more views from mirador hotel - sept 09

i just had to share more pictures taken around the mirador hotel. although we only spent one night there, it was one of the highlights of our trip.

what you're looking at, from top to bottom:

my favorite picture of mirador, while i was sitting on our balcony

hummingbirds everywhere

double rainbow jim took while hiking

interior of the hotel

sunset

us in reflection from the outside balcony

jim's reflection

one of the raramuri women at the train station

a young weaver outside our hotel

little girl with one of the weavers outside our hotel
the women are constantly weaving

we were lucky the hotel was fairly quiet so it felt like we had it to ourselves.

posada barrancas the view oh my

Sept. 29
I felt much better so after breakfast we hiked around and I bought baskets from the women outside the hotel. The fish lunch was really good and hummingbirds were in full force on the outlook veranda. Then it was back on the train heading to Creel.

cerocahui to posada barrancas

Sept 28 - Today was my turn to be sick, probably from the altitude and lack of sleep. We took a brief trip through some winding roads to see the Urique canyon (Jim looked I slept) and got back on the train for posada barrancas. I guess I was really sick because I didn’t take any pictures today (these are from yesterday). My best memory, though, was walking onto the balcony at mirador hotel in posada barrancas and seeing all the canyons spread out in all directions and hearing the absence of noise. Then I slept the rest of the day. Jim took a hiking tour and got the lowdown on a tramway being built across that wide open space. Oh dear.

el fuerte to cerocahui

September 26
At 9am we met Yolanda and Ivan of 3 Amigos tour company. She was incredibly helpful with last-minute reservations for our trip. We took a 3 hour kayak trip down the El Fuerte River which is running swiftly and I barely had to row. The banks were lined with dense vegetation, reed, bamboo and lilies. Egrets and herons were flushed from their perches as we floated by. Chico was our guide, and he took us on a brief hike to see the petroglyphs. He gave us quite a bit of information about the symbols, none of which I can remember now. A couple times we hit “rapids” on the river which were just challenging enough to make us feel like real adventurers, lots of fun and easy to run. Along the way we stopped at a river restaurant where Yolanda and Ivan were having la comida on the beach – a perfect opportunity for cerveza for Jim and te helado for me. Afterwards I spent some time in the patio of 3 Amigos, perusing their books, while Jim went back to hotel to recover from heat stroke. While he was recovering in the cool air-conditioned room I was sweating up a storm around town taking the personal walking tour with Ivan. I remember virtually nothing of what Ivan explained except that our hotel was originally the rectory of the church and during reconstruction they found a dead body inside one of the walls.
Dinner was saltines for me since Jim was still recovering from being sick.
September 27 - We left El Fuerte and got to the train very early. The rule of thumb is to arrive at least 45 minutes early. We were warned that the train is often late but occasionally arrives early and leaves as soon as everyone is aboard. They waste no time getting on the train. We waited in the train station of this tiny little pueblo with dirt roads and not much else. Some local kids showed up with their burro who let us know he was bored by honking loudly – what a pitiful sound he made. The train was very comfortable with reclining seats, AC and large windows. We visited the dining car where we sipped coffee while watching the landscape. But most of the time I was in the area between the cars where I felt the wind and took pictures – lots and lots of pictures.
Pictures I missed but will not forget:
The vulture sitting on the dead cow beside the tracks
Group of boys sitting next to a pile of watermelons at the intersection
The bone beside the tracks
When we arrived at our stop – Bahuichivo – there was lots of commotion with pickups and SUVs collecting people and driving back and forth across the RR tracks. The town of Bahuichivo is really just a train stop, a very small town, and I saw plenty of photo ops but we didn’t stop. We headed out to Paraiso de Oso which is just outside of the small town of Cerocahui. David, our driver, was volunteering at Paraiso de Oso for a few months but he’s originally from Santa Fe NM and CA. After we settled into our room I took a hike into the meadow beyond the hotel and later we were driven into Cerocahui, located in a valley of apple and peach orchards, for a brief tour. I opted to walk back along the road to take pictures and chat, in my limited Spanish, with the people living along the road. Cerocahui is an ejido (communal landholding) dedicated to forestry with plenty of fir and madrone trees. It’s a good place for hiking and birding. Paraiso de Oso was named for the rock formation to its side that looks like Yogi Bear. It’s an eco-tourist hotel offering horseback riding and hiking but we opted to relax and enjoy the quiet of the surrounding meadows. It felt like we were visiting relatives with its relaxed atmosphere. And they were kind enough to offer me a vegetarian dinner which was way too much food.

