Semuc Champey, The Pools! Guatemala

So after the manly goings on previously mentioned we stopped for some lunch, which was delicious meat and tortillas with an assortment of side goodies. A little girl was selling home-made chocolate and we got to eat the cocoa bean and see the plants they were harvested from.We then were ready to enter the park! The guide told us we had about an hour long hike uphill to see the pools, Why did I eat so much?!? It must have been all the hardcore manliness I used up in the morning! So we hiked, uphill, for an hour. It was hot and humid but the forest was beautiful. Finally we reached the viewpoint and saw the most spectular pools of emerald green and saphire blue, it was really beautiful!

Leave it to Chrissie to find chocolate in rural Guatemala!

The 300m limestone bridge of Semuc Champey covered in pools. Photo's can't do this justice!

 Some photo opportunites later and we started the descent down to the pools. We got to the bottom and before we went anywhere the guide took us to our left and showed us where a huge river (Rio Cahabon) crashes down into the bowels of the Earth and explained that what we were standing on was infact a natural limestone bridge over 300 meters long with pools all on top of it fed by the mountain run off from higher up. It's quite difficult to explain how beautiful this was, it is considered the most beautiful place in Guatamala, words can't really capture the atmosphere of sitting in this remote jungle at these other worldy pools (I hope the photos give some idea, but you have to be there to see it.)

Don't swim where the river crashes into the Earth - 5 tourists drowned here. The blackness on the left is the limestone bridge, where the river enters. Semuc Champey means 'where does it hide' referring to the river disappearing under the limestone.

 Someone asked the guide if we can swim there and he said "no", before galloping of and diving into the water pools ontop shouting for us to join him. The water was perfect, nice and cool but not cold and crystal clear with little fish that tickled as the nipped at your dead skin. We went and swam in all the different pools and found caves underneath the water which you could swim into and sit in watching the world outside go past without them knowing we were there. We slid down natural slides and splashed into the water, some more elagently than others (Chrissie I'm looking at you). So after an hour or two of exploring and lovely swimming it was time to move off, our guide walked us out, it literally took 3 minutes along the track! The bastard had made us do a mega hike up a huge ass mountain to see the pools that were 3 minutes away! It's good though as the photos are much nicer from up there!

Robert levitating above the calm pools.

Chilling in the pools at Semuc Champey.

 So on the way back I was quite upset because we had to leave this natural wonder, so non-chalantly I asked if it was possible to go there without a tour, so he said he would pick us up in the morning and take us there and we just needed to pay for the petrol and the entrance ticket. A plan was hatching, so I enrolled some of the people in the group who we got along with well and decided to go back the next day!

This clearly needs further examination.

So back we went, with our French friend Raphael, English mate Michael Edge and a few other awesome people. We spent the next day just lounging about and enjoying the pools, we snorkelled around and had and amazing time, at the end of which we worked our way all the way to the end of the bridge and saw where the river re-emerged. What a stunning site! So we swam up towards it and did some cliff jumping into the turbulent waters below. What a great way to say good bye to Semuc Champey, "Where did it go?".

Where the river re-emerges and all the pools drain into it. Stunning!