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COPPER CANYON                                                                                                         

 In celebration of Dad's 80th birthday, Mom insisted on treating us all to a trip to Copper Canyon by train. The Copper Canyons, or  Sierra Tarahumara are part of the great mountainous massif of the Western Sierra Madre, home to the longest and deepest systems of canyons in the world.

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On a map the trek looks like a simple train trip between the Chihuahua, capital city of the state by the same name and the small city of Los Mochis in Sinaloa near the Sea of Cortez. In fact this journey showcases not only one of the world's great engineering feats, but also some of the world's most awesome scenery and the most primitive aboriginal culture left in North America. The Copper Canyon actually covers 25,00 square miles and is four times the size of the Grand Canyon. 

February 1

We traveled 6 hours by bus to Los Mochis and transferred onto another bus for 1 1/2 hours that took us to El Fuerte. We took a taxi to the Hotel Posada del Hidalgo arriving around 4 pm.

El Fuerte

El Fuerte, a picturesque colonial city, is the gateway to the Copper Canyon. Our hotel was built in 1890, a beautiful historical mansion situated right below the old fort that gives the city its name.

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09d room-posado.jpg (47524 bytes) 10 shopping-el-fuerte.jpg (55807 bytes)The hotel was very charming with high ceilings, an interior courtyard, massive tropical gardens, swimming pool and open air restaurant. The first evening, we enjoyed exploring the city and toured the old fort.

The following morning, we were all set to continue on our trip when we got the distressing news that the train had derailed in a tunnel and would not be running until "manaña." We went shopping and investigated several other hotels before deciding  to check into the beautiful El Fuerte Hotel for a change of scenery.

11 el-fuerte-hotel.jpg (69228 bytes)11a Gord-el-fuerte.jpg (70407 bytes)11c gord-at-posado.jpg (46205 bytes)The El Fuerte Hotel was fabulous. The view from our room overlooked the courtyard with the fort looming in the background.

18a tuajua.jpg (84781 bytes)Since we had the day to kill, we decide to take a trip to Tehueco, about 1 hour away. We were hoping to see the Mayo Indians dance and display their crafts but the little village was very quiet. We stopped at a little casa and a charming local Indian proudly gave us some of her roses. She was very concerned when I took her picture because she was afraid that the pants she had rolled up under her dress might show.

18 alexandro-at-dam.jpg (51351 bytes)We persuaded our taxi driver (pictured left) to take us to a dam instead that proved very interesting.

We stopped at a quaint hotel for a beverage but found it closed.

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That evening at the hotel, we enjoyed Mexican entertainment with Margaritas and dancers in the courtyard. The senoritas put on a colourful performance.

PHOTO ALBUM OF MEXICO

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