Semuc Champey is famed for "it's great 300m long natural limestone bridge, on top of which is a stepped series of pools with cool, flowing water good for swimming". Only a small amount of the water from the Rió Cahabón actually flows through the pools, the majority of it passes underground, below the bridge. With the colour of the pools ranging from turquoise to emerald green, this piece of paradise is considered by many to be the most beautiful spot in all Guatemala.

We decided to go along with a group tour. We are realising that with a guide you get a bit more out of wherever you are in terms of additional gems of information and hidden or obscure things being pointed out. It was a reasonably small group too, so enough for Tselo, our 16 year old guide, to shepherd along.

It was not going to be as straight forward as walking to the pools and jumping in, we had to climb what felt like a million stairs for 30 minutes up the virtually vertical hillside. The heat and humidity had everyone puffing and panting by the time we reached the viewpoint. It was spectacular though, 15 beautiful terraced pools sitting in the middle of very unforgiving sharp, steep hills in the very heart of remotest Guatemala.

The water looked so inviting, all we wanted to do was to jump in the water but in the absence for a parachute we would need to make our way down the steep path. Half way down the path we came across some howler monkeys up in the tree tops. There was no howling though, these guys were just looking for a comfy branch to have a nap. At the bottom of the hill we saw the start of the limestone bridge, where the river began it's short underground journey beneath the pools.

Ten minutes later we were in our togs (swimwear) standing at the edge of the pools - we were going to pass through the lower 7 pools. We were led out on the terrace wall towards the centre, "it's deep here - dive, jump, backflip, what ever you want...who's first?". David didn't need to be asked twice, he dived straight in to the cool, clear water - a refreshingly cool 22c. Very soon everyone else was in and grateful for the relief from the early morning heat and the exertion of climbing to the viewpoint - even Maria didn't think it was too cold!!

Tselo backflipped into the pool and on surfacing shouted "This way, follow me". Everyone swam to the far side of the pool and readied themselves for the next pool entry. We dived and jumped into the next few pools before we came to one that was a bit higher than the previous ones, only three metres but higher than a lot of people's comfort zone. There was a few sharp intakes of breath as people looked over the edge, they needn't have worried though, there was a naturally formed and smooth waterslide taking you down into the pool with a small splash.

A few pools later we were led to another slide which was a lot steeper and disappeared round a bend out of sight. Everyone was sceptical about this one...we were told to go down together in a train, sitting one behind other and holding legs so we didn't come apart. Eventually, and reluctantly by some, we were all sat down and ready...for a photo!! Sighs of relief could be heard in Mexico as we broke apart and looked over the edge from a better vantage point. It was a good 10 metre drop down into the river where it re-emerged from it's underground journey, we weren't going any further downstream. We made our way back upstream, stopping on the way to swim into a cave underneath one of the terraces and to jump off the 3m terrace wall.

After a quick lunch back at El Portal we headed out over the rickety bridge towards Ka'Ban cave. Most people had heard some stories about the cave tour - candles instead of torches and that there was water in cave so you'd get a bit wet. At the cave entrance, we were each given a candle and told to take off all our clothes and jandals, only togs in the cave...it seemed like the stories we had heard were true.

We lit our candles and stepped into the darkness of the cave and immediately heard the splash of footsteps in shallow water. As we rounded the first bend, the water was soon up to knee level. We continued walking and the water kept getting deeper...were we going the right way? The guide was ahead of us, so we continued to follow. It was not too long before David was chest deep in water which meant that Maria had to pass her candle to David and swim - you couldn't get much wetter on a tour. We carried on through the cave system - up ladders, down ladders, more wading and swimming until we finally came to a small waterfall. There was some ladders to the side of it but for the adventurous amongst us, we could scramble up the rock face with the help of a rope. If there was any doubt why we had candles, we knew now. If they hadn't went in the water during the wading/swimming, they were extinguished in the waterfall but of course could be relit unlike a waterlogged torch. At the end of the cave there was a narrow but tall room with a small pool about 2m across. "Who wants to jump?" asked the guide. What?? You could scramble up the rock face at the back of the room and make a 3m jump into the pool provided you were careful not to jump into the other side or low ceiling..in the light of 12 candles. A mad Danish girl went first so David felt obliged to jump too and fortunately came away unscathed despite the pool being quite shallow. We returned the way we came in with the exception of the ladders, we were sent down a waterfall slide into the dark abyss below - no point taking a candle here because you went under the water with the speed of the fall.

We finished off the day with a lazy ride down the river on a tube...very relaxing after all the fun and excitement of the day.