Tour to Copper Canyon, 2019
To begin our tour we flew to Los Mochis, on the Sea of Cortes, in the state of Sinaloa and were soon in boats on Topolobampo Bay looking for dolphins. The photos and captions chronicle the highlights of our trip, the the most memorable and humbling of which was a visit to a remote Taráhumára (who prefer to be known as Rarámuri) village in Chihuahua. Known worldwide as amazing long distance runners, these people were never conquered by the Spanish invaders but kept moving father into the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Copper Canyon area. They live by a core ethic, Korima – sharing for the benefit of all. As mining and agricultural companies continue to encroach on their lands small family groups retreat into areas with less arable land for farming and are often near starvation, especially in the winter. You can find more about the Rarámuri online.
Two of the half dozen dolphins cavorting around our boats
The marvelous Sugar Mill Interactive Museum…
staffed by lively university and high school students studying tourism and demonstrating inventive examples of physics and practical mechanics
Barbara learning about surface tension as she is enveloped in a giant soap bubble
Allan returns to the 1960s in the music room
From Los Mochis we were bussed to the home of the actual El Zorro in El Fuerte which has been turned into a beautiful hotel
Late afternoon view of the Rio Fuerte from the fort
Strolling downtown and enjoying smoothies we encountered these adorable kids dressed for Day of the Dead celebrations…
and pottery in the beautiful local style
Next morning we boarded “El Chepe” for the 6-hour rail trip through spectacular mountain scenery to the Copper Canyon
A Tarahumara mother and daughter selling intricately designed baskets as the train pulled into Barancas (canyons)
At an elevation of 8000 feet the Mirador Posada Barrancas (Hotel Canyon View) …
at the very edge of the canyon
Our first morning – the spectacular view from our balcony changed almost by the hour with the movement of the sun. The Copper Canyon is actually made up of several spectacular canyons.
A beautifully carved door with stained glass accent
A cable car approaching the Adventure Park across from the hotel
The zip line descending from the Adventure Park
The black openings under the overhand are Tarahumara cave dwellings seen from the cable car
Fearless mother and daughter sitting at the very edge of the Adventure Park
Some of the gigantic rock formations in the Valley of the Monks
Barbara and the others give perspective on the scale of the “monks”
The entire population of this remote Tarahumara village including infants came out to meet us eye to eye which is unusual for these people
The Tarahumara are world famous long distance runners. This girl carries a stick to pick up a small cloth circle that she continually throws ahead of her as she runs. Boys kick a small wooden ball ahead of them.
Many Tarahumara make the instruments they play
Inside the church in which women performed a traditional dance
Women, elderly always first, line up to receive the food we brought
An amazingly complex harvesting rig at the Mennonite Museum, Cuauhtemoc City, Chihuahua
- The Dodge automobile in which Mexican Revolutionary leader Pancho Villa was assassinated in a hale of bullets in 1923 now in his home in Chihuahua City.
Mexico & Beyond 