Reunion in Chiapas-Canon del Sumidero

Nearby to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas state and your typical late 20th century faceless city which seemed to have grown way to fast, is the Canon del Sumidero, a vast natural fissure. There are two ways to see the canyon, from the lookout points above, and from a speedboat in the Rio Grijalva which flows through it. As we had rented a car, we ended up seeing it from both vantages. This was not the original plan, but I had some pretty lousy navigation (I was designated driver), and in the end, it was not without merit to see it from above and below.

Here are some of the vistas from the various lookouts above the canyon.

Various preferences for recording the moment.
This dated space age lookout was once a restaurant at the end of the lookout road, but much to our disappointment at the time, is now only an elaborate shelter for souvenir vendors.

Down at the embarkment below, which I'm still convinced can only be reached from one side of the highway (see the part about navigation above). At least only one side has any signs whatsoever to give a clue as to how to find the boats.



Nearer the embarkments there are scores of people fishing.

The gentle slopes gradually give way to the sheer drops that characterize the most dramatic parts of the canyon.

It seems like maybe a few hundred people get this tour every day, as evidenced by the numerous other speedboats we passed and saw from the lookouts above.
The wildlife we saw on our tour, the this lazy crocodile is evidence of Mexico's biodiversity: there were also spider monkeys and cranes. It is one of the five most biodiverse countries on the planet.
Our guide took us into one of the many caves in the canyon. This one at the water's edge has the peculiar quality of lacking echo.

Although there has been a concerted effort to clean the river in the last twenty years or so, there was still a visible presence of filth floating in one portion. True, much of it is natural waste, but there is no shortage of plastic bottles and other such refuse. At one time, the entire reiver was choked with garbage (a problem still plaguing most of Mexico's not so plentiful rivers).

And of course, even here, one can find a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The 'Christmas Tree' waterfall.

A recreation center located on the river includes very long ziplines through the forest canopy that from the looks and sounds of it, seems like a lot of fun.
A vast lake is located at the end of the tour, formed by a dam which has helped to modernize much of Chiapas. The clearings for sheep herding looks absolutely old World, however, as we were all in agreement that this was more something to be expected in Scotland or Ireland than southern Mexico.
The march of progress, complete with Soviet-style monument to the workers who built it.,