The great underground cave adventure

Today may mark one of the best day of our lives (that is only after possibly one of the worst days in traveling history.)

To quickly recap the worst day:

We arrived in Lanquin after a "direct" 14 hour trip from Xela, which actually meant a trip back to Antigua (4 hours) and then from Antigua to Coban and finally to Lanquin (10 hours). (You will understand the frustration if you consult a map). The journey entailed our driver almost driving into a landslide, far too many over-takings on a blind-rise, heavy rain, dangerous Guatemalan night-time driving (strongly not recommended in the guide-book) and all the while in very cramped conditions (Jono has bruises all the way down his shins as a result). Luckily it was not all so bad: upon our arrival at Zephyr Lodge in Lanquin, we felt like a 21st century David Livingstone. We had "discovered" Utopia itself – in our case a beautiful lodge in the mountains with a crystal clear infinity pool (not quite Vic Falls), impeccable rooms and a super restaurant and lively, packed bar. Check out the pics…

 

And now to touch on the best day:

A bumpy 11km ride on the back of a bakkie from Lanquin to the beginning of the greatest day ever. It started with an almost unbearable hike up a seemingly vertical cliff for 30 minutes in what felt like a sauna to the view-point (el mirador). Surrounded by mountains covered in tropical vegetation, the eighteen turquoise pools of Semuc Champey below seemed to snake their way through the valley. Drenched in sweat including sweaty knee-caps and ears (who knew that parts of one's anatomy also sweat?), we observed the splendour that seemed weirdly unnatural and quite honestly photo-shopped. After catching our breath, we made our way down to the absolutely crystal-clear, jungle-book-like pools of sheer beauty. We crossed over a naturally formed bridge with water gushing below us – we found out that this in the local language is what is referred to as “Semuc Champey”. We did bum-sliding down slippery rocks from one pool to another marvelling at how each pool seemed to be more beautiful than the last.

Some lunch was devoured, while our guide kindly did an improvisation job using pieces of string on what was left of my 15-year-old Nike yoga-like shoes that I adamantly believed were the best shoes for our spelunking expedition that came next.

Think Indiana Jones meets spelunking in a pitch dark cave network and you would have my fiancé Jono Emmett. The others all swam with one hand aloft, holding candles to light the way - the ever-ingenious Jono and Jo had head torches, of course! Our modern day light sources meant we were up front, leading the pack with Jono shouting back instructions of "mind the rock to your left" and "watch out, the water gets deeper here". The thrill of being such intrepid explorers has made us vow to host a 3-part Indiana Jones movie night when we get back to NY. We reached our destination - a pool of water with a diameter of less than two meters that was ideal - according to our guide - for incredible cave jumps off a tiny precarious ledge. That is the exact spot where the adventurer in us seemed to dissolve once more into City Slickers and instead we allowed the teenage boys in the group to prove their manliness. Shivering from the cold, we emerged from the cave - alive!

Yet, this day was not over! The only words, appropriate at this stage seemed to be those by Henry David Thoreau: "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." We still had time for one last Guatemalan "Carpe Diem" moment in the form of a giant king-swing over the river. This required one to swing out and then jump landing in the cool water five metres below. Jono was astonished that I enthusiastically volunteered to go second out of the whole group. Perhaps I was nuts or perhaps my sub-conscious knew that this was going to be one of those few times in life that you do something well and wanted to impress. With an elegant swing and a supposedly perfectly-timed jump with a graceful pin-drop water entry - I was (in my mind anyway) King-Swing Champion of the World! And Jono was rather shocked, bemused and I believe impressed along with the others in our group. He said that someone even remarked, "And the judges decision is final, ten out of ten!" What ensued were some rather awful, hard-hitting lands, belly flops, face-flops and without a doubt bruises to follow. Jono's grand swing got off to a good start but soon went much awry - too much English on the cue ball and he corkscrewed out of the lake on his jump, belly-flopping in spectacular fashion (A few days later, huge bruises would bloom on his back and left thigh from his dramatic splashdown). Nothing was as morbidly entertaining as watching a nervous girl who eventually was persuaded to swing by her friends, and then FORGOT to jump! Instead, she came swinging back towards the silent, horrified crowd with full force luckily only scraping her legs slightly along the ground. Of course, somebody had recorded it and flabbergasted and in shock, she and everyone else watched the mortifying moment.

At this stage my shoes were only a mere memory of their former selves as the one sole had tried desperately to hold onto its seams - their purpose on earth had been served. Their final resting place would be a big black bin back at the Lodge.

Marshmallows on a volcano

Arriving in Antigua was like we had just travelled to another universe. However, leaving LA on a flight with mostly Guatemalans felt as if we had already arrived in said universe. I was placed next to Maria, who insisted I fill out her customs documentation as soon as she sat down. She was born in 1936, as I discovered in her passport that was shoved under my nose. She spoke to me every 30 minutes of our 4 hour overnight flight to Guatemala City. The few Spanish lessons I completed on Duolingo while riding the Gautrain seemed insufficient to understand the intricacies of what my neighbour was so fervently discussing with me. Luckily, a "SI' every now and then seemed to satisfy her. 