copper canyon trip - el fuerte first

September 25 - We were up early and made it to the Tufesa bus terminal for our 6+ hour ride up to Los Mochis where we transferred to a local bus headed for El Fuerte. The first class buses are really nice with reclining seats, plenty of leg room, a bathroom and TVs. The local buses aren’t quite like that and unfortunately the local bus lost its AC half way there. So we arrived in El Fuerte about 5pm feeling like we’d been in a sweat box.

El Fuerte is a small colonial town founded in 1564 by Spanish conqueror Francisco de Ibarra. For several centuries it was a major farming and commercial center. It’s very clean with wide streets around a church and plaza but it felt deserted. Maybe that’s because it was 102-3 so who in their right mind would want to be out walking around. We stayed in El Fuerte Hotel which had old world charm, Mexican collectibles and a comfortable bed. Dinner at El Meson del General was so-so. Breakfast the next morning at Restaurante Diligencias was really good. There were about 5 hummingbirds flying around this tiny room zipping between the décor and the waiters. One was sitting above me on the plastic flags hanging from the ceiling. Our waiter said they’re called caliber. The panela queso (cheese) was good and the tamales elote were like corn fritters.El Fuerte is a small colonial town founded in 1564 by Spanish conqueror Francisco de Ibarra. For several centuries it was a major farming and commercial center. It’s very clean with wide streets around a church and plaza but it felt deserted. Maybe that’s because it was 102-3 so who in their right mind would want to be out walking around. We stayed in El Fuerte Hotel which had old world charm, Mexican collectibles and a comfortable bed. Dinner at El Meson del General was so-so. Breakfast the next morning at Restaurante Diligencias was really good. There were about 5 hummingbirds flying around this tiny room zipping between the décor and the waiters. One was sitting above me on the plastic flags hanging from the ceiling. Our waiter said they’re called caliber. The panela queso (cheese) was good and the tamales elote were like corn fritters.

arriving back in mazatlan sept. 09

September 20 - Flying back to Mazatlan was almost incident free. I didn’t know there was a quarantine for fruits and grains so they confiscated what they found of my brown basmati rice, lentils and couscous – oh and my 2 apples I carried on the plane. Fortunately they didn’t find the prunes, dates and rest of my rice and such. The weather is still hot and humid so it didn’t take long to get the six bags below and set up the AC. We received a warm welcome back from Fidel, our friend and waiter here at El Cid. Everyone else on the dock appears to be away so it feels like a ghost town. It was an early evening when we crashed in bed.
September 21 - It took most of the morning to get unpacked and deal with internet issues. Reservations were finalized for our trip to Copper Canyon the end of the week. With no real food onboard lunch was a skimpy rice and canned tomato concoction along with almonds and string cheese. Jim could rely on his canned chili for dinner while I just skipped it altogether. Around sunset huge stark white clouds were building with pink and tan ruffles overlapping. The air was thick with moisture and you could feel the electricity in the air. Thunder and lightning started around dark so we unplugged everything in case of a hit – fortunately the AC runs on a separate power cord as we couldn’t sleep without it. But really, how well can anyone sleep with lightning flashing all night long with big claps of thunder overhead.

going backwards in time - trip home this summer

finally our internet connection is working and i can let you know what we've been up to this summer and fall. briefly, we left Mazatlan and came home for two months. we just couldn't stand the heat and humidity any longer and James, our housesitter, was going to be gone so we figured it was a good time to leave. we loved every minute of being home. the weather was perfect (not hot), we spent lots of time with the cats and the bird, and we visited with all our friends.

i made several trips into the city when my friend rupama came out for a visit and Jim got to participate in another alcatraz swim (he's somewhere in that crowd photo). the old rake was from a trip to half moon bay.