El Eden Mine: Under the Mountain in Zacatecas

For around 400 years, generations of people, some as young as 12, chipped at the mineral rich rock. Gold and silver was carted out of the richest, most productive mine in Mexico. But most of it was to sail away to Spain for the glory of the Old World. What remained were the history, the legends and a spectacular series of caverns and tunnels, adding up to an amazing tourist attraction today. There's even a night-club in the depths of Mina El Eden.


The El Eden Mine may be found in Cerro del Grillo, Zacatecas. A tram brings visitors to the entrance, where they meet with a tour guide for a stroll, 2,000ft inside the mountain. For approximately a mile, through the tunnels and hanging galleries, the party will be regaled with the stories from this historical place. The huge caverns are truly something to behold. All carved by hand, yet vast, with stalactites forming and unmined crystals still embedded in the rock.

Along the way, statues and animated tableaus display a visual glimpse into what it must have been like to work here. Until 1960, this was very much a working mine. Then flooding in the lower levels, and the encroaching city making blasting dangerous, caused it to close down. It was rendered safe and turned into a site for tourism in 1975. The whole history is relayed, both in the tours themselves and in the small museum near to the exit. The mine, like much of the city center of Zacatecas, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.


El Eden Mine was founded in 1546. Its owners and overseers were all Spanish conquistadors, while the workers were Mexicans. These were a conquered people, at the lowest end of the new world order, and they were treated as expendable.

Some of the stories from this mine are horrific. An average of six people died every day, usually due to working conditions which have modern sensibilities shuddering. The majority of people didn't see their mid-30s; and they spent their short lives working, from childhood, through 14 hour shifts in punishing labour.

As the centuries passed, conditions obviously improved with legisation, modern machinery and better techniques. But it's easy to imagine, especially with the statues laid on to guide you, what it was like back in the early days. The whole mine becomes as fascinating in the atmosphere, as it is beautiful in the aesthetics.


Two things to note here, to avoid disappointment or confusion:

* The entrance and exit are not in the same place. The latter is a twenty minute walk up the mountain. For the majority of people this is fine, as they use the exit as their starting point to explore the terrain up there. As well as the hiking trails, with panoramic views of the city, there is a gift shop, selling crystals mined in El Eden. There is a cable car to return to the lower level.

Others simply retrace their steps within the mine. It's a perfectly deligned, well-marked path and the return, done without a tour guide, can sometimes surpass the initial journey. After all, it's walked at your own pace, with ample time to inspect the awesome caverns along the way.

* The guides conduct their tours in Spanish. While this has an obvious benefit for Spanish speakers, it doesn't mean that there is nothing there for those without the language. The visual displays are there partially to enable everyone to glean the history, regardless of their ability to hear/understand the spoken word. Besides you won't need a tour guide to tell you that your surroundings are spectacular.

Benjamin Simpson is amongst those who have blogged about this attraction. 'Mina el Eden' contains a lot of pictures taken there, as well as a commentary on the experiences of a non-Spanish speaker on the tour.



On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, there is a unique party to be had here. In the very depths of the El Eden Mine is a nightclub. It opens at 10pm, until 3am, and it is truly a great night out. Those caves were made to have disco lights shone on them!

The Zone of Silence

Everyone enjoys a good mystery and the natural world, despite the best efforts of scientists, still manages to provide a startling number of them. The Bermuda Triangle; the Dragon Triangle; the Brown Mountain lights; the list goes on. Here, in Mexico, there is another, deep within the scorching Chihuahua Desert. The academics call it Mar de Tetys (Sea of Thetys), but the rest of the world know it by another moniker: the Zone of Silence.



Thetys is a Greek goddess, who was seen as the embodiment of water. She was the sister and wife of Oceanus and the mother of the world's rivers. She may seem a bizarre choice to lend her name to a place of punishing heat and arid dryness, such as this part of the Chihuahua desert. However, in antiquity, there was a sea here. It covered most of modern day Mexico and the USA; and its legacy is the millions of fossilized marine creatures, which litter the desert today.



To say that the area has some unusual phenomena is to understate the situation. There are more UFO sightings, strange lights, alien encounters, ghostly figures and spontaneously burning bushes in this isolated part of the desert, than there are in the entire rest of the country. There is also some unusual flora and fauna, including a purple cactus and a sub-species of desert turtle, which aren't found anywhere else on the planet.

