"Starting our Copper Canyon tour" El Fuerte by plannersis

We began our tour with an evening drive from the airport in Los Mochis to El Fuerte. We quickly learned that Mexico uses speed bumps, locally called 'topes' as an ingenious way to slow down their drivers....you must slow down to under 15 miles per hour and often there will be multiple topes, maybe up to 10 or 12 so the vehicle really can't speed up for awhile. We saw many locals out on the edges of the road, just standing or walking in the dark - maybe they were enjoying the mild weather or it was tradition or since they don't have many amenities in their homes, maybe it was the preferred way to spend the evening.

Heron on the Rio

Our tour included a leisurely morning ride down the river, with our guide spotting birds for us to enjoy. We even got out and did a short walk to some petroglyphs. We'd been warned to wear good bug repellant to help against the no-see-ums, and we were glad we'd complied - we saw other guests at the dinner table that night who were covered in sore bug bites.

An open-coach ride to a native village home outside of town was very special - we met the family and the lady of the hut demonstrated corn-tortilla making and her mother showed how to make clay pots. Then the men drummed and sang while we enjoyed the Deer Dancer and stories our guide told about the indigenous lifestyles.