Caving in Spanish Subtitles, Tarzan Swing & Tubing

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  Coban, Guatemala
Saturday, October 20, 2007

We went downtown from our hotel, Casablanca  and bought a sweet coffee from a traditional woman. It was ladled out of one of those jugs wrapped in bright cloth that the women carry on their heads and the daughter immediately brought us little stools so we could watch the morning procession of workers into town. The women wear the loosely fitting, woven fabric skirt and singlet with a covering of lace or macrame type top. The men dress as cowboys. The women have added high heels as a modern twist. We were picked up early in a 4WD by a Spanish guide for our tour to Semuc Champey. He was supposed to speak English. We were dropped at the Hotel Victoria in Coban and seated at a glorious breakfast table set for four. We filled up on pancakes and fresh fruit. The hotel was beautiful with a dark stone floor, lanterns, dark heavy furniture. It was rendered and painted a rich ochre orange and white with blue shutters, large white curtains and decorated with antique folk icons, old instruments like marimbas made from gourds, masks with glass eyeballs, lamps, chests and over sized red flowers. A magnificent courtyard was in the middle with all kinds of plants, fruit and flowers and some beautiful Guatemalans work there. I love the Guatemalan style of interiors. The day went crazy after breakfast which was our introduction to our fellow tourists for the trip who turned out to be two gorgeous lads, Ostavio and Benito, engineers from Spain making us the awesome foursome and I'll tell you why later. Breakfast was bizarre as we all tried to converse in sign language and Benny used his English to translate for everyone. These guys are great and we had seen them previously in Flores and dubbed them the ravers as they have tattoos and dress in very funky, trendy threads.

We drove through the lush hilly villages passing coffee plantations, jungle and corn fields then hit the bumpy, rough road from the small village of Lanquin to Semuc Champay. It took 2 hours. We saw chicken busses and pick ups filled with people making the slow trip and were glad we were in the 4WD. There is a limestone bridge, on top of which is a stepped series of turquoise pools of cool flowing water which come from the hills and comes from the River Cahabon and much of it passes underground in rapids beneath the bridge. We swam for awhile and i saw some red fungus and mushrooms.

The next bit went slightly pear shaped. We were taken to a hut next to a massive waterfall then instructed to put on some dodgy, way too big for us shoes then told to swing off a Tarzan swing with a seat and land in the river to swim back. The boys were scared to do it at first but Nadine stepped up first then all of us had a go. The current was strong to swim back to the river banks. Next we were led to the Kan Ba cave entrance, given a candle each then led into the cave by a 13 year old Mayan boy who didn't speak English OR Spanish so no-one knew what was going on and this was a dangerous activity because the cave was a wet cave with rapids and water from ankles to over our heads. We swam with one arm for many parts and climb ladders and ropes while holding the candle above our heads. It is DARK in there and there are bats. The guide was quick and he carried a spare lighter in a plastic zip lock bag that he tucked into the only head torch in the group. Our candles went out a few times in windy rapids. At the end of the cave, 1.5 hours in, there were rock slabs which you could drum on. We all have cuts and bruises, this was madness for injuries. The boys helped us out when we needed it and i think we earned their respect. We survived the cave together and we will always have the cave bond. Lastly we sat in inner tyre tubes and made a train linking our legs together to float down the river for awhile. This was relaxing but we were all exhausted and crashed out in the car home. We have traded email addresses and plan to visit the guys in Spain. The whole day was like a movie in Spanish subtitles, we have to learn some more.

We had a cheap dinner from the street stalls, some beers with the guys and an American and  booked a shuttle bus to Antigua. The lads have decided to come too.

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