Hike up Semuc Champey, Guatemala

After a long ten-hour bus journey down steep mountainsides and dirt gravel roads, we finally arrive in Lanquin. What the locals call “the heart of the Maya,” Lanquin lies deep in the mountains of Guatemala alongside a healthy flowing river. I was pleasantly surprised to see the little huts on stilts and all the travelers unloading in the lodge by the beautiful river. With high hopes for all this natural beauty around me, I entered the place in which we were staying.

A very open hut with no electricity and palm trees for a roof. Trying to be optimistic, I turn my head torch on and begin to look for a decent bed to sleep in. Now I am not one to go camping, and I have an awful time dealing with bugs, but I knew however when I booked this trip I would be dealing with quite a few of my fears and stepping outside my comfort zone but I chalked it up to a learning experience. I was not enthused, to say the least, when I pulled down the covers to see ear wicks and spindly spiders crawling around what was supposed to be my place of rest. I sprayed the bed with Deet in my last attempt to cope with this infested hut.

After I set up my mosquito net, I put earplugs in to drown out my own paranoid sounds of bugs crawling and attempted to sleep. I turn around to fix my pillow and sure enough, there is a giant cockroach the size of my fist sitting next to my head. That was it for me, I ran to another girl’s bed and put up double nets in a poor attempt to ease my mind. I slept maybe two hours in those two days we stayed there.

Lesson learned: Nature is a beautiful site during the day, but when night falls and your not conscious of where things are, your mind gets the best of you and so do the creepy crawlies.