Samuc Champey & Santa Maria Caves
The limestone pools of Samuc Champey are several miles outside Coban city. There, in the mountains a strong river punches under a section of rock leaving a weak current to flow over a series of blue-white limestone pools. The river reappears at at the end of the terraces not only from the ground but also fountaining from the canyon walls above, revealing that the mountains are honeycombs. We swam and basked in the pools for most of a day with fish nibbling on our toes. Look at the pictures.
After the pools we bought freshly ground chocolate patties from some little girls and walked over to the Santa Maria caves. These were not walk in and look at the colored lights caves. Holding candles, we followed a silent guide into a grotto filled with opaque water up to my waist. Deeper into the caves we stepped on strange crunching things and dodged bats as above us clusters of meeping batlings clung to stalactites. As we progressed, the cave ceiling descended and the water rose. We had to swim and re-light our candles to reach further chambers. Some rooms had stiff breezes, others still air with raging currents of water. 
We were very cognizant of how little we could count on footing, light or air as we ventured into a new room. Our mute guide lead us through a hammering waterfall, up, over and down through many tight spaces. We trusted his gestures for us to jump and free fall in the dark for ten feet down to deep pools. You’re not supposed to touch cave formations as the oils from your hands will retard their growth, but that’s not an option when the alternative is being swept off into the dark by a fierce subterranean river. If we explored by ourselves we would have used lots of rope and SCUBA to discover which step into the black water was a hundred foot dive or which chamber housed an inescapable whirlpool.
Tags: guatemala, samuc champey, travel