Monday - 02/17 - On the way to Cobán.
We'd reached the halfway point of our trip. Behind us were all the places I'd been before. Behind us was a surprisingly good week. The second week would be a new experience for me. New places and new experiences. I couldn't wait.
We were picked up at our hotel in Guatemala City. We had a new guide. He was quite different from our previous guide. For one, his English was very sketchy (at best). Based on the confused look on his face, he was having difficulty understanding me as well. Over the next five days we would become unsure if our 'guide' was a guide or just a handler. He took us out to our bus ... yes, an actual short, forty-ish passenger bus ... for a driver, a guide, and two guests. It was very comfortable but way too big for the places we would be going. The driver spoke no English.
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| The only bird we saw at the bird sanctuary ... not a Quetzal. |
We left Guatemala City and headed east. I'd never been east of the city before. I was looking forward to seeing new things. Our first stop was the
Ranchito del Quetzal. Here we would see the Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. The first thing we discovered upon arrival is that none of the local guides spoke English. The second thing we discovered is that there were no Quetzales at the Ranchito del Quetzal. Apparently at this time of the year the Quetzal moves to higher altitudes. For the next hour or so we followed our local guide as he whistled bird calls and pointed out the types of venomous snakes in the sanctuary (not very comforting to the Wife), large hummingbirds (the only actual birds we saw here), lizards, and waterfalls. I did my best to translate the local guide's explanations to the Wife as our guide didn't do squat. We ended up going through the shop (no magnets!?) and purchased a very nice painting of Mayan women. I wanted a t-shirt but they did not have my size.
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| Waterfalls ... without Quetzals. |
My question, at this point is why were we brought here? Our guide was surprised that there were no Quetzals and that the local guide did not speak English. One phone call from our guide would have fixed that. Was it worth our time to stop there? Was there an alternative? I truly doubt our guide took the basic steps to ensure it was worth our while.
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| A tiny little orchid dwarfed by its leaf. |
The next stop was
Orquigonia, an orchid sanctuary. The sanctuary is in a restored forest surrounded by clear cut hills. Orquigonia has over five hundred varieties of orchids that have been painstakingly gathered from all around Guatemala. The sanctuary is known for having the
White Nun orchid, the national flower of Guatemala. Of course we arrive here to find that the White Nun does not bloom at this time of year. We also find out that the local guide ... doesn't speak English. Once again I translated everything for the Wife with no help from our guide. We did see a lot of orchids and the view from the sanctuary lookout tower was pretty so visiting the sanctuary was definitely worth it. I learned a lot including how small some are (they give everyone a magnifying glass at the beginning of the tour). We bought a very nice homemade magnet before leaving.
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| Another orchid, similar to the White Nun ... but not the White Nun. |
We arrived at our destination for the next two nights, Cobán. Cobán is a working class city. When you read about what there is to see in Cobán, the first thing they do is have you leave the city. Our bus stopped at a hotel and we got out. We tried to check in but it turned out to be the wrong hotel. Once again, our guide (and driver) didn't have a clue. You would think they would have checked the address of the hotel before we arrived. We got back on the bus and drove another five minutes to our actual hotel. Our hotel was split in two by a busy street. One side had the main desk, restaurant, gardens, and rooms. The other part was a small number of rooms around the parking lot. Guess where we ended up. They told us it was the quietest part of the hotel but that kinda fell flat with us.
We ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed hoping the next day would be better.
Tuesday - 02/18 - Semuc Champey.
Usually your guide would let you know where we were going and what we would need for the day. Our guide, for some reason, did not want to talk to us about anything. We knew we were going to the natural pools of
Semuc Champey. I had an image of a resort/spa where we would rent towels, change in nice changing rooms, and swim in the pools. What we actually got was not as nice as I'd imagined.
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| Spring water fed pools. |
Our bus dropped us off at a convenience store where we got in a pickup. The pickup had been hired since the road to the pools would have been difficult for the bus to handle. The pickup dropped us at the entrance of Semuc Champey. There were few amenities here. Rough bathrooms. No towels to rent. Only street food to eat which, in Guatemala, was an invitation to Montezuma to have his revenge.
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| The Cahabón river flows under the pools to the lower left. |
We walked down a muddy, rocky path which took us to the pools. The pools are actually pretty cool. The Cahabón River passes underneath/through a limestone bridge/tunnel 984 ft (300 m) long. On top of this bridge/tunnel are spring fed pools that flow into each other. The water is bluish green and very clear.
We changed into our bathing suits in a rickety changing room with muddy floors. Our guide kept our stuff as we entered the sun warmed pools. Every surface near and in the pools was smooth, slimy, and very slippery. This would never pass muster in the US. The liability alone would shut it down. I explored the pools and looked at where the river went under the pools. It was pretty cool. The Wife had water shoes and I did not. I just wore my hiking shoes. I was able to keep my feet under me until I entered a pool to join the Wife and totally lost my footing.
With 20-20 hindsight I should have taken the scenic trail we'd passed on the way to the pools that went up a strenuous half kilometer trail to a viewpoint overlooking the pools. I think getting a picture from up there would have been more enjoyable for me than slipping and sliding around the pools.
We returned to Cobán for showers and dinner at the hotel. I can't say I had the best time at Semuc Champey. The whole place felt like a let down but I don't know if the issue was Semuc Champey or my attitude at the time. If my expectations have been calibrated properly and I'd done my own research, I think I would have enjoyed it more. The place is going to change in the next few years. A new, nicely paved road now leads to the entrance to the park and it is just a matter of time before it becomes more resort/spa like. Good? Bad? Time will tell.
Wednesday - 02/19 - On the way to Copán Rio Dulce.
We got up early because we had a long driving day ahead of us. We would be crossing the border into Honduras and spending the night near the Mayan complex of Copán. We left with bag breakfasts and a warning from our guide that there were rumors of protests along the way.
Not long after leaving Cobán we slowed to a stop in some small town where, sure enough, they were protesting the state of the roads. As part of their protest they blocked the road. Going around the obstruction would have required a four wheel drive vehicle or nine hours of driving. It took our driver and guide three to four hours to figure out what we would do. Once again, our guide did not have any plan Bs.
Finally, after sitting on the bus for hours (except when we went to the convenience store for a snack), we turned around and headed to Rio Dulce. Copán was officially off our itinerary. Rio Dulce would have been our stop at the end of Thursday. Instead we would stay there for two days.
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| The setting sun with a bungalow similar to ours silhouetted. |
We arrived in Rio Dulce shortly after 5:00pm after eleven hours on the bus. We caught a boat that took us to Catamaran island where our hotel was located. We ended up in a bungalow on pylons over the river. The hotel was very nice and full of American expats. The first one we met was from Council Bluffs, IA - across the river from where we live - small world. The 'Yacht rockers', as the Wife referred to them, were a bit cliquey and lost interest in us once they found out we hadn't gotten there by boat.
This whole day was a bust. We spent most of it stuck inside our too-big bus watching the countryside go by. In the end we ended up in a very nice hotel watching the sun go down and the lights of Rio Dulce turning on for the evening.
Pictures can be found in my
2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.
