**This is a Power Olympic Outdoor Center trip.  To attend, you MUST register and RSVP on their website.  Your ACSA username and password will NOT work on their website.  However, it is Open to the Public so you can register as a non-member.  The member price of $300 is for POOC members.  The non-member price of $600 includes a one-year membership to the POOC and will qualify you for free boat rentals.  After that, any trip you take within one year with POOC would be at the member price. To register and pay on the POOC website, click HERE.**

If you are looking to take a break from the daily grind and the beaten path then paddle through the clear spring-fed waters of Rio Tampaon, and relax in some of the most majestic places on Earth. You can paddle from unique cabins overlooking the most beautiful canyon and Cascada Tamul on the first night, stay in rooms in the surrealistic castle of Sir Edward James, and paddle to rooms in a Spanish Hacienda with hotsprings and a spa. Along the way you will see a variety of flora and fauna from spectacular jungle canyons with springs and parrots serenading you, to saguaro cactus and rugged arches of rock, and finally ancient agricultural areas with primitive sun dials, and earthen calendars. Come meet fellow adventurous souls or bring your own partner in adventure to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Saturday: Beaches of Tampico

Sunday: Springs originating Rio Tampaon

Monday: Canyon Puente de Dios of Rio Tampaon

Tuesday: Las Pozas

Wednesday: Rio Tampaon to natural spa at Taninul

Thursday: Rio Tampaon to the ancient Tamtoc

Friday: Return Home!

Beaches of Tampico Arrive

Saturday for some fresh seafood on the coast with an easy evening of getting to know your fellow paddlers at Posada de Tampico.

Springs creating Rio Tampaon

Travel Sunday to see the incredible springs of Cascada Tamul form Rio Tampaon on an easy warm up paddle with a gentle current. Lunch at El Sauz, and dinner overlooking the falls will include local favorites like Enchiladas Huastecas or Tacos Arrachera with Machego cheese.

Cascada Tamul & Canyon Puente de Dios

Relax high above the canyon overlooking the falls at your own cabin before putting in to paddle Canyon Puente de Dios on Monday. You will have lunch at the unique, warm springs & travertine of Puente de Dios after a brief raft ride through the only portages necessary on Rio Tampaon. Soon you will pass the “Window of Heaven,” and pass into the rich ranches of Valles. Dinner will include Venezuelan options from a café owned by a friend of ours.

Las Pozas

After this exciting day you will have earned a vacation on Tuesday which we will spend in the surrealistic sculpture gardens of Sir Edward James called Las Pozas (“The Pools”) high in the mountains. After visiting this astonishing place, we will visit the Castille museum and restaurant. Here we will feast on everything your heart could want from steak and potatoes, to fresh fruits and vegetables, pastries, and ice cream. Your room will be in the castle that James built in Xilitla while he was designing Las Pozas in the ravine below. You will enjoy the incredible view, the bustling market, vibrant cathedral, and community of ex-patriots in Xilitla.

Hot Springs of Taninul

When you get back down to the river you will continue your journey on Wednesday to the unique Spanish mansion built along a huge hot springs at Taninul. You can savor the sweet aroma, and taste of your own personal grills prepared to order in the hotel’s peaceful, private courtyard. Here you can challenge yourself to some climbing or rappelling on the cliff overhanging the hotsprings, enjoy traditional facials or massage using unique local compounds, or just soak up the healing waters of the springs in their tropical garden.

History and Time in Huasteca

Thursday you may return to the river to paddle down to the ancient regional religious center Tamtoc and explore the ruins of their original calendar. Believed to represent a lunar calendar, this huge carved stone monolith from 600 BC, measures twenty-five feet long, thirteen feet high, sixteen inches thick and weighs more than twenty-seven tons. The Museo de la Huasteca is there on the grounds to give you a more complete view of the history of the region. It will be hard to leave, but you want to reach the takeout before sunset so that you can get back up high enough to see the shadow of the canyon as the sun sets into where you began this adventure.

Homeward bound. . .

Friday we will return home either by plane from Tampico or by highway through McAllen, TX. After this extraordinary experience not only will you be truly relaxed on “river time,” but you will have a greater understanding of yourself, and your fellow adventurers who are bound to be friends for life. In addition you will have a deeper appreciation for nearby Mexico, and your paddling skills will have improved tremendously under the care and guidance of your favorite instructors and guides from the Olympic Outdoor Center in San Marcos, TX.