Back in the 19th century, local farmers were telling visitors about the 'hot pebbles' that habitually fell upon the wilderness. Modern scientists are still seeing them, but they are calling them tiny meteorites or guijolas.

Studies of the soil have shown high levels of magnetite. As the name suggests, this is the most magnetic of all of the Earth's minerals. This might give you a clue as to what happens to iron in the area.



Amongst the stories is that of a ranch, close to the Zone of Silence, which is regularly visited by two blond man and a blonde woman. To all intents and purposes, they are human and they speak perfect Spanish. What makes them so strange is that they only ever ask for water and, when asked where they come from, they simply answer, 'from above'. They are also wearing raincoats, which isn't common attire in a blazing hot desert.

The family on the ranch aren't alone in meeting them. A scientific researcher became separated from his party and was lost in the Zone. He was just starting to panic, when he spotted three blond haired people, wearing 'raincoats and ball caps'. They directed him back to civilization.



This is similiar to the experience of Josefina and Ernesto Diaz, a couple of fossil hunters, who got stuck after a rainstorm induced flash flood. This was on October 13, 1975, when their truck ended up in a hole, from which they could not simply drive out. As they surveyed the problem, they were approached by tall, blond men, in yellow raincoats, who suggested that the couple get back into their vehicle.

They did so and felt the truck being lifted and pushed back onto solid ground. Thankful and thrilled, the couple left their truck to shake the hands of the men. But they were now alone. The desert stretched for miles in each direction without a sign of their assistants. There were no footprints in the sodden sand.



A TV reporter also spotted them. Luis Ramirez Reyes was travelling with a photographer, in November 1978, with a view to investigating the area for a possible feature in a programme. As the two drove along, he saw three blond men, with raincoats, at the side of the road, watching them. The photographer was driving and, to the reporter's surprise, didn't stop the car.

As Reyes pressed him for a reason why, the photographer replied with incredulity that he hadn't seen then. This alone was enough to spook Reyes, but as they continued driving into a totally different part of the desert, he saw the same three men again, standing watching. As before, the photographer couldn't see them.

Travellers through the area often encounter the ghostly figure of a blond man, who just drifts across the road or is glimpsed walking across the landscape.



However, none of this is explaining why it's called the Zone of Silence. This is because no communication devise works there. Radio waves are randomly deadened. Cellphones have no signal; walkie-talkies just transmit white noise; televisions and transistors receive nothing but static; even compasses can't find north, but spin around on the spot.

This would be a harmless curiosity, but for the fact that it also destroys the equipment of anything flying above it. In fact, publicity for this place first leaked out after a pilot, Francisco Sarabia, crash-landed in the zone during the 1930s. He claimed that his 'plane's radio had stopped working, as he flew across.



Even more dramatic was what happened in 1970, when a US Athena missile left Utah bound on a test flight to New Mexico. However, the missile overshot its landing spot. NASA observers reported that it was as if the missile was suddenly pulled off course. It continued into Mexico and crashed into pieces in the Zone of Silence.

With the permission of the Mexican government, a team of US scientists and military crossed the border to the crash site. They discovered that not even satellite signals worked there. Short waves, radio waves, television waves, you name it, it was silenced.

These are just a few of the strange stories attached to the Zone of Silence. Many theories have been proffered to explain the strangeness of the area. They range from the spectacular to the prosaic, but none have definitely solved the mystery.

The Cave of Swallows

Imagine a pit so deep that it could hold the New York Chrysler Building without a tip of it showing. Such a abyss exists in Mexico. It is the largest cave shaft in the world. It is the Cave of Swallows.



Some measurements:

* Elliptical cave-mouth: 160 by 205 feet (49 by 62 m) wide
* Cave shaft main body: 995 feet (303m) by 440 feet (135m) wide
* Cave's depth (shortest side): 1,094-foot (333 m)
* Cave's depth (highest side): 1,220-foot (370 m)

In Mexico, it is called Sótano de las Golondrinas (Basement of Swallows), because of the birds which make their home there. Unless there are extreme sports people demonstrating their skills, then the birds are the most popular creatures to watch. The pit is so large that it is difficult to gain a sense of its proportions, without seeing the birds fly into it. They freefall, tucking back their wings, so they can plummet into the depths. Then, as they draw near to their nests, their wings are extended. They glide into their perches and rest.

