Just Wingin’ It: Guatemala

I’m sitting in a hostel in Flores, Guatemala. Basically in the middle of the Central American jungle, Flores is a small island in the middle of a lake, full of chirping colorful birds and narrow cobblestone alleyways. Tomorrow we make our way two hours north to Tikal, the center of the ancient Mayan empire. A true historical gem.

The past few days have all been about facing my fears and challenging myself. At every turn I’m experiencing new novelties. Yesterday, we traveled to Semuc Champey, which is hands down the most beautiful natural wonder I’ve ever seen. With its cascading crystal green-blue ponds flowing downwards to giant waterfalls, Semuc lives up to its expectation as a truly unique phenomenon.

Here’s an abridged list of fears that I am on my way to conquering as a result of my four days in Guatemala:
– heights (I jumped off a giant boulder half a kilometer deep inside a cave in Semuc Champey.)
– bats (We visited the Lanquin Caves, where literally millions of bats make their regular exodus every evening.)
–  the dark (Immature, I know. After swimming through a cave with a candle in my mouth, you get used to it being dark pretty quickly.)
– caves (This goes without saying after the previous points.)

I can hardly even process anything going on right now. We’re constantly surrounded by new, like-minded, and totally awesome people who are trying to have a good time, so we have little time to reflect on the goings on of the day before we move on to the next tour, shuttle ride, or activity. In a few days, we go to San Pedro de la Laguna on the famous Lago de Atitlan for some much needed R&R. My legs are sore from hiking, so I’m ready to chill for a bit.

I really wish I had enough words to describe how much I love this place or the attention to detail to explain how many cool things I’ve done in the past few days, but just trust me. There are enough to fill a book already. Let’s hope for the best and see what happens next. Because honestly, I have no idea.

So, thanks for reading this and I hope you continue to do so. This is Christian- signing off.

…. By the way, I shaved my head. At least no one has to see me for two more months, right? I’ll post a picture when I don’t look so ridiculous anymore.