Richard, I spent 3 years in southern Mexico in the early 70's. I was
not there to recreate, but was working on an airfield in the highlands
of Chiapas. I do not know that the Mayan culture has a strong
background in river running. I don't recall ever seeing a river boat
the whole time I was there. Basically, I don't know that they spend
alot of time in the water except to swim and bath. They did not even
fish where I was at, due to the lack of fish in any quanity, again due
to lack of game management and an undependable water sourse.
The coastal areas do have boats, but the inland terrain is very steep
and the water very fast. The most noticable thing is that the rivers
often flow in subterainean caverns. With a rudimentary background in
geology, I noticed that much of the country is fault-blocked
limestone. This results in rivers that emerge from the ground, flow for
a mile or two, and then as quickly re-submerge. I am not talking small
rivers, but some could easily be several hundred feet across. Some of
the falls would be very steep and dramatic, and rivers would disappear
under ground and then reappear 10 or 20 or more miles away. This is not
conducive to taking river rafting trips, though it is amazing to see
this huge volume of water come out of the side of a mountain, and then
all of a sudden - gone!
I understand that the same exist out on the Yucatan. There may be some
rivers that support short raft trips, but nothing extensive. I had some
friends in Costa Rica, who took a day trip that lasted 5 hrs, with some
big water, but not really very long.
I suspect that the WW that you mention was found in Northern Mtn which
I am not real familiar with. I have read about the Copper Canyon area,
which is larger than our Grand Canyon, and mostly undeveloped which
could offer extreme opportunities to the brave hearted. As you mention,
a lot of extreme approaches and excapes that would require
mountaneering techniques. Even where I was at, the lay of the land was
extreme. The main river was less than a mile away, and I was never able
to get there because it was unapproachable from where I was located
several thousand feet above the river. We had mules fall off the trail
hundreds of feet to the bottoms of the canyons. To say the least, you
learned to step carefully!
I don't know if this will help you, but it is my impression as I
remember it 30 years ago. I doubt that the rivers have changed, but
maybe they have figured out how to market what they have. I know they
dive into the water holes in the Yucatan, and spelunking is a big sport
in Mexico, which could add some adventure if you did that while
kayaking! :-)
Life is about each moment of breath,
Living, about each breathless moment!
Thanks, KnesisKnosis, aka Tinkerntom, aka TnT
and now a friendlier, "RkyMtnHootOwl"
2 WW kayaks,
'73 Folbot Super,
pre '60 AEII
77 Hobie Cat 16
Richard Ferguson wrote:
I was wondering if anyone had a line on information about paddling
Mexico. I have been Google searching in English and Spanish, and
finding almost nothing useful, other than ads for commercial rafting
companies. In desperation, I printed out a 50 year old article in
Spanish from a mountaineering magazine, but I imagine the river is
different today.
As a long time traveler in Mexico, but a relatively recent convert to
serious canoe paddling, I am thinking about a trip down south this
winter or spring.
I just picked up Tom Robey's book, A Gringo's Guide to Mexican
Whitewater. Most of the trips are class IV, so over my head, but he
lists quite a few class II and class III rivers. Some of the trips he
lists are pretty extreme, with portages requiring rappels and zip lines,
and lots of pictures of kayaks running waterfalls. Class I trips with
great scenery might be nice also, but he seems to focus on Whitewater,
which is even in the title of the book! ;-)
I was particularly interested in the rivers that empty into the Gulf of
Mexico. Many of them are in the state of Veracruz, which is probably
the center of the commercial rafting business in Mexico. Rivers that
looked especially interesting to me include the following. The Rio
Actopan, not far from the city of Veracruz. The Rio Guayalejo runs
through the El Cielo Biosphere reserve, and would be a two or three day
trip.
Any experiences or pointers to other sources of info would be appreciated.
Richard
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