COPPER CANYON/MAZATLAN

...The Trip of a Lifetime

10 DAYS (6 Meals)                                             $899 PER PERSON*

A trip for the adventurous!  Goes all the way through the Canyon from West to East - the best way to see this awesome work of nature.  Ride the “World’s Most Scenic Railroad” which has recently been refurbished.  Catch rare glimpses into the lifestyles of the Tarahumara Indians!  Spend an unforgettable night right on the Canyon rim - a canyon four times larger and 1,462 feet deeper than our own Grand Canyon.  Plus spend two nights in a romantic ocean view room in Mazatlan!  You will love this tour!  Not necessarily strenuous but there are extreme changes in altitude. You should be in good health, ready for adventure and able to “go with the flow”.

DAY 1 - Cross into Mexico traveling through Cd. Victoria.  After lunch, traverse the rolling Sierra Madre.  Continue on to the High Plains to San Luis Potosi for your first night in Mexico.  Overnight at the Hotel Real Plaza in San Luis Potosi.

DAY 2 - Early risers may want to take an early morning stroll in the inviting crisp, cool air.  After breakfast, tour the State Capitol Building, the Cathedral and the acoustically correct Teatro de la Paz. Continue to Guadalajara where a walking tour acquaints you with the Historical Center visiting the State Capital Building and the twin towered Cathedral.  After dinner, swing by the Mariachi Plaza where the musicians play their music night and day.  Overnight at the Holiday Inn Centro in Guadalajara.

DAY 3 -We’re off to the Pacific Coast Town of Mazatlan. En route, visit Tequila, where the fiery drink of the same name is produced.  Stop in Magdalena to admire the opals mined in the nearby hills. Lunch time finds us  in Tepic, capital city of the state of Nayarit. Perhaps we will catch a glimpse of a Cora or Huichol Indian visiting for the day.  Mazatlan is home base for Mexico’s largest shrimp fleet and the most important commercial fishing port on the Pacific.  Spend two nights in our beach front hotel where you can enjoy the succulent shrimp and seafood dinners.  Overnight at the Fiesta Inn in Mazatlan.

DAY 4 - City tour of Mazatlan including the American and Canadian retirement area, sightseeing and  shopping along the oceanfront with a stop at the newest seaside monument.  Free time to shop in the local downtown market or relax on the beach  as you enjoy an afternoon and evening at leisure.  Overnight at the Fiesta Inn in Mazatlan.

DAY 5 - Enjoy more of Mazatlan today but be ready to leave after an early lunch.  A new superhighway paralleling the coast speeds you  through the state of Sinaloa and a  rich agricultural belt.  Arrive into Los Mochis for our night’s lodging in the recently remodeled downtown Hotel Santa Anita.  Please pack the items you anticipate using in the canyon in a carry on bag.  Even though the newly refurbished train has a dining car and a club car, it is suggested that you pack snacks for tomorrow’s train ride as sometimes arrival for lunch can be a little late.  Overnight at the Hotel Santa Anita in Los Mochis.

DAY 6 - Early this morning, board the train for an exciting ride through 86 tunnels and over 39 principal bridges as you ride over one of the world’s finest engineering marvels. An extraordinary variety of scenery assaults the eyes - cactus covered plateaus, mountains thick with coniferous forests surrounded on each side by the copper colored rocks of the Canyon.  Dress in layers as you will rise from sea level to about 8,000 feet in elevation at Divisadero, our lodging for tonight.  After an included light lunch and a brief time to acclimate, a short hike acquaints you with the area.  Your hotel sits right on the rim of the Canyon affording you a most awesome view.   Watch the changing colors of the sunset from the dining room windows as they reflect radiant hues on the canyon walls.  Bring binoculars!  Overnight at Hotel Divisadero Barrancas  in Divisadero.     Light lunch, D

DAY 7 - The Copper Canyon system is home to one of the largest Indian groups left in Mexico, the Tarahumara.  These isolated nomadic people are known as the world’s fastest runners and are said to be able to outrun a deer. Explore the area visiting Balancing Rock and a Pioneer Home.  After an included lunch, it’s all aboard!  Soon we arrive in Creel, a lumbering town so typical of the wild wild west that you will think it is the setting for a John Wayne movie.  Don’t miss El Lazo between Divisadero and Creel where the train makes a 360 degree turn around itself.   Overnight at the Best Western Lodge in Creel.     B, L, D

DAY 8 - Visit nearby Lake Arareca, a scenic, horseshoe shaped lake ringed by huge boulders and pine woodlands.  A nearby craft store run by the Tarahumaras gives you one last chance to purchase their hand crafts.  Time permitting, visit a nearby mission.  After lunch back in Creel, we are off to Chihuahua City as our charter coach takes us through the Mennonite farming area and to our centrally located hotel in Chihuahua.   Prior to check in, visit Pancho Villa’s home now housing the Museum of the Revolution. Overnight at the Palacio del Sol in Chihuahua. 

DAY 9 - Chihuahua, meaning dry place, was built on the river flowing down the hills of the Sierra Madre Occidental.  The city has figured prominently in the history of silver mining, cattle ranching and in the colonial and revolutionary evolvement of Mexico.  Visit the State Capital Building and the Cathedral.  Let your imagination take over as you listen to the exploits of Pancho Villa.  Realize the vastness of the great state of Chihuahua, comprising twelve percent of the country’s surface. Travel through Jimenez and into Torreon, the cotton capital.  Continue to Parras, an  Oasis in the desert of Coahuila.  Overnight at the Rincon del Montero in Parras.     D

DAY 10 - After breakfast, visit a candy factory where you can buy the most divine of candies you have ever eaten.  Then off to the mile high city of Saltillo, once the capital of Texas.  Stock up on Pan de Pulque before breezing on home through Monterrey and over the new divided highway with recollections of a wonderful tour.

NOTE: Bring warm layered clothing and sturdy walking shoes.  Binoculars recommended!

PRICE PER PERSON*                                              DEPARTURE DATES

Single    - $1,159                                                                              February 17, 25, 2004

Double   - $   899                                                                              March 11, 16, 2004

Triple     - $   839                                                                               July 13, 2004

                                                                                                                        October 3; November 6, 2004

Departs from Brownsville at 6:00 a.m.; from Harlingen at 6:30 a.m.; from Weslaco at 7:00 a.m.; from McAllen at 7:30 a.m.; and from

Mission at 8:00a.m.

*PLUS the Mexican visa fee.  We will help you obtain your visa!