Macal River Whitewater
One Day Whitewater Adventure
$95 U.S.
(Price includes transport round-trip from San Ignacio, all equipment, lunch
and guides)
Class III & IV - no experience required, good
physical shape recommended
Paddle rafts/ inflatable kayaks/ hard-shell
kayaks
This trip is available any day during
the time period
December 1997 - March 1998 (when the river
dries up)
We recommend running this one day trip
in conjunction
with the Caves Branch River trip
Trips are run anytime a group minimum
is assembled
If combining this trip with the Caves
Branch Caverns trip
to make a 2-day itinerary, we recommend
running this trip second
(to facilitate assembling a minimum group
of 4).
Group size: minimum 4; maximum 10
(we will confirm a trip from the U.S.
office for a group of 4 or more.)
Photo above by Mark Gardner
Slickrock Adventures is excited to present Belize's
newest adventure trip, a one day whitewater run down the Macal River Gorge
by raft or kayak. We pioneered the run of this section of the river over
the past four seasons, which contains the country's biggest and best whitewater.
Slickrock offers the only trip currently available down the Macal Gorge.
The Macal River drains the north and west slopes of the Maya Mountains,
gathering tributaries in a large basin of rainforest before cutting its
way out of the range through a 15 mile canyon. The gorge contains a long
series of rapids and waterfalls over the granite bottom riverbed, which
is enclosed by towering walls of white limestone rising 1500 feet above
the river. The entire region is still cloaked with virgin jungle; monkeys,
birds, and fresh signs of tapir and jaguar are seen along the riverbanks.
The upper stretch of the gorge contains unrunnable rapids and falls
which have previously prevented it from becoming a viable river for whitewater
craft, but a road to the new hydro power plant now allows access to the
lower half of the canyon. Our trip begins at the falls below the dam and
runs 7 miles through challenging rapids before breaking out of the gorge
at Black Rock Falls. Several easily negotiated portages are required. With
the opening of this gorge, Belize now offers challenging, top-level whitewater
excitement.
Although no experience is required to join the trip, we do ask that
all guests be in reasonable physical shape and be good swimmers. Our highly
trained staff is composed of expert river runners with many years experience
guiding whitewater trips in the U.S. and abroad. Be sure to join us on
what is quickly becoming known as one of the country's top adventures (photos
below by Mark Gardner.) |
| Where: San Ignacio bus depot, at Sand
Castle restaurant near riverbank. Look for rafts and kayaks on a van or
truck.
When: 7:30 a.m.
What to bring: Shorts, long sleeve shirt,
tennis shoes to get wet, sunglasses/ strap, hat, sunscreen, water bottle,
no sandals.
We will confirm trips for groups of four or more from the States.
Itinerary
7:30 am: Group meets at Sand Castle
Restaurant near bus depot, look for vehicle with rafts and kayaks.
9:00 am: Arrive at put-in, rig for trip.
10:00 am: Launch trip on river. Travel
7 miles of whitewater, (includes 4 portages), then 2 miles of calm water
to take out.
4-5:00 pm: Takeout; stop at Chaa Creek
for guests staying there, then on to San Ignacio for guests staying in
town (by 6:00 p.m.) |
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