Tip 1 for Central America: Learn Spanish

When we were descending she stretched from the aisle seat across me and another woman to open the window and proceeded to use my glasses placed in front of me to take a better look of the view. As soon as the plane landed, Maria was up and away- shoving and pushing her way through the crowd of people that stood in front of her. We realised once eventually out, that she was rushing for her "much needed" wheel-chair.

Through customs and straight to baggage pick-up, to find Jono's back-pack right in view. Little did we know that Jono's backpack was the cause of the entire conveyor belt stopping because the strap had got caught in the machine. This caused a great deal of commotion as policemen, cleaners and other airport staff were called to inspect said problemo... It was decided that it would be dealt with once all bags were removed and so was hoisted off the conveyer belt and onto the middle island as we watched from a distance. Luckily we knew it wasn't going anywhere. Sometimes you sits and think, and sometimes you just sits and watch your bag. :) Eventually with strategic pulling and some brute force Jono managed to pull it out.

Tip 2 for Central America: Ensure all straps of backpack are securely tied

In a low suspension minibus we were whisked away to Antigua - a beautiful cobble-stoned ancient city that was named the capital of the Spanish colony of Guatemala (that included most of Central America and some of Mexico) in 1543. This was up until the 18th century, when it was decided that the earthquakes posed too much of a threat after having destroyed huge portions of the city and so the capital was moved to Guatemala City. With a very Spanish charm, beautiful ancient churches and ruins surrounded by lush green covered volcanoes, this has been one of my favourite places so far!

Checked into a great hostel called El Hostal we then decided to wander around the city - passing the churches, the little parque central, getting lost in the calles and avenues, we eventually stopped in a coffee shop to eat some breakfast and drink some coffee. More wandering and a huge afternoon thundershower we had a great evening at Sky Cafe with a bucket of 6 different Guatemalan beers and then some dinner at Angie Angie, we headed to bed. 

TIP 3 for Central America: Make sure you like beans- all dishes include beans!

Wandered around the city in the morning exploring a beautiful church, grounds and museum. In the museum were the crutches of people who were crippled and then were healed were left as a memory of Saint Pedro (the first Central American sainted by papal bull) and his work he did. We then stocked up on supplies including a rain poncho for Jono, an umbrella, granola bars and sunblock.

At 2pm, the fully-loaded mini-bus arrived and we were whisked away again along the cobbled streets to the base of the volcano we were to climb. The hike up Volcan Pacaya was a slow and steady ascent. In 2010, the volcano erupted destroying 3,000 houses and leaving a very evident black trail all the way down the mountain-side. A very eerie black and white image emerged with the cumulus clouds hanging over the parched land. Our guide began collecting little sticks while the wild horses grazed what remained of vegetation on the mountainside. Sulphuric fumes hanging in the air at the summit and we climbed the volcanic talus (technically tuff, I think) to where our guide squatted over a vent and pulled out a bag of marshmallows.

Tip 5 for Central America: Carry extra marshmallows - you may have the opportunity to braai them over some lava on a volcano. 

And just like that - we were braaing marshmallows! The trick however, is to ensure you don't braai your shoes too. As expected, the rain came down in buckets in the middle of our braai-away-from-home! Since we were well-prepared we donned our ponchos and covered the backpack with the sneaky rain-protector I had found the night before! 

TIP 6 for Central America: Bring good-quality, water-proof hiking shoes

Above the crest of our braai spot, we have a magnificent view of Lago de Atitlan. For the next 2 hours we squelched through the rain and had to manoeuvre over muddy rocks with a remarkable lack of consternation - because our feet were dry! It was marvellous!

At one point, Jono pointed out that the lush vegetation was the perfect setting to explore the ambiguity of being met by guerrillas or gorillas and not knowing which we had encountered. A ridiculously fast drive home followed the descent, and a good night’s sleep was had by all. 

CITY RECAP: Antigua

Highlights: Ancient church ruins, beers at Sky Café, volcano braai, hiking in the rain and being over-prepared for it.

Lowlights: Losing Jono’s NY cap in the bus and realising the reality of 3^rd world customer service

People: Reserved, but polite and friendly and eager to teach you Spanish

Oddities: Charming cobble-stone calles, restaurants and shops that were all hidden by large embellished wooden doors

Jono & Jo’s totally objective and no-way subjective rating scale: 3 mouthfuls of braaied sugary goodness

Reminds us of: Nothing we’ve ever experienced

Distance travelled by foot: Probably about 6km.

California dreaming...

