Paddling in the indigenous regions of mexico is a delicate balance between two worlds. The locals have a strong fear of outsiders, for good reason and at the same time it is this xenophobia and remotness that calls paddlers to the region. It isn't rare to have a local community deny access to their land and towns. It's no surprise considering what CFE (the Mexican National Electricity Commision) has been up to in the Rio Verde Region.
My first time down the east fork of the Verde, the Atoyac, we over took a well armed group of hunters on the river bank. With my experiences in Oaxaca, where town councils had denied us acces to other rivers, I had the urge to just paddle by them with no more than a wave and a smile. At that moment the group started chattering in thier local dialect and running along the river banks looking like something out of Apocolypse Now. One shouted in Spanish, "Hey wait. What are you doing." I decided reluctantly we had better try to make friends with them. With the amount of scouting we were doing it was unlikely we could out run them and even less likely we could outrun a hail of bullets.
Get Ready for Some High Water on the Santa Maria this season. Hurricane Dean
Struck Mexico, and the Huasteca Potosina, On August 22, 2007 dumping enough rain to raise the rivers above the '93 levels of Hurricanne Gilbert. Ciudad Valles, the gateway to the region, was landlocked for a week due to flooding. The River at Micos Covered most of the campgrounds on the riverbanks. The Tampaon, or Lower Santa Maria was within four meters of the bridge at Pujal. Polo, the lead guide for Agua Azul, was called by the civil protection to bring all our boats and lifevests to help rescue people stranded by the floods. His words, "I've never seen so much water in my life. "
What does this mean for river runners? Lots of wood in the rapids. The rocks on the Santa Maria will probably have shifted. It's likely that some of the travertine teacups at El Salto will have blown out. But the good news is we should have good flows into March. Same as in '94.
If you have been waiting 13 years to run the Verde with a good winter flow now is the time to start making plans.
Google Maps integrated with Mexican Rivers at Agua Azul. Google Maps is a dynamic online mapping feature that enables users to find location information, navigate through maps, and even scout rapids from their computer.
Registered Users have access to more maps than the index below.
Oaxaca and all the problems with protests is a long way from where we run our kayak trips. We are in the state of Oaxaca, not the city. Similar to saying we are in New York, but light years away from NYC. Lucky for us.
We are based in Bahias de Huatulco, On the map, Santa Cruz Huatulco, an eight hour drive from the City of Oaxaca. All is well and no protests so far.
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