After 9 hours of Guatemalan mountain roads, I arrived in the little jungle/mountain town of Lanquin. I’m staying at a lodge right on the river fully equipped with hammocks, good food, and plenty of beer! If you make it out here, the lodge El Retiro is a great place to stay.

After a good night’s sleep, I was ready for a full day of adventure in the nearby Semuc Champey Park. You hop in the back of a truck for 45 minutes – be sure to hold on tight! You then walk/swim through a cave system with a candle for light. You’ll need shoes or sandles with straps, as the rocks can be quite sharp. You climb up ladders and ropes, and even drop through narrow rock crevices to make your way back to the entrance. Lots of fun!

You then get to tube down the river for half an hour, try out a rope swing, and jump off a bridge. All kinds of adventures! After a break for lunch, you hike up to a fantastic lookout – check out the photos below. You can see a series of cascading pools that you can later swim in. After the hike, I was soaking from the heat and humidity – a cool dip in the river was awesome! After the swim you hike out to the truck, and make the return journey to Lanquin. This trip is an absolute must while in Guatemala!

The fun doesn’t end there, though! The next day I walked to the Lanquin Caves, about 30/40 minutes from town. The caves are fairly well-lit, so you can walk around quite easily. If you have a flashlight, you can venture off the main path – which I recommend! The rock formations are quite stunning, as you can see in the photos. It’s really humid as water is still dripping from the cave ceiling – do bring some water along.

From here I head to Antigua, a town near Guatemala City. Time to climb some volcanoes!

Cheers, Shawn