1)I passed my test for level D! And then I studied for two more weeks and passed Level E. As of Friday, I am an official graduate of Christian Spanish Academy of Antigua, Guatemala-- with a diploma and everything!
2)I made some awesome friends, Sam and Will, who are taking the next year to travel the world on only $10,000 each (that's $15/day after flight costs). They invited me to travel to Coban on a tour with them, so of course I went! Luckily for me (and for ya'll) they are computer/film geniuses and are filming all of their travels. So, you can have a full 12-minute HD experience of my trip to Coban at www.twoguysaroundtheworld.com . Simply click the "Episode 7: Semuc Champey" to see the footge of our trip.
First, however, I'll give you and overview narrative of the trip:
We left on Friday and drove 6 hours north to Lanquin, where we spent the night. The next morning I woke up to the sound of small waterfall outside my window (sweet!) We all piled into a truck and drove and hour into the mountains 'till we reached Semuc Champey. Upon arrival, we hiked up a mountain covered in mud (it's the middle of the rainy season here.) I am what many people would call a klutz--I had a very hard time explaining that word to the Guatemalans-- and the entire time up the mountain all I heard was "Cuidado, Becky" ("Careful, Becky") I sucessfully made it to the top without making any too-dangerous mistakes, but at thee lookout on top, missed a step and body slammed the person in front of me. "CUIDADO BECKY!!" Whoops.
The view, however, was so worth it. You'll see it in the footage--aquamarine pozas (natural pools,) waterfalls, and rapids, all in the middle of a jungle covered valley. We made our way (I pretty much just slid down the mountain) down to get a better look. And what's better than in the water itself!? Our guide took us on a swimming tour of Semuc Champey. We swam/climbed/sloshed our way to the top of waterfall where Jose (our guide) tied a very dodgey looking rope to a rock and then proceded to repel his way down the waterfall. YES!!! Scary, due to the sheer cliff beneath you and the raging white water beyond that, but how else am I supposed to get a thrill? So, of course, I followed--slowly. At the bottom of the waterfall was the entrance to a cave. During the dry season, it's possible to float through the cave, but the water was absolutely raging, and I'd had enough adrenline rushes for one day.
We ended our water-filled day by floating on tubes down a river. To avoid trees, you lean back and do a backwards butterfly stroke like there's no tomorrow. It works quite well.
The next day we left at 6 am and drove 2 hours into Bajal and Las Montanas de los Muertos (The Mountains of the Dead), where we watched the sunrise. Spectacular. It was like watching the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, except everything was green. You cannot experience beauty such as this and not believe in God and His awesome creativity.
Last stop was for breakfast in Coban and a hike into the hills to search for a Quetzal, the rare national bird of Guatemala and also the name of their money. We actually found one...sort of.
Check out Sam and Will's site! I promise it's more interesting than my descriptions.
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