Susan Munroe: The Río Baker

Date: 
Friday, February 15, 2013
The mighty, wild Río Baker
The mighty, wild Río Baker
Weston Boyles

I am underwater. My eyes bulge against the silver-blue-churning underside of the Gonzalez Rapid. Bubbles escape from my clenched mouth. My heartbeat roars in my ears, and I struggle against the kayak that holds me upside down. I’m panicking – is this really how I’m going to die?

This was my introduction to the most voluminous river in Chile: the Río Baker. Turquoise and silver, wide and flat in places and wild in others, the Baker flows through Aysén, Chile’s remote eleventh region, from Lago General Carrera and Puerto Bertrand all the way to the network of Pacific fiords that begins at Caleta Tortel.

Jaime Lancaster, member of Club Naútico Escualo, is one of the club’s most skilled kayakers. He recently became the first Escualo to participate in the world-famous whitewater kayaking competition on the Río Futaleufú in Chilean Patagonia
Jaime Lancaster, member of Club Naútico Escualo, is one of the club’s most skilled kayakers. He recently became the first Escualo to participate in the world-famous whitewater kayaking competition on the Río Futaleufú in Chilean Patagonia
Susan Munroe

Flailing against the water and the boat, I finally kick my way out of the spray skirt and rise to the surface, gasping. Immediately, John is there, one of “Los Escualos” (The River Sharks), the youth kayaking club whose trip I had joined. “Tranquila, it’s okay, it’s over now.” Clinging to John’s kayak while the other boys collect my paddle and boat, I am escorted to the river bank. Now that I’m safe, I’m embarrassed by my panic reaction. Jaime, age 15, pats me on the shoulder and helps me back into my kayak. “It’s happened to all of us. No te preocupes.”

The story of the Río Baker is intimately entwined with the story of Club Naútico Escualo. Based in the small town of Cochrane, Chile, the club inspires a new appreciation for Aysén’s natural resources through experiential education. Founded by Roberto Haro Contreras, a teacher at Cochrane’s high school, the club has taught over 800 kids how to kayak since its inception in 1999. Students learn not only boating skills, but valuable life lessons about respect, self-confidence, and community involvement. The Río Baker is the club’s heart and soul; through kayaking, students forge a unique bond with the river.

Founder and director of Club Naútico Escualo, Roberto learned to kayak from a German tourist over 14 years ago.
Founder and director of Club Naútico Escualo, Roberto learned to kayak from a German tourist over 14 years ago.
Susan Munroe


I met Los Escualos and tasted my first mouthfuls of the pristine Río Baker while researching controversial hydroelectric dams proposed on several Patagonian rivers. The Baker is threatened by the construction of two mega-dams that, in conjunction with three more dams on the remote Río Pascua, would generate 2.5 gigawatts of electricity for Chile’s population center and voracious northern mines. The project developer, HidroAysén, is a Spanish-Italian-Chilean conglomerate that would also construct a 1,600-mile-long transmission line to move the electricity north, effectively opening Aysén and its other rivers for extractive interests. The US $10 billion project has been partially approved, but the environmental assessment for the transmission line has been repeatedly delayed, giving the 74% of Chileans who oppose the dams hope that they might still be stopped.

Ríos to Rivers co-founder Susan Munroe stands at El Saltón, the proposed site of the Baker #2 Dam, with Escualo Enzo Inostraza.
Ríos to Rivers co-founder Susan Munroe stands at El Saltón, the proposed site of the Baker #2 Dam, with Escualo Enzo Inostraza.
Susan Munroe

When I began my research, I wanted to weigh each side of the debate equally. But reading about the Río Baker and kayaking on the Río Baker with kids who have been raised on it are distinct experiences. Dry scientific assessment crumbled like the banks of a river under the flood of compassion I observed and received from Los Escualos, and I realized that free-flowing rivers are important not only for their place in a healthy ecosystem, but for their power to inspire, educate, and change lives. With this in mind, I’ve helped to found Ríos to Rivers, a kayaking exchange program between Los Escualos and kayaking students from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS). In March 2013, eight CRMS students and two teachers will travel to Aysén to meet Los Escualos and paddle the Río Baker. The second half of the exchange will take place in August 2013, when eight students from Club Naútico Escualo and their coach, Roberto, will travel to the U.S., and alongside the same CRMS students, kayak the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

Ivan, one of the members of Club Naútico Escualo, drops a class two waterfall on the Río Cochrane, a tributary of the endangered Río Baker
Ivan, one of the members of Club Naútico Escualo, drops a class two waterfall on the Río Cochrane, a tributary of the endangered Río Baker
Susan Munroe

By comparing the undeveloped Baker with the heavily impacted Colorado, Ríos to Rivers aims to inspire these students to work for the protection of rivers like the Baker. Students will meet with biologists, ecologists, and energy experts and participate in hands-on activities during the exchange; executive director Weston Boyles will produce a documentary about the students’ learning process, the power of experiential education, and the importance of connecting young people with rivers.

We want to give these students the tools to become knowledgeable stewards of their rivers. When I think back to Gonzalez Rapid, I’m impressed not by the river, but by the maturity, skill, and poise of the young people who helped me through it. Los Escualos are the river, and they are the ones who have the power to keep it flowing.