Economics With A Face

We reached our stop at about 3:30 and made our way to the Mirador Hotel, where rooms had been reserved for us by the owner Roberto Balderrama, a friend of the Salidos, who I talked to yesterday to set up the details for the hotel. It was clear that we were being well taken care of; everyone was making sure that we were enjoying northern Mexico to the fullest, and we were.

When we entered the hotel my jaw dropped as I took in the view from the lobby and restaurant. I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but from the pictures I’ve seen this is equally spectacular if not more so. In fact, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is only one-fourth the size of the Barranca de Cobre, the Copper Canyon. Best of all, every room in the hotel was perched over the canyon with a view. Take a look at our pictures to get an idea of how stunning it is.

Entering the hotel we got our first view of some of the Tarahumara Indians, who were selling crafts outside. Over 50,000 live in this area and are known for their long distance running ability. The Raramuri, as they are also called, literally means “the people of the swiftly running feet.” My good friend Hector Delgado had told me about them over 10 years ago when we both worked cutting and selling firewood during our summer breaks. As I remember his story, he told me that years and years ago a group came from Mexico City looking for a runner to compete in the marathon for the Olympics. When they asked for the best runner, the tribe brought forward a woman, I believe at a time when only men were competing in the event. I’ll try to find out how much truth there is to this story as I was 16 when Hector told it to me and my memory might have mangled it over the years.

The brochures told us that many of the Tarahumara still live in caves as their ancestors did some 400 years ago. I tend to find this fact somewhat depressing rather than a highlight for a brochure; we definitely wanted to find out more about this community.

After a nap we headed off to dinner. It was a good meal and afterwards we took a few pictures of the view and of the many hummingbirds that swarm the feeders outside at dusk. Still weary from our trip we called it an early night and headed off to bed.