Literally thousands of birds live in this shaft. The vast majority are members of the swift family, hence the name 'Cave of Swallows', though there are also other species. These include the rare cave parrot (cotorras de la cueva) and green parakeets.


Each morning, there is a wondrous spectacle, as the cave's feathered inhabitants flock en masse out of the entrance. The cave's mouth darkens and the sound of their wings is thundrous. It can take up to half an hour to get them all clear; then the sight is repeated, in the evening, when they all come home. Meanwhile, the parakeets spiral out. They emerge as lonely green dots, drifting around the interior far below, coming closer, until they finally reach the top and fly to the skies.



So many birds have lived in this cave, for so long, that the bottom of the pit is spongy to the touch. It is their waste that has built up to carpet the ground. They make their nests amidst the flora that eeks out an existance in the darkened crags. Also at the bottom of the pit are other creatures. Millipedes, scorpions, snakes and all manner of insects. The abyss is a vibrant hub of life, if viewed with the right kind of eyes.



The Cave of Swallows is near to the town of Aquismón, in the state of San Luis Potosi. The local Huastec people viewed it as an entrance to the Underworld. The first foreign explorers were Americans. Three cavers, from Texas, named T.R.Evans, Charles Borland and Randy Sterns, entered the pit on 27th December 1966. They didn't make it all of the way to the floor; returning in 1969 to do that.

Their reports saw interest growing, in the giant hole, throughout the rest of the world. The resulting tourism has changed Aquismón from a small, jungle village, into a thriving hub of amenities. It takes just 20 minutes to walk from the town to the cave. For many, the great attraction are the extreme sports to be had there.


Rock-climbers, cavers, rappellers and BASE Jumpers have all flocked to this site, including one balloonist, who managed to successfully fly a normal sized hot air balloon to the floor of the pit. It can take 10 seconds to BASE Jump down; twenty minutes to abseil; or 1 to 2 hours to climb. Temperatures in the pit can also make life difficult, damaging equipment with its extremes or exhausting the wary. Even highly experienced thrill-seekers and explorers have warned about the Cave of Swallows. (For an example, see this thread, on Cavechat.org.)

However, the sheer number of people visiting, to dive into the cave, has resulted in some restrictions being placed. All sports are banned during the time when the birds are flocking in or out. Also no damage may be done to their nests. The descent into the cave may be made at only one designated spot. Nothing may be thrown into the cave nor left in there afterwards. Helicopters may not be flown near to it. People may not shout into the pit (the echo was great!), as this disturbs the creatures living in there. All of these restrictions came after ornithologists realised how much the bird population was starting to decrease, due to the effect of adventure tourism.

La Bufadora

The world's second largest marine geyser is located in Mexico. La Bufadora (the blowhole) can reach heights of 100ft (30.5m) with its frequent plumes of water. It is truly a spectacular sight, even more so when the rarity of the marine geyser phenomena is taken into account.


A particularly large spout happens at 1.10. Note how it sprays the camera, despite its position high above the crowds.
The effect is caused by a partially submerged sea cave. As the tide comes in, with the full force of the Pacific Ocean behind it, water is rammed into this cave. It collides with the air trapped in there and the pressure mounts. What goes in has to come out and so air and water burst through the first available exit. This is a blowhole located at the top. The ocean hits the blowhole like a jet-stream resulting in those amazing geyser explosions.

Very occasionally, an even more elusive phenomenom occurs. This is the double-bufa. As you might imagine from the name, that is a double spout in quick succession.


La Bufadora is one of Mexico's natural wonders and it has long been a huge draw for tourists. It is located on Punta Banda Peninsula, Baja California (around 30km (20 miles) south of Ensenada), overlooking the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Coach tours frequently leave Ensenada to come here, taking in the wonderful sights of Bahia Todos Los Santos along the way. Many people choose to travel to the attraction in their own cars. It is a pleasant, scenic drive along the main Route 23, which ends in the car park here. The way is well signposted from all directions.

Pick any day of the year and La Bufadora is filled with people. They will all be screaming in delight, as ocean water towers into the air, then crashes back down again. It is perfectly safe, insofar as no-one is going to get dragged into the ocean by it. However, raincoats and umbrellas are recommended for those who do not wish to become soaked to the skin. (Personally, I think that getting wet is half of the fun! Just leave a set of dry clothes in the car and all is well.)

