Swimming Against the Current, Holding a Candle

The title of this blog is not some great allegory to life, though it feels like it sometimes. It is actually a part of my weekend.

It started on Saturday morning with a long drive up and down and around and under and through the amazing mountains of Guatemala. We got stuck behind a few too many banana trucks, but that could've been avoided if we'd left earlier in the morning (who knew?). About every 10 seconds, either Shannon or I would look to our right and "ooohh!!" or "ahhh!" or say, "Oh my goodness, look at that!" It was breathtaking, to say the least. A mere six hours later, after getting lost in the little town of Coban and San Pedro-something, and meeting Julio, the very nice gas station manager who spoke excellent English and set us back on the right road, we arrived in Lanquin. Well, we arrived at the mountain road that led to Lanquin. Another 11km and 45 minutes later, down a rocky path, we arrived. After finding the hotel- El Retiro (which I can fully admit is not necessarily the type of place I would've chosen for myself, but it was very beautiful and fun!), we went to the Lanquin Caves. I'm so glad Shannon had a water camera because we got some very cool pictures of this amazing cave.

That night, we had a Mexican buffet at the restaurant at the hotel. It was delicious! We made friends with the manager, Johnny, a Welsh guy who looks like Jude Law! The next morning, we went on the tour to Semuc Champay. First we jumped into the river from a swing. Then we went trekking back into a water cave, with nothing but candles to light our way! The way in was a bit difficult- when Jose (he pronounced it Ho-sway) told us, "There will be a little swimming," he failed to mention that 'little' meant at least an Olympic-sized pool-length and that we would be trying desperately to keep the aforementioned candle lit the whole time. Needless to say, mine and Shannon's both got dunked under the water and we just tried to stay close to the people in front of us for light. While in the cave, we climbed up and down ladders, jumped off of rocks, and saw an intense waterfall that (honestly) made me a bit panicky when they said we could stand under it. The force of the water was so intense that I couldn't imagine not being crushed or pushed into the pool underneath it. So, I was a scaredy-cat and didn't stand under that. On the way back out, we jumped off a rock into one of the pools... which meant that all the candles went out! We found our way back out (again, swimming a pool length- this was admittedly easier considering we were going with the current now and all the candles were gone) following one guy with one headlamp! All I could picture were all those horrible cave movies that Dave likes to watch, with monsters of the deep and creatures who have never seen light! I swam a bit too fast and kept running into the guy in front of me. He didn't seem to mind, though, as these experiences tend to bring out the best in everyone (especially guys- all the guys in our group were watching out for me and Shannon, making sure we were with them and if they did something difficult they would stop and wait to make sure we could do it too- it gave me warm fuzzies).

After the cave we went to the water falls. This has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to hike to the top for the view, but we did get to play in several levels of the pools. It was amazing! The water is a gorgeous blue-green and you're just surrounded by beauty! I couldn't imagine a better way to end our very fast, extremely fun trip to Lanquin and Semuc Champay.

Our sadness- last week, we lost our little Rugby to the GA floods. We are lucky to have all the support and love of our family and friends during this very tough time. Having Bay here with us (Shannon brought her) has helped but hurt at the same time. We all keep looking around, expecting him to come through the door or walk up for a cuddle. I am extremely fortunate to know that he was loved and cared for in his last couple of weeks and I can't believe how brave my Daddy was to swim out into the flood waters to try and save him. I'm lucky I didn't lose him too! Thank you Andrea and Daddy for caring for Rugby the last two months. Bay is adjusting well. She loves all the space in the house and that she can take herself outside whenever she wants. She also has running space for us to play outside. I think she's also really loving that we can't stand for her to be too far away so she gets to sleep in the bedroom with us (which we've never done).

RIP Ruggers- we miss you!!!