Semuk Champey

During my travels around Guatemala making mosaics with women in various libraries, I took the opportunity to stop off and visit one of the most amazing natural phenomena I have ever seen. Semuk Champey is a natural wonder deep in the heart of the tropical jungle cloudforest in the region of Alta Verapaz. The capital of the region is Coban, a pretty town set in a beautiful landscape. Coban became one of Guatemala`s biggest coffee exporters in the mid-19th century, and grew rich from the profits of its predominantly German-owned coffee fincas. Back then it was an isolated empire loftily situated in the midst of extremely inaccessible mountain ranges, which made it one of the last strongholds in the era of the conquistadors, but these days even Semuk Champey is relatively easy to access due to the construction of an asphalt road two years ago. A profusion of banana trees and palm trees shading elegant nineteenth century houses completes the colonial atmosphere.
The road to Semuk is awesomely gorgeous. Rounded hillocks stretch off as far as the eye can see, almost like a set from a children`s television programme. The only down point is that most of these hills have been deforested, with milpas (corn fields) planted on the most impossibly steep slopes. This is very sad, not only because of the lack of one of the most luscious forests I have ever seen, but because the removal of the root structure leaves the soil extremely vulnerable to erosion and the inevitable eventuality, with increasing occurrences of devastating storms like hurricane Stan last year, will strip this once-lush forested pincushion landscape down to one which is stark and wasted. I could not help thinking this as I ventured further north, wishing I had been here even a few years ago to see it before its destruction.
The road turned into a dirt track, winding through scenery so impossibly green, so verdant and lush, words fail to describe the beauty. I cannot remember ever feeling so alive in such a landscape of a thousand shades of green, of living, twisting, sprouting flora. I stayed at Las Marias, the only place to stay in close proximity to Semuk Champey itself, and my first adventure was exactly that – a real proper Hurricane Jones type of adventure! Just myself and a guide clambered up a gorgeous waterfall and disappeared into a cave entrance. The following two hours we ventured deep into the heart of the mountain, following a river 2km in, tiptoeing in the deep black darkness, lighting candles and planting them all along our path so that the return journey was exquisite and wonderful in candlelit caverns. Most of the time we swam, one hand clutching a candle above water level, flickering and casting light on the vacant and secret cavernous spaces above. Absolutely brilliant!


Semuk Champey was even better. It is a natural limestone bridge which over millennia has formed into a series of shallow pools, fed with crystal clear spring water, their impossibly turquoise hue inviting one to dive in and …heaven! Especially after an arduous climb to a view point way, way above in the lofty forest, where the view was preciosa! Underneath these pools the river Cahbon rushes silently. It`s an amazing phenomenon. Just a few hundred metres upstream, the river disappears into a cave, roaring with thundering energy, to emerge several metres lower, tranquilly forming the wide calm river once more from another cavern entrance. ¡Que bonito!