Cruise ships sail by, with some of them docking to allow their passengers to visit the marine geyser. Between December and March, there are also grey whales to view from this coast, as they migrate to and from their breeding lagoons.


La Bufadora has been developed into a complex, which caters for thousands of tourists. There is a restaurant and the usual souvenir shops, along with comfort amenities and ample car parking. Much of the color is added by street vendors and the mercado (market), with stalls selling anything from corn snacks to cultural handicrafts.

Buskers and other performers keep the crowd entertained, as they shop or await another eruption from the famous blowhole. Once all spectacle is sated, then there are also serene and quite beautiful gardens to wander through.


A stall at La Bufadora Market


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Chevé: The Caving Equivalent of Climbing Mount Everest

There is an extreme race going on, with human beings pushing the borders of the known world, and the limits of their own endurance. It involves training akin, in intensity and danger, as preparing astronauts to go into space. The participants have to be self-sufficient and able to save their own lives, because if they get into trouble, no emergency service will be able to reach them. The goal is to find the deepest pit; the greatest vertical supercaves. This is a real life journey to the center of the Earth. In the vanguard, currently, are Mexico and Georgia.



Chevé Cave (pron Chay-vay), pictured above, is Mexico's best hope. It's L-shaped system has so far been navigated to a depth of 4,869ft (1,484 meters). American supercaver, Bill Stone, and his team then arrived at huge boulders, which they couldn't squeeze through. But water was passing beneath. They dropped dye into the subterranean river, then discovered where that emerged on the surface. They know that the cave is deeper still, they just need to work out how to explore it.

Chevé Cave begins with a 1,247ft (380 meters) sheer descent. The shaft then kinks to the west, sloping downwards for the remaining known 3622ft (1,104 meters). At this point, cavers encounter a terminal sump. That is a section that is completely flooded. Short sumps may be explored with cavers holding their breath, as they swim through it. But this one is too big. It will require cavers to lug proper diving equipment down there. An intimidating prospect considering the obstacles that have to be traversed before they even reach the waters.

Chevé's biggest rival is Krubera Cave, in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia. A Ukrainian supercaver has finally charted its depths at 7,188ft (2,191 meters). Krubera Cave currently holds the title as the world's deepest pit. However, its extent is known. Chevé's is not. Yet finding out how deep it is requires amazing feats of human endurance.


Image froma 2004 expedition into Chevé

It is said that there are over 50 ways to die in a supercave. Falling is only the most obvious. Hypothermia, electrocution and sheer panic have all taken their victims. These cavers are underground for up to a month, as it takes a week to even get to the area where exploration can take place. During this time, they are usually in pitch darkness. They encounter pockets of poison gas, vast lakes and flooded chambers. Water levels can rise suddenly, if a flash storm occurs on the surface. There is no way to warn those below that this has happened.

Temperatures can plummet or soar, often quite quickly. One of the biggest dangers of Krubera is freezing to death. Sounds echo in the vast systems. Bill Stone described a 150ft (46 meters) waterfall, in Mexico's secondest deepest cave, Huaulta. He said that the noise was like standing next to a jetliner's engine, for days on end, without being able to get away. Moreover the mind can play tricks on you down there.



There is a phenomenom known as 'the Rapture'. It is not pleasant to experience. Supercave exploration taught us that every human being has a limit. It differs from person to person, but there is only so much darkness and depth that each of us can take. When that points is reached, a switch clicks in the brain and that individual is gripped by 'the Rapture'. It manifests as the biggest panic attack ever. They need to get out; and they need to get out NOW. No time for safety precautions. No consideration for the lives of your colleagues. It's fight and flight in overdrive. It's uncontrollable and they have to leave NOW!

This, naturally, is a bit of a problem, when you are a week's arduous journey from the surface and there's no way back without a lot of skill and self-control.



Sleeping takes place in camps, wherever the cavers can find a relatively broad ledge or underground beach to set one up. If they can't, then they tack a hammock between two boulders or onto the sheer face of a cliff. They dangle there to re-energize themselves with a little shut-eye. They carry with them food to sustain them. With any luck, they might even find a slab big up to rest their cooking gear onto it.