AREA RECAP: Southern California

Route: Cayucos, Goleta outside Santa Barbara, San Diego, Los Angeles

Highlights: Smoked fish tacos in Cayucos for $6, R23 through a desert-like mountain range that popped us out in Malibu, great bar in Gas Lamp District and discovering the Mission beach in San Diego, eating seafood on the pier at Santa Barbara, lady walking down the street in Santa Monica with a bird-cage hat (including a live bird inside), panoramic views of LA from the Getty (incredible centre with an exhibition on James Ensor), LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) with the lamp-posts installation and Japanese exhibition, La Brea Tar pits that are an archaeological  fascination (as the bones of animals including Saber-toothed Cat and American Lion that were trapped in the tar have been preserved), a man with a giant snake wrapped around him along Hollywood Blvd, driving around the ridiculous neighbourhoods off Rodeo drive, great Korean pork ribs in Korea town, the beautiful Japanese garden in Balboa Park.

Lowlights: Toll violation for not having a tag that we didn't know we needed and where paying cash or using a card was not an option. Traffic in LA, in general, is shocking. (I think we actually spent more time in the car on LA highways than we did exploring what LA has to offer). People throwing coins into the Japanese garden fountain despite the sign "NO COINS" just below it. After glaring a few people down, we managed to stop a few potential coin-throwing offenders and are now the self-proclaimed "Coin Police". 

People: Really diverse group of people - either stinking rich or terribly poor.

Oddities: Never actually spotting the Hollywood Sign despite a rather impressive attempt of riding around looking for it. Back-pack-fold-out-chairs (or "sitchels" according to Jono).

Jono & Jo’s totally objective and no-way subjective rating scale: 5 palm trees out of 8.

Reminds us of: the sprawl of Joburg.

Total distance travelled: About 2005 miles

And then we got engaged

After a quick ride around the quaint city of Berkley and some disappointingly cold coffee and lemon almond bun cake, we headed South to coastal California. Jono and I are convinced that the most popular store in town other than the Organic Food Store must be the Games Store with board- games for all the Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts and the like.

We were chancing our luck, but we were hopeful that the Computer History Museum would be open, and it was!!! Seated in Silicon Valley among giants Google and Facebook, we found ourselves entranced by the history of computers. Super rad! J Everything was on display from a Google self-driving car to early calculators, punch cards and vacuum tubes to the UNIVAC, ENIAC, DECs, Apple Lisas, old floppy disks of Zork, transistor fabrication, Moore’s law and robots!

A rather late arrival into Monterey, we opted to do the 17 Mile Drive before heading to our accommodation for the evening – and just as well we did! It is a beautiful estate with several golf courses including Pebble Beach where the US Open is sometimes played (5 times, Jono adds). The true beauty of it all is the coastline dotted with Cyprus trees and fynbos-like flowers. We were enchanted! Clint Eastwood and his fellow residents sure know how to spend their nickels and dimes.

We arrived at Carmel-by-the-sea (a place that will forever be etched in my memory). By all appearances, one might have said that we were not even in America but rather in a coastal town in Italy or Greece. The roof for the evening was in the aptly-named “Cobblestone Inn”. We had a delicious meal in a Turkish/middle eastern restaurant with a full on performance by one of the chefs. Great vibe!

Jono woke up feeling under the weather, so after a rather late start to the day we meandered around the town in the car and then to Point Lobos Reserve. Jono had been told by Dyl and Dan that is was awesome and so without me realizing it, he was snooping out the place for the surprise later in the day. We decided that we probably needed hiking stuff and would come back later to do a walk. We watched Ghana narrowly lose to America in a Soccer World Cup group game. Disappointed, I wore “hiking clothes” for our hike including my hiking boots and rather unattractive hiking clothes. Jono said rather hesitantly, “ uh, maybe wear your dress from earlier …. Don’t think we need actual hiking things”…. UMMM! Wasn’t this the whole point of coming back to the hotel… But little did I know… J So, eventually I settled on jeans and a nice top and my hiking shoes…

We arrived at Point Lobos again and parked. There was a beautiful lookout point on a cliff, with fynbos everywhere and the view of the sea in front of us. Jono kept turning around to see if there were any tourists and I thought he just wanted to take photos. We had brought my little tripod and we were having fun with it – using multiple shots and videos… All part of a sneaky plan for Jono to learn how to use my camera so that he could subsequently film an important question! A classic Emmett/Beckwith series of events ensued... In one photo shoot with 8 shots – Jono picked me up and dipped me and when he lifted me back up, my hand bashed into his mouth and his teeth scraped some skin from my thumb (see photos below)… Then, Jono thought that the moment had finally come…. But, just as he is about to set up the video to record the entire thing, my camera dies. 

I am completely oblivious at this point that he is about to propose…. We looked out at the ocean, and he mentioned lovely things to me about our love and how much he adores me, and when I turned around, he was on one knee!

No other tourists, no video, just him and me, together! “Yes, yes I will….” 

Jono had organised Champagne and some of my favourite sea-salt Lindt chocolate for us when we got back to our room at the Inn. We decided to keep it just between us for a few days while we soaked in this new title of "being engaged". Jono had decided to leave the ring in our safe deposit box in New York while we are traveling, so he bought a $10 el cheapo silver ring in San Francisco and proposed with that, with the promise of something else later on.

What followed was an awesome drive down the coast - through Big Sur to Nepenthe. It felt like we were driving Chapman's Peak for 100 miles!