Sumidero Canyon, Mexico

Surrounded by the Sumidero Canyon National Park, which extends for 21,789 hectares over four municipalities of the state of Chiapas, is Cañón del Sumidero (Sumidero Canyon) located just north of the city of Chiapa de Corzo. The canyon’s creation began around the same time as the Grand Canyon (in the U.S.A on the Colorado River ) - about 35 million years ago, by a crack in the area’s crust and erosion by the Grijalva River, which still runs through it. The canyon has vertical walls which reach as high as 1000 metres, with the river turning up to ninety degrees during the thirteen kilometres that the narrow passage runs.


Numerous native wildlife is inhabit the canyon, studies (including from the federal Secretaría de Agricultura y Recursos Hidráulicos - SARH) report excess of 300 species of vertebrates including four species of fish, fifteen amphibian, fourteen reptiles, 195 birds and fifty three mammals.

During my journey, I was fortunate enough to encounter 2 river crocodiles, spider monkeys, and much bird life.  One crocodile was not particularly fussed with being observed, moving swiftly from his spot in the sun to a downstream location.

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