Chiapa de Corzo and Sumidero Canyon

We had a leisurely breakfast and some time for a last look around San Cristobal before our mid morning departure. Descending from the mountains at seven thousand feet to the plains at about sixteen hundred did not take much time as the distance to our first stop was less than fifty miles. Chiapa de Corzo is noted for it's plaza and the mudejar fountain housed in a Moorish style pavilion. Arcades opening off arched sidewalks surrounding the square are typical colonial design. The city was built by the Spanish in the 1500s on top of an indigenous city occupied by the Soctona ethnic group. The indigenous occupation has been estimated by some to be as early as 1400 BC and the oldest recorded date at this site, December 9, 36 BC, was reconstructed from stone fragments found in the old city.

Foliage and blossoms on the trees confirmed the fact that it was early spring and of course it was February 25 .

After enjoying the plaza we traveled to the Cahuare embarcardero on the Rio Grijalva (the same river that runs through Villahermosa) to board the lanchas (launch) for a tour of the impressive Sumidero Canyon. The canyon was created by geological fault dating to the Pleistocene Period. This river was converted into a reservoir in the 1970s by the Chicoasen Hydroelectric Dam.

We donned our mandatory life jackets and prepared to board the lanchas. Steve made sure we had a smaller boat for just our group so that we were not crowded into one of the tourist boats as in the picture center top. Our captain took off at full throttle as is obvious by Darlene loosing her hat while taking pictures, top right. The highway bridge makes an introduction to the canyon as we leave the embarcardero. The rest of the pictures are scenery shots taken on our three hour cruise .

Several species of wild life were observed along the banks. A large flock of vultures were resting on one bank and a crocodile was sunning himself on another. One bank was growing a species of tall cacti. A grotto housing a religious shrine accessible only by a ladder too high to reach from an ordinary boat is pictured in the top row. On the right side of the collage are three pictures of calcium carbonate deposits from water seeping out of the face of the cliff. The locals call it the Christmas Tree because the deposition forms successive fan shaped layers one on top of the other pictured center right. The top picture was taken directly under the tree formation and the lower picture is the moss and grass at the bottom. A couple of pictures show other geological formations; one under the shrine, where a section has fallen away and the strata seems to dip in an opposite direction; the other shows tilted stratification upper center left. While some of this canyon is granite there is lime stone present which makes for interesting conjecture about how the geomorphology was created.

Center bottom are two merged pictures of the Chicoasen Hydroelectric Dam.

A story has been told about the Soctona natives throwing themselves off the cliff in this canyon to avoid conscription by the Spanish Conquistadors at the time of conquest in 1582. One of the museums we visited displayed paintings of the event with the implication that the Spanish soldiers tried to save the jumpers out of humanitarian concerns. In all likelihood, it was to save their slave labor force. The cliffs here are steep and sheer with a maximum relief of 2600 feet above the water. If the natives jumped from such a height their fate was surely certain.

The building center right is a modern restaurant located in the proximity of the dam.