Trashy canyon

After a breakfast of ordinary huevos rancheros at our hotel, we set out for a day at Cañon Sumidero. It was a drive of just over an hour from San Cristóbal through breathtaking jungle and mountain scenery, through many indigenous villages. The canyon was created by the Rio Grijalva, which runs along the canyon up to the Chicosaen hydro-electric dam, opened in 1981, one of Mexico's most important sources of electric power. To fully appreciate the size and beauty of the place, we took a 2 hour boat ride up the canyon from the small town of Chiapa de Corzo, 35km downriver from the damn. We were lucky enough to be on a boat with only our group from San Cristóbal, 11 people in total. The sides of the canyon towered over us as we cruised by, rising to over 800 metres at their highest. We passed lots of birds including pelicans, vultures, egrets, and cormorants as well as several waterfalls and a few caves. The most spectacular waterfall is called ¨El arbol de la Navidad¨ or Christmas Tree because the water falling down has shaped the moss-covered rocks to look like the boughs of a pine tree. It really does look like one too. By the time we reached the damn, our necks were sore from staring up. We would have spent some time looking straight ahead through the canyon if it weren´t for the disgusting trash floating on the surface of the water nearly the entire way. Very disappointing, especially considering this is a National Park.

After returning to the town of Chiapas de Corzo, we had about 30 minutes to look around town. We didn´t really need to see this town, so we sat at one of the many hamburger stalls along one of the small streets and shared a gigantic burger while watching the town go by. Much more interesting than browsing the cheesy, over-priced shops. Piling back into the van, our group set out for the drive back to San Cristóbal. Again, the drive was gorgeous, this time rain clouds and fog creeping their way into the valley and on top of the mountains. We were going to stop at an indigenous village, but no one really wanted to (we´d just be bothered by touts anyway) so we went directly back to town.

We spent a while relaxing in our hotel, checking our email and watching MTV before going out for the evening. We walked around town and the craft markets before sharing a delicous meal at La Salsa Verde, selling delicious meals of Mexican stir-frys served with fresh tortillas and of course awesome salsas. We are loving all of the food here, and it´s plenty for us to share meals as well. And of course the cheap, cold beer just makes it all that much better. We spent the remainder of the evening reading and watching some TV before bed.