Sheer stamina and a high level of fitness has to keep them going. Some passages are so tight that only Yoga techniques can contort their lithe bodies enough to see them through. Often they are supporting their whole body weight with just a hand or strategically placed foot.

James M Tabor's book 'Blind Descent' tells the story of the supercavers, as they explore Chevé and Krubera.

Three miles on a level path–or even a mountain route–in daylight is one thing. Three miles immersed in absolute darkness, drenched by freezing waterfalls, wading neck-deep through frigid lakes, spidering up and down vertical pitches, scrambling over wobbling boulders, and belly-crawling through squeezes so tight you must exhale to escape them, is quite another…Imagine climbing the stairs of two Empire State Buildings in daylight, dry and unburdened. To get out, Vesely and Farr would have to do it in the dark, soaking, heavily loaded, on rope the diameter of a man’s index finger.

There is another, longer excerpt from this book on NPR's website. It compellingly describes a climb into Chevé Cave that ends in a fatality. There is also an interview with the author, which explains more about the conditions into which cavers descend, when exploring a supercave. That can be heard here.

Peña de Bernal: A Mystical Giant Rock

In mass, La Peña de Bernal is beaten only by Ayer's Rock, in Australia. In height, it is the fourth tallest monolith in the world. One of Mexico's geological treasures, it rises 2,000ft (610 meters) from the ground, creating a beautiful backdrop to the 'Magical Town' beneath. Myths and legends about it abound.



Peña de Bernal is a natural phenomenon created from the remains of an ancient volcano, in an otherwise relatively flat landscape. It has been 100 million years ago since this was an active volcano. At that time, it would have been three times bigger than it is now. It blew itself up in the Jurassic period, when the only creatures likely to have been concerned about this were the passing dinosaurs. Unfortunately, no stegosaurus left an eye-witness account, much less photographs, so we will have to use our imagination to picture how this:



once looked like this:



These days the monolith has a much more benign reputation.

The picturesque town of San Sebastián de Bernal (commonly called Bernal) nestles at the base of the monolith. Amongst the tourists and rock-climbers, flooding into the town each year, there are the New Agers. Bernal is Mexico's Glastonbury or Sedona.

Its label, as a 'Magical Town', has a dual meaning here. The official title of 'Pueblo Mágico' was awarded by the Mexican Tourism Department. It's one of 37 so designated, since the program began in 2001. It is awarded to those towns and villages with a special significance, in terms of historical events, outstanding natural beauty or a rich cultural heritage on display. It's a marker for tourists to know where are the best places to visit. Bernal is on the list because of La Peña de Bernal.



For many though, the magic is more than just a stunning view. Energy is said to radiate out from the core of the monolith. Obsidian, amethyst and quartz are the main crystals within it. Even walking the streets of Bernal will render you soaked in this energizing, powerful and theraputic essense. It has not been lost on anyone that the average life expectancy of Bernal residents is 94 years old. The properties of the rock are believed to force relaxation and peace onto troubled minds. A sublime silence awaits those who make the pilgrimage up its very slopes. A keen perception and clarity of thought are the gifts to take away.

This thinking appears to pre-date the coming of Christianity to Mexico. Nevertheless, local missionaries were quick to capitalize on the sheer number of people wishing to climb the rock; and, perhaps, wishing a bit of shade along the way.

A capilla (chapel) was built halfway up, to ensure that any worship and meditation going on involved God. It is a tiny capilla, only big enough for one person to enter at a time. Each does so on their knees, before a small altar festooned in the candles and flowers of the faithful.

The energy of the monolith is viewed as particularly strong during Spring Equinox (usually around March 21st). This is the time of year when Bernal heaves with New Agers and spiritual questers. Thousands aim to surround the base of the rock, shoulder to shoulder, soaking up its mystical properties with the dawn. At this event, white dress, with red kerchiefs, is often de rigor amongst those gathering.

For the Christians, the whole town is transformed in a five day festival, in May. The Santa Cruz (Saintly Cross) is celebrated with a lot of fine food, dancing and music, all with a religious theme. Pilgrims pause in their festivities to shuffle forward, on their knees and under the full glare of the sun, into the Santa Cruz church. The celebrations reach their climax on the final day. This is when especially selected residents of the town pass a heavy cross from hand to hand, then anchor it on the summit of the rock.



