Week 4 - Flores via Coban and Semuc Champey

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  Flores, Guatemala
Thursday, March 30, 2006

Peten, wonderful El Peten. Today we´re in Flores, a small island in the North of Guatamala and it is HOT and HUMID. Feels like Raleigh, NC in the summertime. When we left you last we were headed from Coban to Semuc Chempey for a few days of relaxation and hiking. Which we had.

First off we made it to and from Coban safe and sound. We took what Appalachian Trail hikers call 'a zero day' there, which means, no travel, just hanging out or doing something other than trying to get to the next location. Coban is a larger city and seems to be slightly wealthier than most others we´ve visited so far. By this I mean we found things like peanut butter in the supermercado (grocery store) which in and of itself is amazing.

We caught a bus to Semuc Chempey via Lanquin VERY early (think 5:45 am) in the morning

01 - Week 4 Self Portrait

. We arrived in Lanquin at about 7:30 only to discover we did not have to change buses that the one we were on was headed to our final destination. Semuc Chempey is located in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. I´m not talking like Wilkesboro middle of nowhere, I´m talking jungle country-side of Guatamala middle of nowhere. After our bus circled Lanquin 4 separate times and we spent an hour and a half driving around a town of about 1,000, we finally head off for the 10 kilometers to Semuc Chempey.

Well worth it is all I have to say. It was amazing. We arrived at one of the only 2 places to stay in the area to a host of Americanos, Germans, Brits and other Anglo tourists all very happy to see us (by this we mean probably slightly intoxicated already) and heading for the park. Semuc is a national park that has been improved by several different organizations, including the US National Park Service. There are lots of trails, caves, waterfalls, and some of the most beautiful blue swimming holes you´ve ever seen.

We hiked in to the first set of falls, swam across the river current to the other side and climbed up a cliff with our merry band of internationals to see the underbelly of the waterfall, which was like nothing I´ve ever seen before. Twisted stalagtites and stalagmites, weird colors and strange rocks

02 - View of Mountains in Todos

. After being 'shewed' out of there by the park guides, we headed to the pools (check out the pictures) which are varying degrees of wonderful, more wonderful, and wonderfullest. Aqua-marine and perfect tempurature. We stayed there for the entire day.

That night it was fairly interesting mix of old and new hippies and travelers. We learned a bit about the Mayan calander from a former spiritual leader of an alternative church (Gary, from North Philadelphia), but it was a bit more than I could pay too close attention too. BUT, a very strange thing happened that same night. We met this Australian couple travelling the globe (David and Erica). And in talking to them we started asking what they do (did) before leaving Australia...Get this...Neuroscientist and Designer. Weird. Very Weird. How often do you meet one, let alone two...let alone a couple. Needless to say, we liked them a lot and spent the following night sharing a hostal room with them and another American guy named Tom. Good people.

So, back to Coban for one night to catch the bus to Flores, our present destination. We hung out in the small town of for one night, taking in the tourist scene, eating hamburgers and fries and trying to prepare ourselves for the next week as volunteers with ARCAS (Areas Rescate y Conservacion de Animales Silvestre). It is a rehab and conservation center for animals taken from poachers.

ARCAS is amazing. There are sooooooo many different animals here. We get up at 6:45 to feed the animals by 7am. Then breakfast for us and a break (or helping out carrying supplies up many hills, etc.) before the 11:00 cleaning and feeding

03 - Typical male Todos Santos on Sunday

. Lunch, then the last feeding at 2:00 before our day is over. It´s really cool. I (Audrey) work with the baby monkeys (monitos). I feed them bananas, oranges, veggies, cereal and other goodies and try to pry them off of me so I can leave the cage. They really like to hang out, and boy are they good at it. James has been working with various birds, the newest baby monkey (still in quarenteen) and a small deer. His work is a bit harder than mine, but I have to walk a long way to get to the babies.

We live in a big house with other volunteers from Denmark, Quebec, Germany, Switzerland, and Guatamala. And, unfortunately for me, we eat LOTS of beans. Lots. It´s great though, and we will miss it when we leave.

That´s about it for now, we have the night in Flores (just across the lake from ARCAS) to hang out, eat real food, have a beer or 3, etc. Pretty excited. Thinking something like Pizza sounds soooooooo much better than beans.

Miss you all. Hope to hear from you soon.

Con Amor de Flores,

Audrey y James

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

04 - Large tomb in Coban	05 - Semuc Champey	06 - Some new friends at Semuc Champey	07 - Typical pool at Semuc
08 - Fire side poi demonstration	09 - Our hostal at Semuc Champey	10 - New friends, Tom, David and Erika	11 - Sunset in Flores
12 - Hmmm.... Gallo	13 - Those darn Mayans, they thought of everything	14 - Audrey and her new best friend	15 - Thats a freaking jaguar!
16 - Bring it on!!!	17 - The Volunteer house	18 - James and his parrot	19 - The pesote
20 - This is a guatemalan deer, almost full grown!	21 - Adult spider monkey	22 - The baby spider monkey	23 - Toucan Sam
24 - Audrey got to feed the monkey (s)	25 - Hostel Los Amigos in Flores

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