Day 8: Semuc Champey
Rains. It has been raining all night. It was two o'clock in the morning when we heard voices and firecrackers. Firecrackers in the middle of nature? It takes us a few minutes to remember that it is New Year's Eve and there are guests who are celebrating it in the main hall, while we rest to be fresh the first day of the year and visit Semuc Champey, the most beautiful place in Guatemala, according to many.
It's 6 o'clock. The sound of the Cahabón river at our feet has awakened us and the light that begins to seep through the windows of our bungalow and that last night we refused to close, as we always do in accommodation of this type and that is that There is nothing like waking up surrounded by nature.
Views from our bed
Our cabin is one of the few that overlooks the river and therefore no one sees us even if we have the windows open, something that we take advantage of to enjoy nature in all its splendor before we start to start this first day of the year in Semuc Champey.
A few minutes past 7 when we go out to our small terrace and see how little by little the day begins to clear, along with the fog with which we had dawned, giving us a unique and wonderful environment in which we are starting this new year, a year full of projects and above all full of desire to maintain life as we have been leading this last year.
Cahabón River as it passes through the Semuc Champey Portal
Being the time it is and after the party last night, there are not many people in the lounge having breakfast, only those who have a tour hired to visit Semuc Champey or a transfer like the one we have hired to go tomorrow to Río Dulce, which will be our next stop on the trip to Guatemala and Honduras.
Being in the dining room, in just a few minutes, the gray sky that accompanies us, it seems that at times it will give way to a slight sunbeam, although the joy only lasts a few minutes, since in less than a rooster sings, it returns to be covered, at which time we took breakfast for a plate of delicious pancakes with coffee, for which we paid 28 quetzals per person
Breakfast at Semuc Champey
It is 9 in the morning when we decided that after this breakfast without hurry, we already needed more than lunch, being able to have coffee quietly chatting, when we approached the reception of the Semuc Champey Portal, to see a little the situation of the pools after yesterday's storm and the advice they give us for access.
Tips to visit Semuc Champey
- Accommodations Semuc Champey: As we said yesterday when we came from Flores to Semuc Champey, the best option, according to our experience, location and time savings, is to stay in the Semuc Champey area.
Another option is to stay in Lanquín, the access point to the pools that is 9 kilometers away, but you have to take into account that the journey can only be done in 4 × 4, which takes about an hour and that transportation It is not included in the accommodation and is about $ 10 per way, something to value.
We have stayed at the Semuc Champey Portal and we have to say that the experience has been exceptional.
- From the Portal of Semuc Champey there are 4 minutes walk to the door of the Pozas de Semuc Champey, place where the pools themselves and the viewpoint are located, from where you have the views that we have all seen at some time when we have searched for information on this place
- The entrance fee to Semuc Champey It is 50 quetzals per person that give you access to the pools and the viewpoint.
- Once on the site you have two possibilities: go directly to the pools on a 10-minute path or climb to the viewpoint on a path of about 40 minutes plus another 30-40 downhill that take you directly to the area of the pools that Then you can go through the water (swimming and sliding between them) or through a path that runs parallel.
- In very advisable to wear hiking boots to climb the viewpoint, especially when it rains, since the roads are practically impractical, slippery and not too safe.
In several sections you will see that there are ropes to hold on to avoid falls. While the ascent and descent can be done without problem, if you go quietly, there are some sections that if you suffer from vertigo, they are a bit complicated.
- On the way to the viewpoint you will find stores that sell soft drinks, water, 10 quetzals, fruit and snacks. Prices are quite tight, counting that every day they have to get there to sell them to tourists. It is up to you to take the drinks from the hotel or buy them directly on the road.
- Another thing you can not forget is the swimsuit and towel to enjoy the pools.
- Right at the entrance to the pools you have the possibility of leaving your belongings in locked lockers. Just opposite there is also a shower and toilet service.
- Our advice is that you go up early in the morning, before the sun starts to rise, since the road with the high sun can be exhausting. Similarly, we met many people who went first to the pools to bathe and then to the viewpoint. In our experience, it is best to do the opposite: first go to the viewpoint first thing in the morning and then go down directly to the pools, to end the visit enjoying a good bath.
After the bath you can follow the river
The best option is to go up to the viewpoint first, then down the opposite side, go to the pools and from here follow the path parallel to the Cahabón river until you reach the entrance of Semuc Champey, finally seeing the cave in which the river hides
We leave the Semuc Champey Portal, turning right and finding several places where you can buy or eat something, which at this time of the morning already begin with their activities.
Road to the entrance of Semuc Champey
It does not take more than 5 minutes to reach the entrance, where we pay 50 quetzals per person, with which they give us access to Semuc Champey, the most beautiful place in Guatemala, as many of the places we have spoken to have told us.
As we mentioned earlier in the Tips to visit Semuc Champey, we opted for the option of visiting the viewpoint first and then going down to the pools, to take advantage of the morning and take the afternoon of relaxation, something that we will not deny that we want and much.
Mirador or Pozas?
We don't need more than 2 minutes of walking to realize that the road is not exactly simple and less precisely today, in which the rain has been present all night and has made the roads practically impractical, since the mud flood almost every corner.
