Pictures here
I have a thing, or I would so much as to call it love, for natural waterfalls and pools in the woods. Semuc Champey is one of those places, complete with a trail, clear blue water, thick green forest surroundings and rocks in the pool. It reminded me of El Nicho in Cuba, still my favorite “El Natural.â€Â I stayed in bunglow huts in a nearby town called Lanquin where a river runs nearby.
The river guides had just scouted the river the day before in preparation for white water rafting trips. Justin, the Brit, Danielle, the Hawaiian sailor, Laura, elementary school teacher from Oregan, Laura ex-doctor-to-be from Germany and I along with the guide took our plunge as the first group this season to go down the river in high water. Before end of the trip, two of us would be thrown off the raft into the river. The water looked faster and more aggressive from the banks than it actually was. We coasted for about 10 minutes down the river before the rapids picked up. Naturally I sat in the front where the action is. This level 3 to 3.5 river was a good start for a rookie. We got instructions on how to paddle forward, backward, duck and the most important one, throw ourselves on the floor of the boat to brace for bumps.
If you have never tried white water rafting, you have got to get yourself to a river and try it. It’s not the same as the ones in Great America amusement parks where you are nicely strapped in like a baby onboard an SUV. When the river tosses you around, sending you into the air while you are half leaning over paddling with all your might, you get a rush like no other.
Towards the end of the trip, as we approached a drop, our guide called for the safety guide in another boat. We were off course because his paddle got stuck in the branches. He had lost one of his two paddles. The safety guide, well, was too far ahead and couldn’t hear him. So much for safety guide J This was their first guided trip together, apparently there is some kinks to work out still. So we went over the drop, head of the boat diving in first, hit a slight bump, my side of the boat went up and immediately Laura and Justin on the lower side of the raft got dumped into the rapids. Her paddle went into the water and I instinctively grabbed it and threw it back into the boat. But as I reached for Laura who was closer to me, the paddle got bumped out of the boat again. I grabbed her by her hair and started to pull her back in, but quickly realized I was dragging her by her hair!
Water was rushing by and our boat bounced on the rapids. I let go of her hair and this time grabbed her by the sides of her dandy life vest and pulled her back in. Quick count! Have we got six in the boat? Ok we are all good. Two paddles lost in the river, but what a rush!
Nearby the lodge, there is a bat cave. I expected a few bats hanging upside down where we could shine our flashlights on. When I got there near dusk, literally thousands upon thousands of bats rushed out of the cave. They first came in small waves and then hundreds and then thousands. They kept coming and coming. Bats would fly so close to my head that I could hear them whizzing by. I held out my hand in mid air and one bat with dysfunctional sonar actually ran into it. Even after 20 minutes, the bats did not let up a bit. They were hungry. I would be if I was hanging upside down for the whole day. I caught the last bus back into town in time for the American-sized vegetarian buffet. I ate a mountain of food
and then slept like a baby.