Legends about La Peña de Bernal are plentiful. Despite geological evidence to the contrary, stories are told about how the monolith is a giant meteor, which fell from the skies and was planted in the ground.

A perennial story is that, in the right light, the shadows on the monolith form a giant arrow pointing towards a cave. Inside the cave is said to be a vast array of treasure, which is, unfortunately, guarded by a giant snake. The treasure isn't worldly. It's the knowledge of the origin and destiny of the human race; but to get to it, you first must slay the snake. It is a tale enjoyed by children, while the adults see past the literal sense to meditate upon the metaphors.

Then there is the mystical origins of a church in the town. Ghosts have often been wandering an area between Bernal and La Peña. Sometimes they are merely candle-like lights seen floating over the landscape. One day a merchant was being pursued by robbers, intent on taking his earnings. He arrived in this space and saw some bushes. He hid in the bushes, hoping that the lost souls would distract the robbers away from him. They did. In gratitude, the merchant founded a chapel on the site. Capilla de las Animas (Chapel of the Lost Souls of Purgatory) sits now right at the base of the rock.



It should also be noted that Peña de Bernal is a hotbed of UFO sightings.



For the less mystically minded, there is still a host of things to see and do in Bernal. Rappaleurs and rock-climbers disdain the hiking path to traverse the sheer sides of the monolith. Those interested in culture might enjoy the town's museum of traditional masks, while shoppers enjoy the quiet charms of Bernal's wares. Though a distinctly tourist town, its customers are more likely to be Mexican than international visitors (give or take a few extra-terrestials). Therefore the items on sale are usually more practical and 'real', than similar offerings in the resorts.

Entertainment does occur in the restaurants, bars and hotels, but an unmissable free display occurs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (plus holidays) in the town. At 8pm, a dancing fountain is lit up, with music playing. Its colors illuminate the monolith beyond. It only lasts for half an hour, but it is charming and well worth sticking around to see.




A couple more blogs on this town and monolith:

Regions, states and towns are known for their food specialties. Bernal happens to be known for its nopales en penca and gorditas... After we were "gorditos" from eating gorditas we headed out happy and content to have spent the day in one of Mexico's treasure towns. Bernal is definitely a must see for anyone traveling this area of Mexico.
La Peña De Bernal by Abrhil Arvizu

As the evening light dwindled I looked up at the massive rock and gave a start; a glow seemed to emanate from within, outlining the jagged edges in gold... An hour later I departed, filled with the most incredible sense of well-being. I don’t know about extraterrestrials or giant Amethyst crystals, but I can say with certainty that something special is going on in Bernal.
Magical, Mystical Bernal de la Peña, Mexico by Barbara Weibel

Copper Canyon National Park

It is a canyon four times larger and deeper than the USA's Grand Canyon. It is home to the native Tarahumara people; as well as being the location of both the tallest and the second tallest waterfalls in the country. It is called Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) and, when a television show recently asked viewers to vote for the greatest natural wonder in Mexico, it won by a landslide majority.



Here the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range rises up to 8000ft (2.4km) above sea-level, in an area known as the Sierra Tarahumara. Copper Canyon is carved out of the landscape by the meeting of not one, but six rivers. These rivers flow down the western side of the Sierra Tarahumara, creating six ravines, before joining together to form the mighty Río Fuerte (Fuerte River). As the waters flow, they stain the riverbanks a copper color, hence the name given to the canyon as a whole.

Along the way, these waters create such wondrous sights. Cascada de Piedra Volada (Flying Stone Waterfall) plummets 1,486 feet (453 meters) down the side of one of the ravines. It is 50ft (15 meters) wide and can be found in the Cañon Candamena (Candamena Canyon).

This is the largest waterfall in Mexico, as well as the 11th tallest in the world, but you have to time it right to see it in its full glory. The rainy season (May to September) is the best time of all, when the rivers are swollen to capacity.

Remarkably, the falls have only recently been discovered, in September, 1994, as they lay in reasonably inaccessible wilderness. (Though it may be assumed that the locals knew it was there.) The tourist trails have now opened them up, but, for many, Piedra Volada is still best seen from a distance. Up close, the nature of the rock formations mean that there isn't a clear sight of the waterfall for all of your hard work getting up there.

