Join us for a special natural and cultural history excursion through Mexico’s spectacular Barranca del Cobre, or Copper Canyon, homeland of the Tarahumara Indians. We begin in Los Mochis, Sinaloa with a trip to Topolobampo Bay. Beautiful Topolobampo Bay hosts up to nine species of herons and egrets, sharing Mexico’s premier deep water harbor with Magnificent Frigatebirds, and both Brown and Blue-footed Boobies—not to mention a large concentration of Pacific Bottlenosed Dolphins. Next we transfer to the colonial village of El Fuerte, founded in 1556, where the shady groves of massive cottonwood trees provide a birdwatcher’s mecca. West Mexican endemics like Mexican Parrotlet and Black-throated Magpie-Jays are typically common, and we may also encounter Elegant Quail, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Thick-billed Kingbird, Rose-throated Becard, both Happy and Sinaloa Wrens, and both Streak-backed and Black-vented Orioles. After a full day experiencing the fabulous riparian bird community, we board for Copper Canyon, the massive, multi-hued gorge incised one mile into the rugged, western flank of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The steep ascent will take us across the Río Fuerte, still at work carving the deepest canyon on earth, to the forested uplands. We will have two nights at the rim hotel overlooking the vast expanse of Copper Canyon, ample time to bird the pine-oak forests guarding Barranca Urique, as well as to visit a Tarahumara cliff shelter home and to hike to nearby Divisadero, where unique Tarahumara basketry, goat skin drums, pine bark dolls, and other handicrafts can be purchased directly from the Indians. Zone-tailed and Short-tailed Hawks on the thermals, White-eared and Berylline Hummingbirds at the balcony feeders, Painted and Slate-throated Redstarts defending favored oak trees at seeps: all of these enrichen the vistas as we patrol the mile-high rim of one of North America’s most truly awesome “grand canyons.” Our final destination is the Río Cusárare. Situated outside of Creel at the headwaters of the Urique River, this canyon is famous as one of the best locations in all Mexico for the emerald-green and fiesta red Eared Quetzal, the rarest member of the trogon clan in North America. Spellbinding vistas and spectacular waterfalls characterize this journey into the remote mountain fastness that shelters the timeless Tarahumara Indians. Completed in 1961, featuring 89 tunnels and bridges hundreds of feet high, the trans-Sierra Madre train line is often described as the 8th wonder of the world.