Adventures and Giggles: Lanquin, Guatemala

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Lanquin, Guatemala

We took a shuttle bus from Panajachel to Lanquin with a stop over in Antigua. We had a 2 hour lay over in Antigua so we spent that time exploring the city. Micah spent a week here a few years ago and doesn’t care much for the colonial cities such as Antigua. The buildings and streets all look very similar and he gets lost easily. However, it was helpful that he had been here before so we did have an idea on where to go. We headed to the Mercardo and walked around. I got to steal a little bit of time to myself and explore around the ruins of an old school built in the 1700’s. I didn’t have a lot of time but it was fun taking pictures in there.

When our shuttle arrived to pick us up we learned that there was not a seat for all of us. Even though we paid for a ticket for Nev we were told he would have to sit on my lap because the bus was full. It was extremely full and it was a very long ride. One thing that has been frustrating for us is when something like this happens people just shrug us off and tell us this is the way it is take it or leave it. The idea of getting a refund for something is pretty much out of the question. Needless to say we were pretty tired and frustrated when we reached Lanquin.

Since Micah had been here before he also knew where we could stay. That made things easier when we arrived. The place was quieter than the other places in town but it lacked some amenities we prefer such as internet and hot water. But the place was cheap!! And people who run it are super nice and helpful.

The highlight to Lanquin is the Semuc Champey. This is a drive down a pretty rough dirt road for about a half an hour. We hired someone to take us there and guide us too. The Semuc is a river that flows underneath a land bridge that was formed by a prehistoric land slide. The river now flows under the massive limestone slab and the streams from the adjacent hillsides flows down and collects on top of the slab creating the most magnificent clear blue pools that you can swim in.

We spent most of the day here swimming and we hiked up the mountainside to the mirador where we could see the stretch of the Semuc. Pretty amazing! We also saw howler monkeys on the hike. They were transplanted here but seem to be doing good as there was a baby. Not sure if they were here originally. Per our guide they were not but they do live north and south of here so who knows.

Howler Monkeys

There is also a cave nearby where a guide will take you into the cave by candlelight. Micah had already done this before so he stayed behind with Nev and Carissa and I went in. There is a river flowing through the cave so we had to climb over and down rocks using ladders and ropes, swim through the water and climb up water falls with a rope, all while holding a candle in our hand. It was pretty cool and a bit of a rush at times. Things like this would never go over in the states.

In Lanquin there is also a Grutas (Cave) that you can hike back into. We did this one day thinking it would be a great way to escape the heat but it turned out to be sauna like in the cave. It is a pretty amazing cave. It is very big and full of bats. At sunset we sat at the opening of the cave and watched the bats fly out. The amount of bats flying out of the cave is awesome! There have to be hundreds of thousands of bats in that cave. They say the bats fly out for about two hours.

I was glad we stayed at a hotel in town and not one of the hostels that are more secluded. We spent time sitting on the curb in front of our hotel people watching and it did not take long to attract a crowd, usually of kids, who were attracted to the little gringo boy. This is one benefit to travelling with a child. It denfinately opens up doors to the people that would not be so easily accessible. The women too were attracted to Nev and would often times just pick him up and walk off with him. This was a little unnerving for me but i quickly realized they were just showing him to someone else, like a little doll. Nev usually doesn't seem to mind the attention. One afternoon we attracted quite the crowd of kids. Eventually we pulled out the camera (I am still hesitant to photograph people because in some places it can be a big no-no). The lids loved it and some of the girls just loved having their pictures taken. The girls I learned were alos very interested in taking pictures. I, somewhat hesitantly, handed over the camera after showing them how to use it. They had a lot of fun and took some really nice pictures. They really enjoyed looking at the pictures they took too. Who knows maybe a seed was planted? Maybe someday they can afford a camera of their own?