cliffhanger

This is Copper Canyon.


As you know from my last post, there are nine canyons that make up the Copper Canyon system.  But this is the canyon that lent its name to the entire system.


In this canyon’s depths, the ore-obsessed Spanish thought they had discovered the very navel of copper deposits.  But they had merely discovered lichen-covered cliffs.  And lots of very rugged -- and beautiful country.


But that is how today’s journey ends  I need to get us back to the top of the day.

It started in the little mountain village of Cerocahui with a tour of a boarding school for Tarahumara girls.  A charitable Catholic school that also serves village boys and girls.


I must confess that I am rather sensitive to these tours.  Where tourists traipse through operating institutions flashing cameras in children’s faces.  But that may simply be my dislike of having cameras pointed at me -- and watching tourist activity at the Indian school in Pinal Villa.


Our guide, Francisco, who is well-versed in Mexican history and anthropology, presented a very thorough lecture on the history of the Tarahumara people.  How they were once a town-dwelling people before the Apache chased them into the canyons.  Where most of them now live in isolated houses in the mountains and carry on their unique mixture of tradition and Christianity.


I should mention that our night in the Hotel Mision in Cerocahui was pleasant, but cold.  But, with a fire in the room, it could have been a comfortable 40 degrees outside.

A quick van drive to the train station and we were off on a short two-hour ride to Divisadero -- with a quick stop to a little on-train shopping.


In Divisadero, we booked into the 5-star Posada Barrancas Mirador.  The photograph at the top of the post is from my hotel room.  Every room has a similar view.


And I suppose the hotel thinks that visitors should be looking at the view rather than the internet.  That may explain why internet service costs $100 (Mx) an hour and is available only in the lobby.

After we got settled in, we walked down a cliff trail behind the hotel to a small Tarahumara settlement that looked like the Indian equivalent of Jamestown.  Created culture for tourists interested in souvenirs.


The hotel runs an incredible zipline.  I was prepared to sign up to test my left ankle’s fortitude, but we will not have enough time tomorrow to fit it into the schedule.  Too bad.  It would be fun to slip on the line once more.


For those in our tour group who are not neurotic bloggers, the evening was spent socializing, dining, and listening to an adequate guitarist.  But what else does one do when the sun goes down on the scenery?


Today is the end of the train and canyons.  But there are still three days of adventure ahead: Creel, Mennonite Camps, and Chihuahua.


And I hope more ubiquitous and available internet.