge... Hmmm so I don't mind jumping from high heights as long as I'm tied to something or have a parachute to guarantee a soft landing...the height of the bridge was only 12m.. I've jumped higher than that before and survived so I thought what the hell, I'll do it again. The impact wasn't that bad besides water up the nose and bathing suit up the bum... Nothing I couldn't fix :) we had a bit of lunch to gear up for what was coming next! A 45 min hike up the mountain in the national park to the beauty that is Semuc Champey! They took us to the most amazing look out where we saw the turquoise blue pools from above. Soon it was our turn to swim in these pristine pools in the sunshine. We swam, frolicked, jumped off cliffs, slid down a natural waterslide and moved from pool to pool closer to the infamous 20m waterfall we would be jumping off of. We made it to the top of the waterfall which reminded me of the waterfall Leonardo DiCaprio jumped off in the beach... Partly due to the height of the beast but also it's beauty and the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere in the mountainous valley of Guatemala... Amazing... Just amazing... Did I say it was amazing already?! So I didn't even have time to absorb how high it was... Next thing I know I'm walking onto the ledge being told to jump toward the waterfall, it was the deepest there... I did as I was told and I was off!! Free fall just enough to lose my breath from the beauty and the fact that I was falling from a really really really really high waterfall not knowing how I was going to land. Turned out to be great... Just a little more water up my nose and bathing suit further up the bum than the bridge jump but all good! Now how to get to the top of the waterfall... Hmm well they tied a rope with knots every few feet to a boulder at the top and down the side that's how we scaled to the top from the base. Definitely no safety precautions here but hey we're in Guatemala... Dont worry I'd never try this stuff at home ;) that was the finale to a perfect day! Some say the best day of the trip yet!!! Now back at the hostel to rest up for a day of tubing down the river with a few cervesas.