We left Parral and met up with the cousins and the turnoff to Guachochi. The drive to Guachochi was pretty winding, but we arrived without incident. Nick had informed us that the Sinforosa overlook was the "pretty part" of the canyon and that El Divisadero in Creel was just a more accessible (and therefore) more visited canyon.
We drove for 1/2 hour or so up a dirt road, through small streams, etc. to get to the Sinforosa, and it was spectacular.
There is a tiny village where they stage competitions to see how fast they can run, climb, whatever, out of the canyon.
After the Sinforosa was went back to Guachochi for lunch, where everything was closed because 1) it was 2:00 p.m.--Siesta Time, and 2) a holiday. We ended up at a very nice hotel dining room, where the waitstaff was slightly mortified that they were out of the chicken flautas that I had ordered. Now even though I don't speak Spanish, I'm certain I was referred to as the Queen of England, but whatever, this Queen will eat a quesadilla, no problem.
From Guachochi we drove through the Sierra Madre mountains to Creel. It is truly a lovely drive. It is also very steep, lots of up and down, in and out of canyons, and a LOT of hairpin turns. The total drive took a good 4-5 hours, but it was beautiful. On a side note, there is nothing around. A very occasional 3 house "village", but really nothing. However, we were constantly passing people, donkeys, cows, dogs, etc. on the road. Where are they going? And where did they come from? I still don't know the answer.
In Creel we stayed at Margarita's restaurant where I ended up in the only room with heat (I even had a thermostat) and hot water. I say sometimes it pays to be the only white girl in the group.
and yes, they used real, actual keys for the rooms.
In the morning, we stopped at a cave dwelling just outside of town. The mother has a job in town, and the grandmother stays with the kids where they supplement their income by charging a couple buck to let people in. It was overwhelmingly sad. Although, I was told that they choose to live there...it stills seems so harsh.
We drove another 2-3 hours through canyon to see the Cascada de Basaseachi,
and the Birthplace of the Revolution
.When we finally got back into an actual city, we stopped for a late lunch. When we got there they were playing a Mexican radio station, but by the time we were seated a Garth Brooks CD was on. It amused me to no end...and it was really just nice to hear English.
When we finally made it back to Chihuahua we were all exhausted!
