Coban Part One

Just for a heads up, if you don't have a lot of time you're probably not going to want to read this post right now, because it's going to be long and detailed, but the trip it concerns was so much fun. Wandering around Antigua we found a tour company that did trip up to Coban that were three days long, and included the hotel we'd stay in for two nights, and the entire trip cost only $70 US (Not including food, of course). The original tour went on the weekend, and included a visit to the Parque Biotopo de Quetzal, where there is the possibility that you will see the national Guatemalan bird. Of course, all that means is that there is a high possibility than say driving along the high way, but most people we've talked to haven't ever seen one, or grew up here and have only seen a bird once. Because we didn't go on the weekend, we didn't get to visit the park, so we'll never know if we are lucky or not.

The first day, we had to leave relatively early, and the unfortunate location of our apartment means that we almost always get picked up last, and so we got crammed into side seats or the back where people weren't already sitting. It wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't what I would call a really comfortable ride. The drive was eight hours long, so we took our time, stopping frequently for lunch or ice cream stops. At the very end, when people were getting fidgety and everybody had to go to the bathroom, we had to drive ten kilometers on a dirt road. Because we were in a van, this ended up taking about another forty-five minutes, that was bouncy and uncomfortable. The road was uneven and in some places it looked like the van might just roll off the hill.

Since the trip was so cheap, nobody knew what to expect in terms of hotels, but when we finally reached the place, it was surprisingly nice. The rooms were place with literally space two beds and a little night stand, but there was water nearby and the place was pretty, and quiet. They were supposed to have a decent restaurant, but by our guide's recommendation, we ate at a little restaurant in town every meal, that was cheaper and better. It was typical Guatemalan cuisine: chicken or beef and refried beans with homemade tortillas rice. Not fancy, but delicious and very filling at the end of the day. Everybody ate and then crashed early for the night, because we were leaving the hotel at 7 o'clock the next morning, so that we could squeeze in everything we needed/wanted to do before we had to leave again.

Nobody had alarm clocks that were really reliable, so our driver had to wake us up at o'dark hundred in the morning. Did I mention that our whole group except the driver and the guide was female? It was actually a lot of fun. We walked into town for a typical Guatemalan breakfast at the same restaurant, and then climbed into the back of a pick-up truck for the nine kilometer ride to Semuc Champey. Our van couldn't get down there, so we held onto the poles in the back of the truck, just like locals. When we finally go to Semuc Champey, ew all agreed that the eight hour drive was already worth it, just to be able to stand in the back of a moving truck. It was so much fun!!! On the way we passed a bunch of locals selling homemade chocolate, which everybody bought. It turned out to be fairly course, ground up more than blended to be smooth, but everybody liked it all the same. It lacked mild and sugar too, but still good!

We were the very first people to arrive at Semuc Champey that morning, and so it was very quiet, save for the bird calls in the trees. We barely walked half a mile in, before we were stopped and told to start climbing a set of steps off to the left of the trail. Jose, our guide said it was worth the effort, but at first we didn't know what he was talking about. We learned quickly though, because the steps were unnaturally steep and uneven, some way too small and some way to large, so that by the time we reached the top about forty-five minutes later, everybody was breathing heavily. But Jose was right, or the view we got to see, I would have climbed for another two hours. It was looking down on Semuc Champey, which is just the pools that have formed in a canyon, over the top of the river. (Limestone fell from the cliff walls to start the process.) And the clear blue of the pools was amazing.

It was right there at the top only an hour into the day, that my camera, Allison's camera and Rissa's camera all died because of low battery. We got a couple pictures of the pools, but that was it. Then we walked down really steep steps on the other side, which was almost worse than going up because the steps were really steep. Finally we reached the bottom of the canyon where all the gorgeous pools were. They were just as blue, and simply amazing. The only slightly annoying part was that the rocks were really slippery, and so you were better off swimming in two feet of water than walking in it, because either way you would end up in the water and wet.

There were trees over the water, and rocks on one side of the pools that were fairly straight above the pool. The guide climbed up there, and I got really excited because it didn't look too high, but definitely looked fun. I went up and jumped off first, and it was only twelve feet or so, and very fun. After that, Jose needed to out due us still, so we climbed up onto a tree about thirty-five feet above the water. I wanted to do that too, because that also looked like lots of fun. Everybody else was still working on jumping off the rocks, so I just sat on the tree trunk for a while, waiting for everybody to accomplish the rocks. Five people in our group went up and everybody jumped off.

The hardest part of jumping off the tree was standing up and walking out on the limb of the tree above the water. The guide said it was easier that way, so eventually I plucked up the courage to stand on my feet (I kept my hands on the trunk the whole time though.) I walked out before Jose got the chance to come up the trunk with me, and got myself onto the branch without help. I swung for a couple seconds, because he said part of the water wasn't deep enough to drop into. This drop my stomach felt it, but that's a feeling I actually real "Kelsey you don't have to do this you can climb back down the tree and it'll be ok". Just for the record, I don't think I could have climbed back down the tree, and those thoughts were anywhere near my mind out on the branch.

Of course as soon as I did it Allison and Larissa wanted to also, plus another woman in our group. Jose just stayed out on the branch to help them up, but nobody else could stand up. They all shimmied up the branch, which honestly I think might have been even harder. Three other people did the jump, and mom caught only me on video camera because her film ran out.