La Ruta de Maya - Guatemala pt 4

Lanquin, Guatemala
Mar. 03, 2008

From the Western Highlands we decide to head east, into the misty reaches of Guatemala's cloud forests. This will involve a day of arduous travel on buses and minivans. At 8 am we say goodbye to our wonderful hosts at the Hospedaje San Antonio. The farm's two Australian shepherds escort us down the driveway to the road, where a microbus is waiting. There are about 25 people loaded into the 15-seater van. Tanya squeezes into the van, standing up; there's no way I'll get my 6'3" frame into that van, so I hop on the back, with a boy of about 16. It turns out to be one of the best van rides of my life.

The morning sun is just beginning to peek over the mountains as we roll down the road, thankfully at a nice slow pace. A river follows the road on our left, meandering through verdant pastures. The road is busy with people, walking to their fields, or walking their horses and cows to pasture. It's a clear day in the highlands of Guatemala, I'm on the back of a van, holding on to a ladder, and I feel amazing.

I ask the teenager next to me where he's heading. "To the cornfield," he answers. "For work?" "Si, para trabajar." He works until noon every day, he tells me, then heads off to school. We continue the rest of the way to Nebaj in silence, enjoying this quiet morning.

The bus ride from Nebaj, in the Western Highlands, to Coban, in the east, takes you along the Cuchmatengo mountain range, and is among the most spectacular scenery in Guatemala. We'd prepared ourselves for an epic journey, but this journey turned out to be Homerean. On the map, it's only 100 km, but in truth it's a bone-jarring.

We arrive at the El Retiro lodge, in Lanquin, 28 hours later, after a night in Coban. Stepping through the front gate is like stepping straight through the gates of paradise. The Rio Lanquin sweeps by the property, meandering through lush jungle scenery; tropical flowers cover the property, and bungalows dot the grounds. It’s a place that has the potential to suck you in for weeks, or months.

That night we head to the nearby Grutas de Lanquin – a series of nearby caves that extend several miles into the earth. Our guide, alocal Quiche boy of 16, points out several Mayan ceremonial altars in the caves. Local Maya have revered these caves as spiritual places, and the walls of the main cavern are black with candle smoke.

After our tour finishes, we sit by the mouth of the cave – about 15 of us – and wait for the bats to exit the cave. At sunset, the bats leave the caves by the thousands to feed. We wait there in silence for the first bats to exit. One flies past, silently, then another, then another. We take a few pictures, unaware of the spectacle about to come.

Soon the bats are coming by the hundreds, through this narrow cave mouth, which is only about 8 feet wide and 10 feet high. Although we 15 are crowding the mouth of the cave, the bats have no problem navigating around us at high speed.

15 minutes later, the bats are coming out by the thousands. Each camera flash illuminates hundreds of bats in motion, greeted by a chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs.’ It’s one of the most amazing spectacles I’ve ever seen, a reminder that the natural world is more amazing than we even suspect.