El Estor and Lanquin

Currently we are staying in Guatemala City, at an apartment kindly loaned to us from a family friend. The map has been updated, but we still need to post the pictures we have taken in the last few days. More on our experiences in Guatemala City to come (don´t worry we have been very safe here)!

First, we wanted to catch you up on our visits to El Estor and Lanquin. After staying in Poptun on the organic farm, we were faced with a choice of taking an easy two bus rides to El Estor or going to straight to Lanquin, which may have involved catching several buses and a pickup truck at some point, so we decided to take the easier day. A lot of Guatemalans we talked to also recommended El Estor, and we were not disappointed. The town is relatively small, although large enough to have everything we need and enough going on to be entertained. It is set right on the largest lake in Guatemala, Lago Izabal. On a sunny day, you can see across the lake to the foot hills that rise on the other side. However, most of the time we were there, the clouds dissolved into fog, creating a very hazy, yet beautiful view. We splurged and for an extra few dollars a night we stayed right on the lake, enjoying the view from the huge porch outside our door.

One of the best things about El Estor is that there are almost no tourists. People there were extremely friendly and even curious about us. Because of their proximity to Belize, a few people we met actually spoke English, including our favorite local, Reese, who cooked up some excellent Churrascos (beef cooked over coals, served with beans and onions, and as always, tortillas). As you can imagine, we got to know him pretty well, $2 dinner including a drink! While in El Estor we also visited El Paraiso, a hot spring/waterfall. We thought it was a waterfall with a near by hot spring, but in fact it was a hot spring that was a waterfall. The water was so unbearably hot that you could not even sit under the waterfall. Rather we found a nice pool were the hot water from the fall mixed with cool river that joined it.

Following El Estor we wanted to head to Lanquin where we heard that there are amazing pools and caves. We had heard from locals that there was a 3 hour direct bus there, that we could pick up in the town center. We confirmed this several times. As we soon found out, there is no 3 hour direct bus; it is actually a 6 hour journey with a bus transfer. However, we both agree that the bus ride alone was one of the most interesting experiences we have had to date. The entire 6 hour drive was made on a 20 seater bus with about 40-50 people. The road was rough and crawled up and down the mountains, passing tiny villages. Most houses we passed were one or two rooms and made of wood planks or raw concrete. Tourists must not ride this route often, as we attracted some curious attention on the bus. In particular, a little girl about 8 years old was fascinated by Kendra´s white legs and blue eyes.

In Lanquin we visited a bat cave, as many of you have already seen the pictures. It was not as scary as you would expect and all of the bats managed to exit the cave without getting tangled in our hair. But you can check out the pic above of Rich eating a giant cave spider! Ok, so he didn´t really eat it, but he came closer than you would. One afternoon we tubed down the river that exited the cave. The beginning of the rainy season has been fierce and the water level was quite high. It was not the relaxing tubing experience we are used to in Illinois. Rather, you had to spend the entire time trying to keep from getting dragged to the edge of the river where you would be whacked by overhanging trees. Adventure tubing.

The highlight of our time in Lanquin was our visit to Semuc Champey. Semuc Champey is kind of a natural anomaly. There is a huge rushing river at the bottom of a canyon. It goes under the ground into a cave and reappears half a mile later. While the river is underground, small streams from the hills feed a serious of calm pools sitting above the cave. The pools were crystal clear, although from high up they appear a vivid blue. The water was clean and cool. Fish swam around in the pools, nipping your feet. Overall we had a wonderful relaxing day swimming around. Getting to Semuc Champey was also fun as it involved a 30min ride in the back of a pickup truck or cattle truck. We opted for the pickup truck.