un bueno fin de semana

I had a wonderful weekend with some of my newest friends: Rebecca, Rob, Eric, and Adolfo (our guide). We drove for 7 hour from Antigua to Laquin. We stayed at this "eco-friendly" place called El Retiro. It was set in a beautiful mountain near a river, I forget the name. The place was run by mostly American, Canadian, English hippies and had great vegetarian food. The first night it was all we could do was eat, drink, and then sleep.


The next morning we woke up and went to the K'abon cave. Another guest at the hotel, Sven, joined us. How does one explore a cave? Well you need, two guides (Adlofo y Josue), candles and/or headlamp, bathing suit,and shoes. Now some of you who understand my obsession with cleanliness, will appreciate this part of the story. So in order to go into the cave you need shoes you can wear in the water. I only have flip flops and sneakers. I can't wear either. So I have to wear just about the oldest pair of keds I have ever seen, plaid. That means I had to put my foot into a shoe that who knows how many people have worn. Yes this trip has challenged me in many ways. The cave was actually really cool. We had to walk through water up to our waists or swim the whole way. Josue make us climb ladders, rocks, and jump off the rocks into water we couldn't really see. After I couldn't believe I had done that.

After our adventures in the cave we went on a hike at Semuc Champey, where there are natural pools of emerald water over limestone. On this hike, I realized I was (1) out of shape, and (2) can't take high altitudes. When I finally made it to the top and caught my breathe it was well worth it, because of the view and it was time for lunch:



After a short break, we hiked down the mountain or more accurately, fell and slipped in the mud, down the mountain. (take note of the mud all over my tush in the picture below) We swam in the water and relaxed for a couple of hours. The water was muy frio pero hace calor, so it was refreshing to swim in it. Luckily on the way out the hike was flat and less muddy, so I wasn't dying. We drove back to the hotel and relaxed in our hammocks and got ready for a Mexican buffet dinner. Muy bien.





Sunday was basically driving back to Antigua. We stopped at the cloud forest, which is basically a national park where you can see quetzals, the national bird and symbol. However since it was not the right season we didn't see any. The hike was nice anyway and the forest itself was beautiful and cool. At the end of the hike we finally had the chance for a group photo:



I know we are just too cute.
La proxima fin de semana: the Highlands.