Travel: The Copper Canyon

We received a snail-mail letter yesterday from Skip McWilliams. Skip who? The name was familiar and when we opened the envelope we discovered that he is the Director Emeritus of the Copper Canyon Lodges (oh, that Skip McWilliams) and his news was good.

The Riverside Lodge in Batopilas and the Sierra Lodge in Cusarare are back open again and the threatened take-over of the canyon properties by the party-till-you-puke, all-inclusive crowd has been thwarted and replaced by "independent, seasoned, world travelers."

One of the most exciting and rewarding vacations we have ever experienced was at these two properties. We stayed at the Sierra Lodge for a few days before taking a white-knuckle drive down to the bottom of the canyon and a stay at the converted hacienda in Batopilas.

Getting ready for our descent to the canyon floor. If you are brave enough you may ride on top to fully enjoy the breath taking views...of one side of the vehicle verging on skidding off the road and a shear drop to the bottom.

Approaching Batopilas.

The hacienda's limo and a ride in the countryside.

                

Maya, her son, and the band singing a traditional Mexican song celebrating the day of my wife's birth. There wasn't a dry eye in the hacienda.





Our's was the Alberto Suite.  

                
To get to the Copper Canyon from Tampa we flew into Dallas and then took a puddle-jumper to Chihuahua. The lodge folks met us there and drove us to the Sierra Lodge. After the trip to Batopilas we were driven back to the rim of the canyon and then we reversed our trip from there.

This trip wasn't for the faint of heart. We had to sign a waiver beforehand since the nearest medical facility was closer to BFE than Batopilas. We were also advised that the indigenous population, the Tarahumara Indians were friendly, but not particularly helpful.

We took that to mean that if while hiking we fell off a cliff and were lying there in a bloody puddle and a few of the Tarahumaras ran by that they would wave hello before moving on and leaving us to our own devices. Thankfully we never had to find out one way or the other.

A Tarahumara homestead with the cave in the back that is used as a barn and wine cellar. Well, maybe instead of wine they used it for food storage. I could have been mistook here.

If you are into excitement, adventure, honest Mexican food and cold beer, plus warm and friendly people then you would enjoy the Sierras, Batopilas, and the Copper Canyon. This definitely isn't one of those plastic plug-in resorts cropping up all along the Yucatan coast.

You might try Nichols Expeditions for more information. I can't vouch for them since we booked our trip some years ago through a different, and no longer in business, company.