Down in Mexico, an international assemblage of canyoneers did some great canyons, downed a FEW cervezas, and had a great time. Wow, a really great time. The Rendezvous was sponsored by the American Canyoneering Association - Mexico with help from Rich Carlson of the American Canyoneering Association, and included canyoneers from the USA, Mexico, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

Here's a little report. Great thanks to Chuy and Rich for organizing this fun-fest, to our local hosts for, uh, hosting us and providing tranportation and all they did, and thanks to John Hart for a good selection of photos (as noted, but usually the good ones).

The Rendezvous was held in the mountains above Monterrey, Nuevo Leon - Mexico's third largest city. The Rendezvous centered on a group of canyons near the suburb of Santiago, accessed via old logging roads and the village of Portrero Redondo. Quite a drive it was, up there. The mountains are amazing - giant limestone mountains covered with jungle. The canyons are amazing too - lots of clear, clean water, deep pools, fantastic waterfalls and fabulous caves.

Chipitin

As expected, after a day of travelling, too little sleep and a night of modest partying, morning came much too soon, and we broke up into groups to go do canyons. Not being in the -ridiculously early- group, I chose to do Chipitin, which features a couple rappels, a couple swims, one really nice slide, and a guided rappel through a 240-foot tall waterfall. Yee Haw!

Chipitin Page 1

Chipitin Page 2

Chipitin Page 3

Chipitin Page 4

Hotel / Hacienda / Hanging Out

In addition to doing canyons, we also did some hanging out at the Hotel Hacienda Cola de Caballo, and headed to downtown Santiago for a "formal session". Can't say I took a lot of pictures once the partying began, but here's a few assorted pics from hangin' around the hotel.

Hangin' Page 1

Hangin' Page 2

Hangin' Page 3

Matacanes

The coolest, best, most dramatic and amazing canyon to do down there is Matacanes, which became known as "The Big M". It is an extraordinary canyon, on many people's top ten list, including mine. Some of us liked it so much, we did it twice! Divin' Dave wanted to do it three times - but was denied transport on the last day.

Here's some pictures from Matacanes, assembled from trips on three different days. Pics by me and John Hart. For more pics, and especially to see amazing pictures of jumping in 3D, visit John's website, Crystal Canyons.

Yeah, yeah, it's a little long, but John gave me too many good pictures of jumping, so...

Matacanes Page 1

Matacanes Page 2

Matacanes Page 3

Matacanes Page 4

Matacanes Page 5

Special Thanks

to our host, shown here, Chuy; and to

Sonia Ortiz and her company Eco Adventures for guiding us and providing much-needed transport. This is truly a magical spot, and we'll be back...