Besides all the advertisements about the Canyon del Sumidero, I recently had a friend go and it looked amazing. Her pictures had not only boasted a gorgeous boat ride through a canyon but lot’s of wildlife. So given the chance of a weekend off, I started my research and planned a trip to Tuxtla, Chiapas, Mx.
The canyon itself is formed from the Grijalva River which originates in Guatemala and after joining numerous other rivers, drains into the Gulf of Mexico. Besides the views,the canyon is an important power hub stemming from the Chicoasén Dam, which is one of the ten highest dams in the world. Sumidero the name of the canyon as declared in 1980, means the sink in spanish. An interesting and horrific fact about the canyon in history, is that during the battle of the Tepetchía (1534 a.d.) the Chiapas people and warriors threw themselves over the cliff, rather than being defeated.
After much research, mainly from other blogs, I decided to travel to Tuxtla (the capitol of Chiapas) and make it my weekend home base. From Tuxtla I took a comvi to Chiapa de Corazon, which is a beautiful city, the comvi station was hard to find in a rather large Centro or center. The cost was 14 pesos each way or less than $1usd. My research had brought me to the conclusion that this was one of the cheapest options and in Chiapa de Corazon I booked into a toured boat ride for 250 pesos or $13usd (which included our park entry fee). This particular region of Mexico was sweltering hot and I was hoping to get in the water and swim around, cool off a bit.
However swimming here in this river was not really a viable option for two reasons, the water was a murky green color, and there were crocodiles. Of course the later of the two being my more logical reason. The tour itself was two hours long and the canyon was spectacular. I welcomed the windy ride and we made a few stops along the way. There was quite a plethora of wildlife ranging from the crocodiles to various birds, we did not witness the spider monkey’s but they are known well to most canyon visitors.
During my visit to Chiapa de Corazon a side trip caught my eye, and having the next morning available I thought I would come back and check it out. Upon arriving back in Tuxtla it took quite a bit of searching to find my motel and after a days travel I was exhausted. However it is said the early bird gets the worm, so a good nights rest and onto more adventures!
