| Having found our rooms we walked up to the canyon
edge. The Americans talk about lazy Mexicans but all those we see always
seem to be working. Here they are making adobe bricks. The mud is dug out of
the ground (the resulting depression making the floor area of the house),
pressed into moulds and then left to dry. |  |
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After which they are stacked in this typical shaped pile and left to cure
completely. These are about breeze block size. |
| Walking up the road back towards the station at Posada
Barrancas we passed these gothic towers. A touch out of place perhaps but
who knows. We always notice round towers because Jan always wanted one. |  |
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At the station we left the road and climbed up the path through the trees to
the edge of Copper Canyon and the Mirador hotel. This tree with the red bark
is a madrona which is quite common here. |
| We also spotted the bark on this tree but I have no
idea what it is. It looks very like alligator skin. |  |
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And just so we felt at home, we saw this mistletoe growing on a tree here,
just the same as it does at home. |
| The view from the edge of the canyon is quite
spectacular as the sun sets. This complex of about 30 canyons is larger and
deeper than the Grand Canyon but perhaps not so visually spectacular without
the red rock. |  |
| As is often the case in these places, the camera just
can't convey the vastness of the scene. Nor the peace and serenity which
enfolds you. The Tarahumara Indians moved to the flat mesas on the far side
of the canyon to escape the Spanish in 1580. It must be one of the remotest
places on earth. |  |
| The real difference is that you cannot see the canyon
bottoms and thus really have no idea just how far down it goes. On the
canyon floors there is a microclimate very different from the 7000ft
altitude we are standing at. They grow tropical fruits like melons, mangos,
guava and pineapples down there. |  |
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A rare photograph of us on the canyon rim. Jan is stood on a rock for that
superior feeling. There was hardly any wind. |
| The Mirador hotel clings to the edge of the canyon
wall much as many of the Tarahumara dwellings do. This is quite a
spectacular place to stay with every room having a balcony looking out over
the canyon. They must be having a hard time because we only saw one couple
in residence. |  |
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They run tours to the canyon bottom in this modified Hummer with the raised
shaded seats at the rear. It is called 'My little mule I'. |
| We went into the hotel for a drink on the balcony in
the dying rays of the sun. There we watched the humming birds at the
feeders. One of the group was a 'birder' and reckoned there were 10
different types at the feeders. This poor photograph is about 1.5 times life
size of these tiny creatures and you need specialist kit to photograph the
wings because they move so fast. Then we went back to the farm where we
had an excellent traditional Mexican meal. Don't ask what it was - I didn't
ask but it was very tasty. Then we sat outside and drank beer and the
Frenchman, an American and I put the world to rights. |  |
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