Surrounded by lush mountains and tropical agricultural land, the area of Lanquin has Semuc Champey: a series of crystal-clear blue pools within a deep ravine to cool off in. The pictures of this place (posted by a friend of ours a few years ago) were one of the reasons we came to Guatemala and it did not disappoint.

 

After hiking through the ravine, we enjoyed swimming on the pools and jumping off huge boulders next to waterfalls. Afterwards our guide took us to the Ka’Ban caves nearby. Armed with only a candle and protective footwear we swam and climbed through the cave system which was very atmospheric, topped off by a plunge of 7m from the rocks in the cave.

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We spent four nights at a peaceful hotel just outside of the town that had views of the mountains and valley along with hot water, a swimming pool and hammocks, which was such a treat! On our final night we went for a hike around the local area to see the sunset over Lanquin with our guide ‘David’ whose English was as good as our ‘Spanglish!’ We went to a local restaurant for a standard dinner of rice, beans, tortillas and chicken with hot sauce which is served in variation at most places.