Nevertheless, many make pilgrimage, because the stunning views of the rest of the canyon more than compensate. Going to the top of Piedra Volada is only for the hardy. It can be reached only via a hiking trail, starting in San Lorenzo, which takes up to 8 hours for the round trip. This also includes a section where hands and feet will both be needed, in order to traverse a rock ramp.

Copper Canyon is also home to Mexico's second tallest waterfall. Cascada de Basaseachi (Basaseachic Falls) is found in the canyon of the same name. It was believed for centuries that this was the country's biggest waterfall, until Cascada de Piedra Volada knocked it off its perch. However, unlike its neighbour, Basaseachi falls permanently, all year round.



Cascada de Basaseachi cascades down 807ft (246 meters) from the top of the Sierra Tarahumara. It is also easily accessible from the mountain-top town of Creel. This old railroad and logging town now caters for the influx of tourists, with many local amenities to serve their needs. It affords an excellent view of Cascada de Basaseachi, while a short drive out, on Federal Highway 16, allows visitors to reach the top of the falls themselves.

There are many such towns and villages dotted throughout the Copper Canyon. Some have been specifically built as tourist towns, since the area became designated as Parque Nacional Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon National Park). There is controversy over a couple of them, as large hotels are seen as distracting from the otherwise breath-taking vista.

However, barely noticeable at all are those settlements belonging to the indigenious Rarámuri. Friendly and sociable, these people have lived in the canyon since long before the arrival of the Spanish. Their legends tell of a giant rampaging through the scenery, causing the deep ravines with his heavy footfalls. Some Rarámuri have built their homes from scratch, while many others live quite comfortably inside caves. (They are quite used to tourists stumbling upon them and asking, in amazed delight, for photographs of their homes.)

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Creel, Chihuahua

The Rarámuri's Spanish name, Tarahumara, means 'the running people'. It references the amazing stamina of these people, who have been known to run non-stop for days. One of their hunting techniques was to chase their prey, until it fell from exhaustion; while one of their ball games rules it a foul, if a player stops running. These games often go on all day and well into the night too. You can read more about the Tarahumara, as well as seeing some stunning photography, on the Friends of the Running People website.

As well as human being, Copper Canyon is home to some quite rare wildlife, including the Stygian owls. Amongst the other 300 species of birds found here are royal eagle, mountain cockatoo, wild turkey and thick-billed parrots. You might also spot a mountain lion or a Mexican wolf.

Many agree that the best way to view Copper Canyon is by taking the Chepe Train, from Los Mochis to Chihuahua. There are roads, but that involves wanting to park up every five minutes to see another awe-inspiring sight. There are also commercial buses, as well as plenty of tourist buses. The former might be the cheapest way to travel, other than walking, but they can get very crowded. Hiking, biking and horse-riding also remain perennial favourites. Lots of travel advice is given in this Lonely Planet forum thread.



Time to discover why so many Mexicans rate this area as their country's greatest wonder?

Naica: The Crystal Cave of Giants

The Naica Mine of Chihuahua had been worked for centuries before two miners, following a seam of silver, broke into a vast subterranean cavern. What they found there made them stop in their tracks. Within days, an iron door was installed to protect the entrance. They had uncovered a true wonder of Mexico.



It has been called the Crystal Cave of Giants and Cave of the Giant Crystals. The locals call it simply Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of the Crystals). There are actually three co-joined caves, one much larger than the others. This cathedral-sized cavern is home to vast fingers of selenite, rising in columns so tall that they dwarf the humans crawling amongst them.



The ghostly, transulent crystals have been measured up to 36 feet (11 meters) in height, weighing in at 55 tonnes. They make up the largest natural crystals ever discovered on Earth and therefore attract geologists and scientists in their hordes, as well as the tourists. However, no-one can stand to be in the cave for more than a few minutes, due to the crippling heat inside.

Cueva de los Cristales lies 1,200 feet (365.76 meters) below the surface. Beneath it is a pool of magma, rising up from the Earth's core. It is a very hot place. Temperatures of 150 F (65.6 C) have been recorded in the larger cave, while the smaller bakes in a mere 100 F (37.8 C).

The risks of entering are very real. Shortly after their discovery, an opportunist miner bypassed the protective iron door through a small tunnel. He took with him plastic bags filled with fresh air, in a bid to stay alive long enough to steal some of the precious crystals. He was found the next day, not only dead, but roasted too. This is the reason that visitors to the caves do so under strict supervision and with proper equipment.