First section of access to the viewpoint of Semuc Champey
Semuc Champey roads
In some of the sections there are even ropes that you can grab to avoid tripping or slipping. You can already imagine how the ropes are also after the rain and there is no corner that does not have any water sample.
Do you really have to stop by?
We make the climb to Semuc Champey viewpoint in about 45 minutes, with stop included to buy a large water, since the one we brought we have melted in the first section of the climb, when we reach the viewing platform, from where, when we look out, we have in front of us one of the most impressive beauties of nature we have ever seen.
Semuc Champey
Semuc Champey
Semuc Champey pools
It is certainly worth it to have come here, no matter how much it cost us. This is wonderful!
We enjoy this area practically alone for more than 45 minutes, in which we soak up this impressive spectacle of nature, taking photographs from all possible angles, especially when the sun begins to illuminate the pools and make the views that are even more incredible we have.
Semuc Champey viewpoint
Semuc Champey
It is practically 11 in the morning when some couples start arriving at the viewpoint and we decide that the time has come to start the descent, which is done on the opposite side of the ascent.
You can already imagine that if the ascent has been hard due to the water, the descent has not been less, since joining water + stone + vegetation + mud we cannot say that it is a very good idea and more if you have vertigo as it happens to me (Vanessa), which I had to go practically hanging from Roger's neck during the 40 minutes of descent.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Guatemala
- 10 essential places to visit in Guatemala
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Guatemala
Stretches of the descent, in which there are also flights of stairs, to the pools
In the last part of the descent we find some wooden platforms, which make way to reach the area of the pools and discover, this time closely, the main reason to reach Semuc Champey.
Stairs to reach the pools of Semuc Champey
As soon as you arrive in this area, you have to wash your boots a bit and it is that with the mud that we carry, getting into the pools with them, it is not exactly the best.
Status of our boots after the walk to the viewpoint
After the experience in the Semuc Champey viewpoint We have nothing left but to leave our backpacks in a corner and go to enjoy as turquoise water as children we would not have imagined, even seeing it in photos.
Semuc Champey pools
Semuc Champey is famous for the Cahabón river area of almost 300 meters, in which different stepped pools of limestone are formed, in which you can swim or bathe, since they are always full of river water.
Semuc Champey pools
If to the perfection of the pools we add the innumerable shades of blue and green that seem to compete with each other, you can already imagine the reason to meet Semuc Champey As the most beautiful place in Guatemala.
Incredible blues in the pools of Semuc Champey
Relax in the pools of Semuc Champey
Once you reach the lowest pool, there is a rope, through which you can descend to the river itself, where the water flows with much more force.
Last of Semuc Champey's pools
While we have to say that there aren't many people in Semuc Champey, we imagine that for what it takes to get to the place and also for being January 1, we have been very calm until a group of Italians have arrived that have put "upside down"The place with its shrieks and seeing that the thing was going for a long time, we have chosen to start saying goodbye to the place, traveling along the path parallel to the pools, from where there are still unique perspectives of the place.
Semuc Champey from the path parallel to the river
In less than 10 minutes traveling this path with stunning views, we arrive again at the ticket office, where at this time of noon, we find that there is a good queue to enter.
It does not take more than 5 minutes to reach the Semuc Champey Portal, when it starts to download a storm, which makes us think of the people who are currently in the viewpoint and have to go down or up. Apart from reconfirming the great luck we always have over time in our travels.
Entering our room at the Semuc Champey Portal
After a shower more than repairing and necessary after the mud session that we have given ourselves this morning, we go to the lounge area to take advantage of downloading the photos we have taken, read and of course watch life go by before a spectacular landscape, enjoying the relaxation and the sound of nature, which now, after the storm, seems to be more alive than ever.
Terrace after the rain
It is 3 o'clock when we order a potato omelette with salad and meat with garnish, more beer, coke and two coffees for 130 quetzales, which taste like glory and the tortilla is practically the same as our mothers do. So much that we have no choice but to congratulate the cook, who is more than grateful when the guy at the reception sends her out to receive the congratulations personally.
Eating on the Semuc Champey Portal
It's almost 5 in the afternoon when after some interesting travel talks, with some guests, we retired to our cabin to rest for a while and then at 6 o'clock, take a walk around the hotel, where there are beautiful views from a nearby bridge where by the way, someday there will be an accident, since the wooden planks move more than a flan when we pass over, so you can imagine what happens when they pass 4 × 4 above.
Cahabón River as it passes through the Semuc Champey Portal
Access bridge to the Portal and to the pools
After this walk around the hotel, which takes us just over half an hour, we return to the hotel where after another talk in front of a coffee with a boy we met on the transfer from Lanquin to the Portal where we talked about travel and About Mexico, where he is now living, we conclude that it is almost 9 o'clock at night to have dinner, this time a pair of sandwich with beer and coke for 81 quetzals that we pay together with the 150 quetzals per person of the transfer of Lanquín to Rio Dulce for tomorrow, which we have managed directly with the hotel, since the price we saw was more than adjusted, counting the number of hours it was going to take us.
It's after 11 pm when we return to our cabin, ready to rest to face tomorrow the last part of the trip to Guatemala, Rio Dulce.
Day 9: Semuc Champey - Lanquín - Río Dulce (How to get from Semuc Champey to Río Dulce)
