Semuc Champey: Where the River Hides Underground

Some say that Semuc Champey is the most beautiful place in Guatemala. But it is also very remote. Nonetheless, we felt that we needed to visit during our year here, so we made a 3-day trip during the girls’ Christmas break.

Semuc Chapey a series of pools that are on top of a limestone natural bridge (300 meters long) under which runs the Cahabon River. The waters are turquoise and amazingly clear.

But to get there?? It’s definitely an effort. We rented a car and drove 6 hours north and a bit west of Guatemala City. We went over several mountain passes (Guatemala is RUGGED!!) and a lush cloud forest. Passing slow moving trucks was rather stress inducing, since there was rarely more than 200 meters to the next blind turn. Brett even adopted the Guatemala passing strategy of pulling even at speed bumps in towns, slamming on the accelerator to pass and cut back in time to avoid opposing traffic.

While winding, the roads themselves were the best quality we’d ever seen in Guatemala. We wondered why Waze said that we still had an hour to go only about 10 km. When we came to the turn off to Lanquin, the nearest town to Semuc Champey and where we were staying, it became clear: 10 km of rocky, muddy, unpaved road.

Right after the turn off, the road hugged the side of the mountain and there was a pretty steep drop off. But later the road wasn’t as steep, just really rocky and very bouncy.

Lanquín is a sizable town for being so remote. With many hotels and hostels it’s a mix of foreigners but the center for Guatemalans in the surrounding area. We checked in and were happy to have a flock of pet chickens outside our hotel room. Actually, I started running a fever and Brett and the girls went to the pool.

The next morning after talking to folks at the hotel we decided that the AWD that we rented didn’t quite have enough clearance to manage the even worse road to Semuc Champey. And given it rained during the night, the road was really slick. So they helped us find transport. The truck of choice to get through tough conditions in Guatemala is the Kia K-Series. Ours had a double cab, so we didn’t have to stand in the back, like most passengers do. Although, we did paid the gringo rate of 25Q ($3.50) per person. Because nothing else can get through, smaller trucks are continually going back and forth to Semuc.

The driver was clearly an expert at navigating the road and it actually didn’t seem too bad. There was only 1 time that we slid a bit in the mud. We drove by cardamom and cacao plants. Brett talked about the fútbol tournament with the driver on the way. He was a Cobán fan (which is the team that Antigua recently defeated). And then we arrived at Semuc Champey!

There were little fish in one of the pools that nibbled on our feet! But when Brett got in, all the fish went to him. They were very attracted to his toenail fungus! Maybe it tasted like chantarelles to them?

With Brett going first, everyone finally jumped in to swim. He even managed to get the rest of us to slide down (albeit tenatively) natural water slides. We then hiked a short distance to the point where the river goes underground. There must have been a lot of rain recently because the river was really high, fast, and loud. Willa was scared to pose for the photo below.

Then we also saw where the river emerges again downstream. According to various websites, sometimes guides lead people down this waterfall but the river was WAY too fast this day.

All in all a good day. For being so remote, there were a number of people enjoying the pools. The majority were Guatemalans. We have noticed wherever we go, there is a lot of internal tourism.

The next day we packed up and began the long drive home. It had rained overnight, so the 10 km road out to the paved road was a little slippery. Brett spun out a few times, but managed fine.

All in all, a lot of effort for 4 hours in a lovely setting. Would we do it over again? Maybe, but only if all of us were feeling 100%. Also, the weather there was rainy and a little cooler than we expected. It was nice to get back to the sunny skies of Antigua.