Semuc Champey

Went with out director to visit the monastery in Coban, Guatemala. There is another volunteer there but he is only there for 8 weeks. He is between jobs and wanted to volunteer for a few months and Br Paul (our director) sent him to Coban as a gopher to see if it could be a new location for volunteers next year. A long story short, Coban is a great place for volunteers and therefore next year there will be 2 volunteers in Coban, and 2 in Esquipulas.

The trip there was great. We had several interesting experiences, mostly regarding an old American monk there named Bernie, and got to see more of the beautiful Guatemalan countryside. I can't even begin to describe Bernie in a way that does any justice to his humor. He is an old grandpa type monk who has no filter on his mouth which leads to some very humorous statements. In addition to that, he always seems to be setting up jokes. What begins as a story turns out to be just another set-up to a joke, but he does it so smoothly you don't realize it's another joke until the end. It was incredibly entertaining to spend two days with him.

In addition to the entertainment that was Bernie we visited an aldea where they have built a model school and are building a second school to mimic the model school. Bernie is very interesting in technology and is trying to establish multimedia rooms in each of the schools he helps build. He has designed and constructed computers using locally available parts that use low voltage batteries as a power source that can be recharged by solar cells. It's pretty cool. On the way back from that trip we stopped for a hike. We hiked to a large waterfall and swam around in the big pool at its base. Exremely beautiful and peaceful. We had the whole place to ourselves and even our director, Br. Paul, went swimming up to the waterfall with us.

On Sunday we took a day trip to see Semuc Champey, a true natural beauty. Semuc Champey is a paradise if there ever was one. It is in a huge lush valley/canyon with a river at the bottom. However the river is not the natural wonder. This is hard to describe but I will try. At the bottom of the valley there is a section probably a quarter-mile long where the river disappears underground.

(This is where the river disappears underground)

The "ground" is kind of like a natural bridge that connects the two valley walls. The ground bridge consists of dozens of clear turquoise water pools and waterfalls. The pools are kept full by spring water that comes from the valley walls (because the actual river runs underneath). We did lots of swimming and exploring, even some rock jumping, and just enjoyed the beauty of this incredible place.

(Where the river comes out from underground. The land you see with the waterfalls is the "bridge" under which the river flows)

Overall, it was a very fun weekend and we are glad we had the opportunity to visit.