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Lanquin is home to the beautiful Semuc Champey. A destination we'd had on our list since the beginning of our trip. Getting there however from Flores was an interesting one. We were the last mini bus pick up in Flores and wow we lucked out. A group of 15 and seats for 14. This didn't mean we weren't getting there, of course not, they simply put a wooden chair in the middle. I took on the 'special' seat first being the smaller one. Not actually attached to the ground I started swinging from side to side in a failed attempt to hang on. Strength was needed round the bends and Rory swapped with me enduring a long 8 hour journey.
Once there, we jumped on a back of a truck (the kind cattle go on) and were taken to El Retiro Lodge. The lodge offered three night for the price of two so we immediately extended our stay. We were glad we did, the place had a great vibe, locally run (extra bonus) and next to a flowing river. A come and party if you like approach meant we soon sampled a few nutella vodka shots alongside $2 Cuba Libres. We also signed up to their buffet every night, $6 all you can eat of great food. The only downside of El Retiro was the odd cockroach creeping in the room (a result of being out in the sticks). No a nuclear bomb can't kill them but Rory's flip flop sure can.
Plan A was to go to Semuc Champey on our first full day. We soon resulted to Plan B after waking with sore heads after enjoying happy hour a little too much. We perked up in the afternoon to venture out to another attraction, the Bat Caves. Our local guide spoke Spanish only and so it was a good test of mine and Rory's Spanish skills. It was to our advantage he didn't focus on geology and instead showed us rock formations that looked like animals.
After seeing a crocodile, an elephant, a monkey... You get the idea we went to the grand finale to see thousands of bats leave the cave at sunset. It all got a little more adventurous when our guide decided to catch a bat with his t-shirt, the bat proceeded to bite him and we then appeared to have a dead bat in front of us. It's not a sad ending though, our guide didn't get rabies and the bat came back to life.
Plan A worked the next day when we woke up refreshed. We were ready for our day in Semuc Champey with our group of 12. We started with the main activity: Caves by candle light. Fairly straightforward until you add water in to the mix and you have to multi task and swim. Complete darkness except the glowing lights, we followed each other in single file up ladders, across rocks and climbing ropes. We also went through what's described as a 'birthing canal'. It's hard to describe but essentially you need a leap of faith to go through a tiny dark tunnel, slide down and hope you bob out in the water the other end. There was success for all the group with only the exception of a lost shoe.
The caves were followed by tubing down the river. Caught in the slow rapids, we floated along in the sunshine. Life feeling so easy and perfect especially as beers were thrown to us from locals with calls of 'pay me later'. After relaxing we had a chance to jump off a river bridge, about 15m high. Rory and I took a you jump, I jump attitude and went together. A lot of fun. We finished off the day bathing in pools of turquoise water that flowed in to one another. A beautiful sight to top off our stay.
After finishing in Lanquin, we were now off to our final stop in Central America Lake Atitlan.
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