7 Day Packrafting Trip in Mexico — what to pack

Packrafting is a great way to explore remote areas and enjoy scenic rivers. However, packing for a week long packrafting trip in the Mexican jungle can be a daunting task. From clothes to gear to food, there are a lot of things to consider. In this blog post, I will share my tips and tricks for packing for a successful packrafting trip in the Mexican jungle.

About the Adventure - what to expect

The river expedition we went on was in a remote area of Chiapas. We went with the guiding company Nahua Expedition on their tour called the Tzotzil. It was absolutely the way to go because the logistics are quiet complicated for this region and the river is very undocumented. They also involve locals from surrounding villages in all aspects of the trip and give back to the communities by hiring locals, improving their living conditions and working on the preservation of the area — we actually stayed with a local family in the village for a night after coming off the river which a really impactful experience. The expedition is 11 days in total, 7 days are spent on the river with a couple days after of exploring the beautiful town of San Cristobal.

Getting to the river requires hiking for 7 kilometres, in our case under the blazing 34°C sun, luckily we had horses to carry gear. Each paddling day was around 7-8 hours with calm sections and a mix of fun class II & III rapids. We were there through the end of April/early May so the water levels were quite low which make the river pretty safe and low consequence however you will be scooting over rocks. The water was pretty warm compared to what I’m used to in Canada, which was a nice treat! During the day the temperatures were close to 30°C and at night around 20°C, but I didn’t really find it to be too hot since I was in water lots. Each campsite we stayed at was very unique with beaches, waterfalls, canyon walls to lush jungle, the scenery was always changing which is something I love about paddling trips. On the last day on the river we travelled through probably the most incredible section (I don’t want to spoil the surprise but it was truly mind blowing). Getting out of the canyon, we had to repel up using a foot loop system, I was nervous about it but it ended up being fun. From there it’s a pretty steep a long hike out but there were porters to help carry our gear. Then we stayed at a family house in the village which was such an incredible cultural experience. I think it’s so important to get know how the people who live on the land to truly appreciate and understand it. Afterwards we headed to San Cristobal and had my first shower in 7 days…. which was an incredible feeling.

If you are planning to do this trip you don’t need paddling experience however I think it’s important to have some outdoor experience and to be willing to be pushed mentally and physically at times. Being uncomfortable is inevitable but having a good attitude about it will make the experience so much more rewarding and you will feel so accomplished to over come some challenges along the way. Our group was amazing and so supportive of each other. We met as strangers but left as a family.

What I packed

Things to keep in mind is weight and size, I would treat it like hiking trip where you should be capable of carrying all your weight.

Wet Gear - to wear while paddling

Because the sun is so intense in Mexico and sunscreen doesn’t stick well while in water it was really important to have a long sleeve and pants with SPF to protect you from the sun. It was also great to protect you from getting scratched up from the rocks if you fall in and for climbing around to scout rapids

Clothing:

Footwear:

  • Salomon Ultra Glide 2 Trail Running Shoes - Trail runners to wear in the water, none gore-tex to allow for water drainage. There are quite a few shallow sections that require you to get out or your boat and climb around on rocks so having the toe protection and traction was really helpful. There’s also some hikes in caves and the jungle that is ideal to have a reliable shoe for over using sandals or watershoes. I was really happy with this choice.

  • NRS HydroSkin 0.5 Wetsocks - this was the way to go over wearing wool socks because it wouldn’t let sand pass through, prevent blisters and is just more comfortable because it’s designed to be wet.

Paddling Safety & Gear:

Dry Gear - to wear at camp

Clothing:

You will definitely be looking forwards to changing in to some dry comfy clothes after you make camp. I still brought long pants and shirt options to keep the sun off and prevent bugs biting at night (there weren’t too many though). Having light, quick drying and anti-smell materials are ideal

Footwear:

Sun Protection:

Sun protection is really important, one bad sunburn could cause you a lot of pain for the rest of the trip not to mention just avoiding sun damage is something you’ll thank yourself later for.

