The PaddlerUK magazine March 2015 issue 1 | Page 73
Travertine central
After arriving in Mexico City at 5am we set off on the bus leg of
our journey. The bus companies are super helpful with kayaks
and they were never really a problem as long as you turned up
first in line to get the luggage on board. It’s many miles to get
from Mexico City to Ciudad Valles so after spending pretty much
the entire day on the bus, when we arrived at the bus station we
walked across the road to the nearest hotel we could find. Ciudad
Valles is an industrial town so there isn’t a great deal of
accommodation choice.
So after a night in an interesting hotel we were picked up by a driver and
taken to the Cascadas Micos. There is no other way of describing this than
Disneyland for kayakers – especially with the queues of Mexican adventure
tourists waiting to jump off the falls. I cannot get across in words how
beautiful this river is. The water is a tropical temperature, bright azure blue
and crystal clear. What follows is a series of super happy fun slides and drops
that range in size from about eight to 25 feet.
The travertine is a bit weird. We kayaked the Micos when it was considered
to be high which meant more water was flowing over the travertine than in
the guidebook pictures, which is no bad thing. This opens up a variety of lines
and means that you can walk on the slides and drops without slipping.
However, as Skiz found out some of the holes at the bottom of the falls are a
little bit sticky.
We hired some camping pods at the Aldea campsite which went down a
treat for Skiz and I who had earlier in the year enjoyed the hospitality of the
Hairy Lemon, Uganda. It’s a similar idea, food at regular intervals and beautiful
riverside surroundings at the bottom of the cruisey section of the Micos.
What is
travertine?
Travertine is a form of
limestone deposited by
mineral springs, especially
hot springs.Travertine
often has a fibrous or
concentric appearance
and exists in white, tan,
cream-coloured and
rusty varieties
MARK SKiRRow
ToP RiveR exPeRience:
i ReAlly enJoyed el SAlTo
eSPeciAlly The STeP RAPid,
which i Pinned My BoAT on And
SwAM down. ☺
Rebecca enjoying the beauty of the Alseseca. Credit Tim Burne
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