we spent a few days in lanquin as we were making our way to the coast.  lanquin is in the highlands of guatemala, and the sweeping valleys surrounded us completely.  the views at the lodge we stayed at were incredible (my fourth picture is what you would see while taking a shower!), and the tiny village of lanquin was bursting with colourful activity, even though it consisted of just a few streets.

one day a bunch of us from the lodge piled into the back of a truck and took a rollercoaster ride through the valleys to get to semuc champey, where we explored pitch-black caves by candlelight (at times we were treading water with only a stumpy candle held high above our heads!  we also climbed up a waterfall in the cave and plunged blindly through a tiny hole into rushing water…no joke), and went rope-swinging and bridge-jumping into the clear turquoise water.  sadly, my one picture of the natural pools from above turned out blurry, so you should definitely google semuc champey to see how beautiful it really is!

that night, we took a walk to some other caves closer to where we were staying, with some new friends we had met that day.  every night, once it starts to get dark,  thousands of bats fly out of the cave to feed.

it.  was.  insane.  i have never seen (or heard) anything like it!  total planet earth moment (one of many).