NELSON'S NOTES #66, Fun N Sun, San Benito, Texas, April 17, 2007

COPPER CANYON AND MAZATLAN TOUR IN MEXICO

Many thanks to Joe Wooton, Ken Roberts, Pat & Lyle Brothers, and Roy Pool who gave me their photos to use with Bruce's pictures. From the 2,000 digital photos I viewed, I chose 15 to show you here.

Photo 1, map with route outlined in yellow

From March 4-13 we traveled 2,500 miles through 10 of Mexico's 31 states. The bus was full--43 people, half of whom got on at Fun N Sun. On the fourth day, one passenger was hospitalized, and unfortunately she and her husband had to miss the rest of the trip, which included a two-day train ride through Mexico's Copper Canyon.

Our overnight stops were in the cities of San Luis Potosi, Gaudalajara, Mazatlan on the Pacific (2 nights), and Los Mochis, the take-off point for the train portion of the trip. Also, the mountain locations of Divisidero and Creel in Copper Canyon itself, the city of Chihuahua, which is actually north of where we started in the Rio Grande Valley, and Parras, near Monterey.

Photo 2, Cesar and Rafa

On the left, Cesar, our driver from Vera Cruz, didn't speak a word of English but always had a sunny smile. We ooohed and aaahed at his skills maneuvering the bus equally well through crowded city streets and up and down winding mountain roads.

Rafa, our guide, is holding the Go with Jo mascot, a stuffed doll that he took into the border crossing stations and all our hotels. The rest of the time she rode on the dash. Rafa was energetic and giggled a lot, especially at his own jokes. He spoke with a heavy accent and was not as fluent in English as I expected a tour guide to be. He had a good vocabulary but paused often to figure out how to put words together. Pride in his Aztec heritage frequently came out in his accounts of Mexican history and culture. I filled 18 pages of my notebook trying to write down what he said. The rest of the time I got out my Spanish book, See It and Say It in Spanish, and practiced the words I would use to order my next meal. Those are the ways I passed time on those long days riding the bus.

Photo 3, night shot from the Hotel Emporio in Mazatlan

Photos 4, 5, 6, 7, diver

On our second day in Mazatlan, Cesar drove us through the gold zone where little taxis buzz around the streets, some signs are in English, and some of the tourists are Americans and Canadians. The highlight, supposedly, was to see a man dive off a cliff into the Pacific. This took place at a busy plaza. The first thing we noticed was a sign saying, "We do this full-time; this is how we make our living." So, while the diver waited on a platform high above the water, his cronies worked the crowd collecting donations--one American dollar per person. Meanwhile, vendors swarmed through the crowd selling toy parachutes, jewelry and purses. It was overkill! Finally we were rewarded when the diver took off from the platform, spread out his arms and made a perfect swan dive into the water. Then his cronies had the nerve to show up again, this time asking for "appreciation" money. But that's Mexico, someone is always trying to sell something wherever you go.

Photo 8, train

As lovely as Mazatlan was, the next day it was time to ride the bus to our next destination, Los Mochis. There we would board the train at 6 a.m. the following morning. In six hours time the train would take us from the warm sea level air to crisp air at 8,000 feet above sea level in Divisidero. Behind the passenger train in the photo, RVs are tied down on flatbed railroad cars, yet another way one can travel through the canyon. The tracks go through tunnels, over bridges and even meet in a section that Rafa called "the lasso."

It was still dark when we boarded the train at 6 a.m. As it lurched and squeaked down the tracks, we watched the sun rise from our comfortable seats. Sounds of English, Spanish and French came from the passengers around us. Across the aisle were two Oriental-looking college students. The older one was reading a textbook, Competition Demystified, and the younger one a tour book written in what looked to be Chinese. His shoes were off and his feet were propped up against the seat in front of him. He was wearing gray socks that looked like gloves. (I found out later that socks like these are common in Asia because they can be worn with thong sandals.) Just as I was thinking how brave and adventurous these boys were to be traveling in a foreign country, Rafa came by and asked where they were from. In perfect English, the older one said, "New York City."

Photo 9, Tarahumara Indian girl

When the train let us off at the Divisadero depot, native Indians were selling their wares. The most unusual and sought-after items are baskets made from pine needles, like the one the girl is holding. It's amazing that the girls can weave the needles into such perfect baskets while they are walking around. They hardly look at what their hands are doing as they walk through the square with a papoose on their hip. Girls bear children when they're as young as 11. Evidently, after nursing is over when the baby is two, the children no longer drink milk. It's a wonder that their teeth look so white and strong and their hair so glossy and shiny.

Photos 10 & 11, view of  the Divisadero Barrancas lodge . . .

. . .  and view from the lodge

Perched on the edge of the canyon, the Divisadero Barrancas lodge--specifically the balcony of our room--gave us a spectacular view of the canyon. Views from the train were nondescript compared to this one, especially before and during sunrise when the lighting changed every minute. From this spot at this time of day, the canyon truly lived up to its name, "Copper" Canyon.

Photo 12, ladders are built into the rock to facilitate the Indians' climb down to the canyon floor and back up to the top

We were told that some Indians hike down to the canyon floor in 3-4 hours to where they live and farm. The hike back up takes 7 hours. Some girls hike the strenuous terrain while wearing homemade sandals--insoles tied onto their feet with string. On their trek to the top, the women are laden with babies on their hips and the wares they hope to sell at the depot and the lodge. During tourist season, other Indians live in caves on top while being provided with wood and food by the hotel.

Photos 13, 14, 15, field of agave, agave hearts, statue of agave cutter

As we looked out the bus windows day after day, we were impressed with Mexico's extensive agriculture and the variety of crops grown. It seems that we saw more agave than anything else. Agave is differentiated from similar plants by its bluish tint. Tequila is made from the juice of agave hearts, which you see piled high in the truck. After the juice is extracted, fermented and distilled, fibers from the rest of the plant are used to make furniture and fiberboard. Then the young shoots are planted and the growing cycle begins again. The statue honors agave cutters, for they are the only ones who know exactly when the heart is ripe and ready to be cut, usually around 12 years of growth.

Chihuahua City

Near the end of our tour, Rafa pointed out a plaque in a Chihuahua city park that was erected to protest and call attention to the mysterious deaths of 343 women in Juarez, the border city across the river from El Paso, Texas. The plaque featured a cross with big nails driven into it, one nail for each of the women who was murdered. It left us with sobering thoughts.

Trip Impressions

A surprising feature of our trip was finding Mennonite communities in Mexico. They consisted of prosperous, productive farms and thriving businesses, like the busy restaurant where we ate lunch the last Sunday and the store where we bought delicious queso (cheese).

More stairs with railings would have made it easier for me to get around Mexico's streets and buildings.

To the very end, our tour group remained congenial and pleasant, even though 12 people became sick with diarrhea and upset stomachs. All of us complied good-naturedly with the rules of group bus travel, right down to Rafa's daily 6-7-8 routine, which was: wake up at 6 a.m., put bags outside room by 7 a.m. and go to breakfast, board the bus by 8 a.m.

The weather was sunny on all but the first day, the food was good, the accommodations were nice, but the trip was tiring, grueling actually. Everyone agreed there was too much bus riding. However, as time goes by, I expect I'll enjoy reading about the trip in my notebook.

Marianna Nelson