Barrancas de Cobre, Mexico, el siete de Deciembre, 2019

What a sleep!  There was absolutely no noise all night - no dogs, no gallos, no nothing!  It was heavenly!

My goal today was to see as much of the Barrancas (canyon) del Cobre (copper) as possible so my first stop was at Posada Barrancas, a hotel on a nearby hill.  You can walk on the road or on a special path-

When I got to the top, Lino, the owner of The Esmeralda was there selling trinkets.  He asked me what my plans were for the day and I told him I was going to the Parque del Aventuras and he said he was going there too in ten minutes if I wanted a ride.  Score!  So I had ten minutes to get a look at the canyon from here.  The views are great-

Looking back to the hotel-

I was glad I got a lift because it was a few kilometres.  Once in the park, my first stop was for breakfast.  What a spread they had:  arrachera (thinly sliced skirt steak marinated in seasonings), flor de maguey (agave flowers), chile pasado (mirador chiles), chicharron (pig skin), nopales asado de puerco (cactus leaves with pork), picadillo-(hash),  rajas con crema  (cream and roasted peppers) flor de calabaza (pumpkin flowers), chicharron prensado (pork cracklings) and my first choice - chile relleno-

The views are amazing-

There are a lot of activities one can do such as zip lining.  It’s the longest zip line in the world at over a mile and speeds reached are up to 120 km/hour-

There’s also a climbing wall, a bungee jump and playground-

The Cable Car or Teleferico can carry up to 60 people.  The ride is 2.7 km and takes 10 minutes travelling 24 km/h.  It dropped us off at the Mesa de Bacajipare viewpoint-

The Raramuri are the First Nations living in the state of Chihuahua.  They live in the valleys and grow beans and corn-

More views-

The Posada Barrancas, where I was this morning, can be seen in the top left of the picture-

The Raramuri bring their goods to the Mesa de Bacajipare with the hope of selling something.  They have necklaces made of bean seeds, bracelets, quartz, carved wooden balls, spoons, woven bowls and baskets-

They don’t sit idle.  This woman is weaving a basket-

I decided to head back to the nice orange hotel that has a great deck looking at the canyon.  As I exited the park, there was Lino, tinkering with his van.  He asked where I was going and when I told him he said he was going home in 5 minutes and would give me a ride.  Score again!  He dropped me off on the road and I went back up to enjoy the view and a pina colada.  I have to get my daily fruit servings somehow!  They too have colibri (hummingbirds) and I was sitting in their flight path because they kept wizzing by my head so often I finally moved.  I could imagine their sharp little beaks drilling into the back of my head!  

I decided to go to Divisadero which is the next village. If I’d have understood the map this morning, I’d have gone there from the Parque but.....  I ended up walking about 4 km each way but it was a beautiful sunny day.  There’s lots to buy there too-

A cool t-shirt-

Santa and his helper were in the village giving out bags of school supplies-

Lupper was a blue maize tortilla stuffed with nopales and chilies-

I thought these were pickled peas but no, they were some kind of smoking hot I don’t know what-

I had read about a camino along the rim of the canyon behind the main hotel so went looking.  There are so many what look like paths going this way and that I was ready to give up when I saw a small group ahead.  I joined them but I guess they’d had enough because it was just the guia and me who carried on up the hill.  There are houses in the rocks-

Cool cacti-

and more great views.  There are three canyons visible: Urique, Copper and Tararecua.  The area is made up of 6 connecting canyons-

The guia was very excited to be showing me these views.  I tipped him and he was a bit surprised but he’d been very helpful and I’ve already been lost hiking and didn’t want to walk miles for nothing today.

Tomorrow I’m planning on taking the 1:46 train to Creel unless there’s an earlier bus.  I’m really enjoying myself seeing new things every day.  Time is flying!