| Mexico and its Copper Canyon |
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March 5-14, 2010 
With tour leaders David Friesen and Wilmer Martin David Friesen, who was born in Mexico and worked in the public and private school systems, invites you to join him to visit Mennonite colonies in Mexico to learn about the life of the Mennonites–their history, churches, businesses, schools, institutions and their struggles to be faithful. David presently lives in Winkler, Manitoba, and is a chaplain at Salem Home Inc. Wilmer Martin, owner of TourMagination, who has led previous tours to Mexico with David Friesen, will co-lead and look after your needs and the tour logistics. A highlight of the tour will be taking a train ride to the Copper Canyon, a group of canyons consisting of six distinct canyons in the Sierra Tarahumara Mountains in the southwestern part of Mexico. You will overnight in the mountains and return the next day by train. Friday & Saturday, March 5 & 6 TourMagination’s Mexico tour begins with a welcome dinner at the hotel in El Paso, Texas. El Paso is the Spanish term for “the passage.” Crossing the Rio Grande River on Saturday, we will travel by coach south through the Sonoran Desert. As we travel, David Friesen will present an informative orientation lecture on Mexico and Mennonites. Traveling through Northern Mexico, we will notice the extreme dryness of the desert and the mesquite bushes that create their own beauty in the desert. Lodging for three nights at the Tarahumara Inn in Cuauhtemoc. Sunday, March 7  Service at Blumenau Church Monday March 8 Today we will tour Cuauhtemoc including the train station where Mennonites arrived over 80 years ago. We will see the Eustillos Valley where the Mennonites settled, visit the cheese factory in Gnadenfeld and the Y Centro Cultural Menonita Museum. We will also visit the Unser Hoffnungsheim, a program for special needs adults and in the evening, see a film on the settlement and development of the Mennonite colonies. Tuesday, March 9  Tarahumara crafts Wednesday, March 10  Copper Canyon vista Thursday, March 11 We will visit the Mennonite Credit Union in Cuauhtemoc and the Old Colony School at Blumenort #22. Travelling on to the Ojo de la Yegua Colony, an outgrowth of the Manitoba Colony, we will visit their Bible School and observe their agri-businesses. We will want to visit Campo 7 and their state-of-the-art cheese factory. Friday, March 12 Our journey today takes us to Chihuahua where we will visit the cathedral and see the University of Chihuahua and the Institute of Technology. In the afternoon, we will travel on to the El Valle Colony, a newer Mennonite colony, where we will have our evening meal with the Kleinegemeinde. This colony is very progressive in agriculture and technology. We will stay in Nuevo Casas Grandes for the night.  Children at El Capuline Colony On Saturday morning we will visit the remote El Capuline Colony to see their school and farms and have our noon meal with the Neufeldt family. Then we will journey back to El Paso, Texas. Time will be spent reflecting on new insights we have gained into the many different cultures of Mexico. At the border, we will proceed through customs and return to the El Paso Marriott Hotel where we will have our farewell meal and stay again for the night. Sunday, March 14 Following breakfast on Sunday morning, we will say our goodbyes and take the hotel shuttle to the El Paso Airport for flights to our home cities. We hope you will arrive home with many memories of new friendships formed and with a deeper appreciation for the diversity of our Mennonite family. For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance. |
