Kees Van Kuipers on the Rio Rumiyaco.
In the south of Colombia, just north of the Ecuador border, on the Amazon side of the Andes Mountains is the department of Putumayo. Putumayo is still considered “El Corazón” or the heart of the guerrilla territory, but in recent years security has improved around Mocoa, the capital city of the department of Putumayo. To the south and east of Mocoa, in “Los Llanos” or the plains which are part of the Amazon Basin, many areas are still controlled by the guerrillas and are not considered safe for traveling. Mocoa receives rainfall from storms that make there way over the Andes mountains from the Pacific Ocean and from storms from the Atlantic Ocean which cross the Amazon Basin making it one of the wettest places in Colombia. Where there is a lot of rain there are many rivers. The Andes Mountains abruptly rise to over 4000 meters just behind Mocoa, and they are covered by thick cloud forest and jungle vegetation. Mocoa is surrounded by rivers which are perfect for kayaking. Near Mocoa there are small technical creeks, such as the Rio Pepino and big volume rivers, such as the Rio Caquetá. In recent years a few kayakers have explored the rivers near Mocoa and have found some of the nicest rivers in Colombia, many of them within an hour or less of Mocoa which makes Mocoa one of the best places in Colombia to spend some time kayaking.
The Canyon of the Rio Caquetá. One of the most beautiful rivers in the world.
During January of 2011, Mark Hentze, Maud Verboven and David Kashinski spent about a week exploring some of the rivers near Mocoa. The Rio Caquetá is perhaps one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. Mark Hentze, Maud Verboven and David Kashinski did the first kayak descent in January of 2011. The only beta we had was a quick look at Google Earth and stories, or the legends, from the locals. The Rio Caquetá goes under a bridge on the main highway from Bogotá to Mocoa just 30 minutes from Mocoa and then flattens out in “Los Llanos” near the small pueblo of Puerto Límon. There is a police check point in Mocoa where they search for contraband such as the essential liquids necessary for the cocaine laboratories which are further south and east of Puerto Límon. To bypass the police check point the guerrillas fill 5 gallon cans with kerosene, hydrochloric acid, and other essential liquids, and float the cans through the canyon of the Rio Caquetá. The guerrillas accompany the cans by swimming and portaging the cans around the biggest rapids. The canyon of the Rio Caquetá is steep, dropping 300 meters in 50 kilometers, and a big volume river with many big class IV-V+ rapids. legend has it that some of the guerrillas drowned while accompanying the cans full of the essential liquids through the canyon of the Rio Caquetá. The canyon is sheer walled in many places and numerous waterfalls plummet from the walls directly into the river. Where the sheer walls give way to steep hillsides there is thick jungle vegetation, many colorful flowers and there are many white sandy beaches which are perfect for camping. Everything is massive in the canyon, the rapids are huge, the rocks are huge which makes portaging and scouting difficult. The Rio Caquetá will hopefully one day be a world class kayak trip. For now it may be a trip to avoid because of security. Some of the locals say it is safe and the guerrillas no longer use the Rio Caquetá as a liquid highway, and others say the guerrillas still use the river to bypass the police check point in Mocoa. During our January 2012 trip to Mocoa we did not paddle the Rio Caquetá because of high water and concerns about the safety with a big group of foreign kayakers.
Kees Van Kuipers on the Rio Pepino.
During January of 2012, Mark Hentze, Kees Van Kuipers, Charlie Watts and Julian Schafer, and a few others spent a couple of weeks in Mocoa and explored some other rivers. We found some great rivers and made a couple first descents, at least kayak first descents. About 20 minutes from Mocoa is the Rio Pepino, a steep and continuous class IV creek. The Rio Pepino is low volume, but almost always has enough water to paddle, and at low water it is crystal clear. The Rio Pepino is continuous class IV, but with a few pools in between the rapids. There are no portages, many nice class IV drops which are not too intimidating and easy logistics which makes the Rio Pepino a great afternoon run or warm-up run.
Maud Verboven enjoying the Rio Pepino with some Colombian children.
The city of Mocoa is located in the open valley of the Rio Mocoa and near Mocoa the river is mostly class II-III, but just above Mocoa and just below Mocoa the river passes through some steeper canyons which have many nice Class IV rapids. The Rio Mocoa also has easy logistics and the put-ins and take-outs are all less than an hour from Mocoa. Below the city of Mocoa, the Rio Mocoa passes through one more steep walled canyon and with medium to high water levels there are some big class IV rapids and many waterfalls which drop from the canyon walls into the river. At the bottom of the run the canyon walls abruptly open and give way to the “Los Llanos” and the river flattens out just above the take-out.
Kees Van Kuipers on the upper Rio Villalobos.
The upper Rio Villalobos is a medium sized creek and at the top the canyon was open and the river was not to steep, but we found a few nice class IV rapids on the first day of the two day descent. Because of a typical late Colombian taxi driver and a two hour drive to the put-in we only had a few hours to paddle on the first day and a couple hours before dark we found a nice beach to camp on. The next morning we did not get an early start either, most everybody slept in Colombian style, and it was about 11:00 am before the boats where loaded and we started paddling down the river again. We started the morning off with another stretch of flat water interspersed with a few bony class III rapids, but then then the canyon walls tightened up and the river bed steepened. The last few hours of the second day was full of great class IV+ whitewater, no portages, and most everything was boat scoutable. The upper Rio Villalobos drops through a beautiful canyon with steep walls covered by cloud forest and we saw parrots and two “Cocks of the Rock”, a rare jungle bird with a bright red head, and a black lower body and tail. The upper Rio Villalobos is another Colombian classic river.
Kees Van Kuipers in a typical boulder garden of the Rio Villalobos.
Putumayo is still considered dangerous by some, but many foreigners travel through Mocoa and venture into the surrounding mountains and the guerrillas seem to leave the foreigners alone, or maybe we are all just lucky....Our experiences have been that the people of Putumayo are warm, welcoming and friendly like all the Colombian people. There are still many guerrillas in Putumayo, probably some not far from Mocoa and random attacks still occur, but sometimes the risk is worth the beauty that can be found in places such as Putumayo.
El Fin Del Mundo.
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