Day 51 – Wednesday 9th November 2005
After spending much of the previous evening planning the coming week, I woke up early ready to take a boat trip through the Canon del Sumidero. I went to a tour company who quoted me $160 Pesos but I would have to wait until the next day, so I used public transport and did it myself. I got to the departure point of the lanchas, waited about half hour for the boat to fill up (a minimum of ten people were needed for the boat to leave the dock) and we set off.
After the building of the Chicoasen hydroelectric dam in 1981, the canyon was transofrmed into a 35km long reservior. Not long after setting out, the canyon walls began to lengthen and soon towered above the water level, rising to 800m at its highest point. The course of the reservior twisted ad turned revealing more and more rock formations and scenes. Along the route the driver(?) of the lancha stopped to point out some of the local flora and fauna. This included crocodiles, monkeys, pelicans, herons and other birds I don’t know the names of. The plantlife included one cliff face covered in thick moss which had water dripping from it. Apparently during Sept and Oct water cascades from this odd phenomenon.
The water in parts was covered in debris from bits of trees to plastic bottles, so much so that in parts the water looked like solid ground. I originally thought this water just because people dumped things into the water, but I later found out that it was residue from one of the hurricanes that have recently occured, and a massive cleanup operation was in force.
After an hour in the boat we reached the front of the dam. The canyon sides slowly getting smaller until they disappeared and we entered the main reservoir. This area was in stark contrast to the earlier canyon, especially the man made dam structure and the hydroelectric plant.
Having reached a dead end there was no option but to turn back the way we had came. The lancha driver sped back through the ravine as if his life depended on it. We made it back to the docking area in double quick time. During the journey I started thinking about the other boats I had been on recently – speedboats in New York and lanchas in Mexcaltitan. I thought that a race between the driver of this lancha and the drivers of ‘The Beast’ in New York, Mad Dog and Crazy Horse, this guy would win easy. Despite having a less powerful boat, in this ravine he would have local knowledge and more manouverabiliy in the water. That said, Crazy Horse was one crazy dude, so who knows.
Crazy Horse was a muppet!! Gringo would win hands down!