"Mexico's Agua Azul is an amazing, bizarre place. The bright sun, the jungle setting, the brilliant flow from big fall to big fall, the travertine deposits that turn the water a milky blue...there's just nothing like it. Here, I'm about to plunge 35 feet [11 meters] to finish the second of five waterfalls. For me, going over is more about just deciding to do it."
Bob McDougall, 50
A veteran expedition paddler and rock climber, McDougall makes a living challenging gravity. During his team's 1991 expedition in Chiapas, Mexico, they made the first descent of an underground section of the Shumulja River and fueled a trend in big-waterfall running. The result was the popular National Geographic Explorer episode "Jungle Kayakers." Now a Hollywood stunt rigger based in Durango, Colorado, McDougall's film credits include Cliffhanger and the Matrix sequels.
Read more about this expedition, and others like it, in The Laugh of the Water Nymph by team member Doug Ammons (www.dougammons.com)
To contribute to Your Turn, send your photographs via e-mail to adventure@ngs.org.
Photographs by Markus Schmid
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