Day six

We arrived at our hotel the night before, but I felt that Hotel Estancia de la Virgen deserved its own post. The hotel, or should I say motel, was under construction, so there were piles of rubble everywhere and stairs that led to unfinished floors. As sketchy as it was, there were really strange-looking dinosaur slides (that were pretty uncomfortable to go down) and slides that were apparently super painful to go down.

We left pretty early in the morning in order to go to the Maya caves in Candelaria Camposanto, where we first did a small walking tour and then went tubing in the caves. We saw a bunch of different bat species in the caves, and sometimes it was so dark that you had to use the flashlights the tour guide gave you to see a foot in front of you. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and everyone had a whole lot of fun (even if the walk to the cave took what felt like hours in the Guatemalan heat). We went back to the town and had lunch, and then the community leaders talked to us about the history of the land and the Guatemalan civil war. After that, we had the honour of being part of a traditional Maya ceremony that took place in the Cave of the Bats, and it was amazing. I may have not understood everything that was being said, but I did understand how serious ot was and how lucky I was to be able to participate and watch it.