When the rain stopped and
the water levels started going down in Costa Rica I felt that there was still
space to do something extra. Before going to Costa Rica I was looking into
options of doing some non-classic runs and because I have never experienced exploratory
kayaking, attempting to do a first descent was a big wish for me as well.
Before going to Central America our main goal was kayaking in Costa Rica but I
was as well looking into other destinations. What I came upon was the web site
Mayan Whitewater whose author is Greg Schwendinger. I was immediately amazed by
the detailed descriptions of the rivers and the potential to paddle there.
Therefore I sent Greg a message and this is how our unexpected Guatemalan
adventure began.
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| San Pedro Cotija village |
The goal of the expedition
was paddling the whole length of the remote Copón River. This tropical river in
the north of Guatemala, close to the border with Mexico, is located in the
province of Quiché deep in the jungles of Maya people. It starts its path on
the karst plateau and then continues its way towards Gulf of Mexico. It is not
paddled often for two reasons – its remoteness and political issues of the
region. The last expedition to the Copón River was in 2012 but due to the
threats of locals they had to turn around and abort the mission. On our 2017
expedition Greg was in touch with an organization called Madre Selva. It is an
organization whose goal is to work with Maya people in remote regions of
Guatemala to protect the environment. Madre Selva had gained the trust of the
locals in the Quiché province over the years and with their help we were able
to experience the rivers of the region.
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| Greg on the Rio Copon |
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| Nils attempting a different line |
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| Our lovely hosts in La Tana village |
We started our trip in
Antigua, a colonial town just outside of Guatemala City. There we meet the rest
of the team and next day we were on our way to the north. Greg Schwendinger and
Nils Saubés are at the moment only two active kayakers in Guatemala, trying to
spread the word about Guatemalan rivers. Greg, the expedition leader, had
paddled the Copón River before but had never started in this headwaters region
before. We started our trip in the small village of La Taña, doing a first
descent of the Rio Saatán which is a tributary to the Copón
River. Saatán is a small creeky river, cutting
its way through the tropical karst terrain. After couple of hours of paddling
we reached the confluence of Saatán and Copón River. What came as a big
surprise for me was the size of it. Coming from the Alps I had some experiences
with big water boating but never did such a long stretch of big water before.
From the confluence downstream we knew we have approximately 25 km of big
volume pool-drop rapids until we will leave the rough karst terrain behind and
reach the first villages in the plains of the Ixcán region. We slept in a small
village called San Pedro Cotijá. In this small village where chickens and pigs
are running around freely we were the main attraction for the whole time being
there. The following day we continued our way down the Copón River, paddling
through flatter terrain than the day before. After about two hours we reached
the Chixoy River what meant we are coming closer and closer to our take out.
The Chixoy River is the biggest in Guatemala, from the confluence with the
Copón River it slowly flows northeast towards Mexico. It doesn’t involve
quality white water in lower parts but it will give an insight to the everyday
Mayan life to everyone passing by.
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| Blaž in the canyon of the Copon River |
Special thanks to Alpin
Action, Greg and Nils for making this trip a reality!
Urban Rejc, Alpin Action Team
