jungle paradise

wow, i love guatemala. right now we are in lanquin, near the park semuc champey, below peten, in the central eastern part of the country. i'm currently travelling with two girls from vancouver and three guys from israel, and neil left this morning.  so this was my yesterday ... woke up at eight in a hostel on a raging river in a fertile jungle wonderland. ate breakfast near the river, and hopped on a truck with the two girls from vancouver (laura and jaylene, super awesome) and neil, to semuc champey. this park was mindblowing. a river flows all the way through, raging up and down stream from a series of tranquil aquamarine pools. most of the water flows under these pools in a crazy cave, so the water is nearly still above, filled with cylcids and beautiful ancient rock formations. spend a few hours swimming (and with neil this is always the best). after the park we crossed a bridge to the caves. we walked, waded and swam into a cave for over an hour by candlelight alone (yeah, we swam deep into a cave holding candles with one hand and keeping afloat with the other). climbed some sketchy ladders, climbed a rope up the rock while being pummeled by a waterfall, and scalled a 2.5 meter boulder and jumped off through a very narrow passage into a dark pool. in a cave!! soooo cool. topped the whole experience off with ten minutes of tubing down the river, then jumping off a 30 foot bridge (our collectivo driver convinced neil and i to do it). last night we had a big family dinner with everyone at the hostel. our israeli friends arrived at 10 and we continued to drink beer while alternating between the sauna, holding onto a rope in the center of the river (so as to not get swept away) and lying out mostly naked under orion and shooting stars. best day. ever.
good stuff, huh? i think we are going to head up to flores and the ruins of tikal on thursday, spend a few days there, then go to the rio dulce and experience more wonders of nature. after that, diving in the bay islands in honduras and then to the coast of nicaragua for some serious surfing. i might try to find a little job down there to stay afloat until i head home in december.
so yeah, little things, big things, all is well. i'm meeting wonderful people and doing/seeing crazy things. pura vida para mi.
love to you from the jungle ..
sarah