Mexico’s Copper Canyon

According to Wikipedia,

The Copper Canyon (Spanish: Barranca del Cobre) is a group of canyons consisting of 6 distinct canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. The overall canyon system is larger and portions are deeper than the Grand Canyon in the neighboring United States although the Grand Canyon is larger than any of the individual canyons.

The system is transversed by the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad, known by the nickname “Chepe.” It is both an important transportation system for locals and a draw for tourists.

Mexico established the Parque Nacional Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon National Park) to showcase this remote area. The canyon is the traditional home of the indigenous Raramuri (Tarahumara) people.

It is called the Copper Canyon not because of any copper deposit, but because the walls have a brown copper color. It is offered as a shore excursion on Holland America ships that call at the Mexican port of Topolobampo. The reason the ship stops there is because it offers guest the opportunity to visit the Copper Canyon, not that there is much else in Topolobampo to see or do, other than work on pronouncing the town name. I’ve known about Mexico’s Copper Canyon for years, and always wanted to visit it, but the idea of making a week long trip to Mexico just to see the Copper Canyon was less than appealing. So I jumped at the chance to see the Copper Canyon on the VOLENDAM’S repositioning cruise last month.

Stephain, the shore excursion manager on the VOLENDAM is from Quebec. He has a very French accent  . . .

(I digress: Why is it that the French, in general, not Stephain, jump all over Americans because when we attempt their language, we don’t pronounce it right, yet when the French try to speak American, anything goes . . . and they don’t care and don’t suffer any embarrassment? Could it be that they think God speaks French, so therefore it is the only really important language?)

(If I can continue my digression: A black brother and a white guy are walking toward the Pearly Gates arguing if God is black or white. They get to the Gates of Heaven and God opens them and says, “Que pasa hijos?”)

Anyway, enough with the theology . . . Stephain has a cute accent and his shore excursion presentation is a lot of fun, partly because he is so incredibly honest. If he doesn’t like a meal, he tells you without mincing words. He hates if a guest ever comes back without being satisfied, so to keep them satisfied, he tells the exactly what to expect, whether they want to hear it or not.

Well, the shore excursion to the Copper Canyon is 18 hours long!You’re up for breakfast at 3:30AM (or just stay up!) off the ship and onto the buses at 4:00AM. It’s a two-hour bumpy ride through the night to a Chepe railroad station in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully you can bring along your pillow! Then you board the train for a 7 hour train ride, spend a few hours having lunch on the rim of the Canyon, then back on the train for 7 hours, back on the bus for 2 hours, and back to the ship between 10 and 11PM. One of the memorable moments was to see the Captain, his senior officers, and many of the crew lined up on the red carpet to welcome us home to the VOLENDAM after such a grueling trip.