Dry Bags:

For redundancy and organization I like to store items that I wouldn’t want getting wet in dry bags even if it’s stored inside the boat or your larger dry bag. During the day you will stuff a lot of items into the t-zip of your packraft and then keep some essential items that you would want easy access to on the top of you boat. For portage days you will want to have most of your heavy items in your main dry bag.

  • SealLine Black Canyon Dry Pack 65L - this will be your main dry bag and will get strapped on to the front of your boat during the day. These are provided but I brought my own. I was really amazed with how comfy the backpack and hip belt it is because many bags tend to skip that. I had no leaks with, just remember to add air (if it’s emptier) for pressure to keep the role seal tight

  • SealLine Baja Dry Bag 5 L - good for storing small items in

  • Outdoor Research Packout Graphic Dry Bag - 10L - I kept most of my food in here + a ziploc of granola bars

  • Sea to Summit eVac Compression Dry Sack - 13L - to keep your sleeping bag dry and compact

  • PackOut Compression Stuff Sack 15L - stored my clothes, I love this bag and use it for all my hiking trips as well

  • Old version of the Watershed Ocee - to store my camera gear on top of the boat in between my legs. The bag I used is about 25 years old and belonged to my dad but it still works great, a testament to good quality gear!

  • Having a couple extra ziploc bags with you to put wet things in is useful

Camp & Kitchen Gear:

 

Food:

We kept all meals fast and simple with being “just hot add water” dehydrated meals which was definitely the way to go. Every morning and night you are taking down and setting up camp so it’s a big time saver.

Breakfast:

  • Dehydrated breakfasts x6 + plus a back up meal - To keep it interesting I had variety of granola with dehydrated fruit with powdered coconut milk, homeade savoury quinoa breakfasts bowls and oatmeal with dehydrated fruits and nuts

  • Beverages - earl grey tea with powdered coconut milk and caffeinated electrolytes

Try to consume as much water as possible in the morning to help keep you hydrated throughout the day

Lunch & Snack:

  • Granola bars

  • Energy bars - Lara Bars and GoMacros are my go to currently

  • Trail Mix

  • Candy - sour patch kids and haribo, chocolate will melt

I would have around 3 bars per day + plus snack on a bag of trail mix and candy. To keep your energy up throughout the day it’s great to have a bar in you PFD to munch on when you need it

Dinner:

  • Electrolytes - rehydrate at the end of the day

  • Mint tea - because I love a bedtime warm beverage

Electronics & Camera Gear:

  • Black Diamond Moji Charging Station Lantern - 250 Lumens - this lantern also serves as a power bank which is super convenient. I was very impressed with the battery life. I think it only brought it down to half over the whole trip. I really enjoy the luxury of having a lantern in my tent, especially since it gets dark at 6:30 pm

  • Petzl SWIFT RL 900 lumens Headlamp - this one is super bright which was sweet for exploring the caves however I wish it had a red light option so bugs wouldn’t swarm you.

  • Garmin inReach

  • Canon R5 + 4 batteries

  • Canon Rf 24-70mm

  • Canon Rf 14-35mm

  • DJI Osmo Action Camera + 3 batteries - its insane how good the battery is. I didn’t even fully go through one

  • Action Stick

  • iPhone Gorilla Pod

  • Extra 250 gb SD cards x 4

  • Cords for everything

  • Power Bank

  • Coros Watch

Toiletries:

  • Face wipes

  • Toothbrush + tooth Paste

  • Face cream + hand cream - *don’t skip out, the water will dry out your hands*

  • Travel sized deodorant

  • Travel sized hair brush + elastics

  • Imodium + pepto tabs - because Mexico ;)

  • Pain killers - just in case

  • Hand Sanitizer

  • Polysporin

  • Wet wipes - the bathroom situation is digging a hole but you still need to pack out your toilet paper so bring an extra zipploc

  • Bug Spray - brought it but didn’t use it

If I were to do it again here’s what I would do differently…

I felt like I was well prepared for the trip and I didn’t find any of my gear choices to be a major issue, but for next time I would reconsider:

  • Sleeping bag liner instead of sleeping bag

  • Bring some salty snacks instead of just sweet

  • Bring a heavier hand moisturizer

  • Bring a second water bottle for the hike in and out

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