Canoeing the Rio Grande

My brother, Ron, came for a visit from his home in McKinney, Texas, North of Dallas . . . just in time for a planned canoe trip down the Rio Grande River. Carole was relieved because she really didn't want to go and had been looking for an excuse. Now Ron could be my canoeing partner.

Two other couples from our RV Park neighborhood accompanied us to the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge where we met up with two other couples and a National Park Service Tour Guide and his wife. We were all transported, along with canoes and gear, upstream several miles where we put into the Rio Grande at a pre-established location.


















The river was relatively quiet and peaceful, six canoes, twelve people paddling along leisurely enjoying the scenery . . . the US on our left and Mexico on our right. Our tour guide explained some of the topography and history as we paddled and floated along, and also pointed out various species of birds and habitat.


















The Tour Guide suggested that since the Mexican city of Reynosa dumped raw sewage into the river upstream from us, we should avoid unnecessary contact with the water. Maybe that explains why the water appeared a little cloudy!

We saw quite a few waterfowl and an occasional large fish rolling over in the water, probably catfish.

Along the way, we saw Mexican farmers working on their tractors, John Deere, of course. We also saw Mexican irrigation pumps and piping. Other that that, there was no apparent activity on either shore . . . although we did see several places where illegal Mexicans had left their wet clothing behind after crossing the river. The Tour Guide said they swim across with dry clothes in a plastic bag, then change leaving their wet clothes behind.


Ron was in the bow of our canoe enjoying the ride with his paddle laying on the gunwales . . .













. . . while I was in the stern paddling, steering, doing all the work.














We had great weather. The temperature was in the 80's, the sun was shining bright, and the wind was moderate. A couple of times, however,the wind picked up and was coming straight at us as we rounded a bend in the river and, at those times, Ron did help paddle. It was, however, a leisurely trip floating downstream on calm waters with a 5 MPH current. So, we didn't really have to paddle much, most of the time we just went with the current.

We arrived at the take-out point much too soon. Our ride didn't last as long as we would have liked, but it was very enjoyable, interesting, and educational.

















We had traveled about five miles downstream and had been on the water for only a couple of hours. But "Canoeing the Rio Grande" was a great experience and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.