Photograph by Richard D. Fisher

These gigantic crystals have been slowly growing over the past 500,000 years. They sit over a fault line. Around 2-3 miles (3-5 km) beneath the caverns is a giant pool of magma. As groundwater seeped down, through the porous limestone bedrock, the caverns became flooded over time. The waters were rich in gypsum minerals, oxygen and . The magma's heat worked like a hob on a cooker, maintaining this water at a simmering, steady 122 F (50 C), for half a million years. The gypsum in the water solidified into selenite crystals. However, unless the cave is flooded again, the crystals will stop slowly increasing in size and quantity now.

The caves are kept free of water by the mining company that owns them. Their pumps extract 22,000 gallons of water per minute from the system. This is an expensive operation and is likely to cease later this year.

Mining first began, in the area, in 1794. The local Tarahumara people had long known that there was gold and silver in the Naica Hills. They had extracted some of it through small-scale surface digging. However, there was also zinc and lead in the ground and, in 1900, this was more valuable. That's when the first large scale mining company was formed, tunneling deep into the earth.

The mine was about to close down, in 1912, when an exploratory burrowing discovered a wonder at 400ft (120m). This was the fabulous Cave of Swords (Cueva de las Espadas).



Much smaller than what was to come, it's still an impressive cavern. Some of the crystals have grown to around 6.6ft (2 meters), while others cloister together, covering whole walls. Some of these crystals were taken away as geological wonders, to be exhibited in museums around the world.

In 1922, the mine opened again, extracting gold, silver, zinc and lead, yet still occasionally finding small selenite crystals lying around. The miners moved steadily deeper and deeper, their progress only pausing for new levels to be drained, before they could dig on.

In April 2000, two brothers were working for Industrias Peñoles' Naica Mine. Juan and Pedro Sanchez had been given orders to drill a new tunnel into the previously unexplored depths of 984ft (300 meters). They broke through and stood staring. They had found the first of the truly awe-inpsiring caverns, the Crystals' Cave.



They called the engineer-in-charge, Roberto Gonzalez, who immediately contacted the mine's owners. It was now, within days of the discovery, that the protective door was added to the cavern's entrance.

However, this wasn't the end of the story. Shortly afterwards, two more employees of the mining company, also brothers, were sent to explore further into the cavern. Eloy and Francisco Javier Delgado worked in sweltering temperatures to bore a small passageway into the cavern beyond. The gap was tiny, but Francisco decided to squeeze through anyway. His Davy Lamp torch lit up the interior and Francisco cried out. He had become the first human being to behold a sight that has caused grown men to weep with the sheer majestic beauty.



Eloy quickly inched his way through the difficult passage to join him.

Both were in awe, it appeared that an eye was looking at them. They experienced something fantastic; a totally dark bubble inside the cave, which at first contact with the light shone like a diamond.
NAICA Project

They had found the Queen's Eye Cave.

Yet there was still something even more breath-taking beyond. This is the cavern that geologist, Juan Manuel García-Ruiz (University of Granada), in an interview with 'National Geographical', called 'the Sistine Chapel of crystals'. Photographer and author, Richard D Fisher, describes his feelings there:

Momentarily, the penetrating heat is forgotten as the crystals pop into view on the other side of the newly named "Eye of the Queen". The entire panorama is now lighted and the cavern has a depth and impressive cathedral-like appearance that was not visible on earlier trips with just our headlamps.

When inside the great cathedral of crystals, the pressure of intense heat makes my feelings run up and down the emotional scale from sheer religious awe to outright panic... When I'm done working after three trips into the great cavern, my friends almost have to carry me out. We want to see more, but physically cannot. When the experience is over there is a great relief, but all we can think about is when can we go back in.
Crystal Cave of the Giants - Discovery of the Largest Crystals on Earth

This is the largest of the three caverns, the mystically stunning Candles Cave.



Selenite is named after the Greek Moon Goddess, Selene. The crystals' apparent magical properties, in seeming to glow from the inside, are reminiscent of moonlight. Selenite is used by some to calm the emotions and provide clarity of reflective thought. It has also been crushed and used in cosmetics.

Naica Mine is still an active worksite. It is possible for tourists to arrange supervised access to the upper caverns, but the lower ones are restricted to employees and scientists only. It's simply too dangerous at present, to expose tourists to the temperatures involved.