We elected to take a shuttle to Coban in order to increase our chances of making it all the way to the Protected Area Semuc Champey, an incredibly beautiful canyon with 18 (chai) pools. We decided to go on the group all-day experience - a hike to get an overview of the pools, the pools, tubing and the caves. (Joanie had intestinal issues beginning on this day, but, being the trooper that she is, went for it anyway, only eating a small bowl of rice midway. Ask her for more details.) The hike was challenging as we gained several hundred feet in a short time. It wasn't nearly as muddy as when Dan and Lyssa were there in November but it was still a bit slick. Mirapor was the wooden platform hanging off the cliff that looks down on the entire area. And what a site!!! Thank you, Dan and Lyssa, for suggesting a place that many feel is the most beautiful spot in the entire country. We hike down to the river and saw that most of it was going underground in a roaring torrent of white water. It emerges at the other end which we also got to see and photograph. El Portal, where we stayed, organizes day trips for only a few more quetzales than the cost of admission to the park and the caves, so we were with a group and a guide which was very significant especially with the cave which we traversed holding candles all the time in water from ankle deep to well above our heads. For the latter, we had to swim with one hand from rock to rock. This water also has some force and current in spots. Well, this wasn't exactly on the menu for someone with a sore throat. I didn't get chilled this time like I did in Somoto Canyon, but the cold advanced quite a bit. Joanie is now down with travellers' diarrhea, so we're quite a mess.
The first morning I went out to watch for birds and three of the smaller variety of toucans did quite a show for us. The light wasn't quite right, but the silhouette showed one of them picking off fruit from the tree above me. I could see it between its bills and then it fed it to what must have been their baby. Lots of birds enjoy this fruit, so these weren't the only ones we got to watch; only the only ones I could identify. After a yummy breakfast of mango, papaya, and canteloupe, we walked up the road and watched the mountains gradually appearing out of the fog. We bought some whole chocolate from a farmer. The night before, neighboring children were all around us with raw cookies made from chocolate, sugar and cardamom which is also grown locally.
My immediate impression of Guatemala is that it is a land that is being intensely cultivated. Everywhere you look, there are the straight lines of agricultural development. This is what it means to have self-sufficient farms for an entire country. There were at least 3 varieties of pine in the higher areas as compared to only one in all of the areas we visitied in Honduras.
We bonded with the group of 10 who went on the tour with us and most of whom were on the shuttle back to civilization the next day. We made a nice connection with a nursing professor, John Jessup, and his daughter. He teaches public health at OHSU and recently moved from Hood River to some land above White Salmon, WA. Perhaps we will see him back in Portland.
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