05/12/2024
Torres Travel designed a 10-day personal tour for a group of 5 women to the beautiful Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico, which included cultural and historical outings, amazing scenic travel where we captured nature at its fullest, a ton of fun & delicious food, and they afforded us with English-speaking guides, given our limited Spanish. If you have a desire to do this dream trip, as we did, please seek out Torres Travel for your all-inclusive trip of a lifetime! You will not be disappointed booking with this small family-owned and operated tour company! Items to note---whether it is a 5, 7, or 10-day trip, you specify to them your desires/wants and they will fulfill them; additionally, when a trip is pre-arranged, they offer a deposit plan, so you can plan your future trip without breaking the bank.
Whether driving your own vehicle to El Fuerte, Sinaloa as we did (starting in San Carlos), or arranging bus transportation through Torres Travel, either option would be comfortable and safe. On two separate occasions, the Torres’ called and checked in with us on our location and ETA, which was a very personal touch to their service. Our first arranged stop was to Navajoa, where we visited the beautiful museum home of the Torres family. After enjoying a tour, delicious lunch, and conversation with Mrs. Torres and other tourists on site, we ventured on to El Fuerte (1 of 4 Magical Towns in Sinaloa), arriving at our first hotel, Hotel Torres Del Fuerte. We were greeted by a smiling staff who served us margaritas and assisted us with all our needs from check-in until departure two days later. We were in awe of the organic nature of our surroundings, the hotel furnishings and comfort of each room, the eclectic bar, and the outdoor areas where we sat either in quiet or enjoyed good conversations with friends, new and old. Every restored detail of this antique hotel we found to be very thought out. And the food! What can we say but FANTASTIC, from presentation to melded flavors to personal service. We were also pleasantly surprised to have a folkloric dance show one evening at the hotel as well as witnessed part of a Quinceanera of a local 15-year-old girl. Our adventures around El Fuerte arranged by Torres Travel consisted of an evening historical tour of the main plaza and an early morning riverboat tour/hike to petroglyphs with a very knowledgeable and fun guide. We were also left on our own to wander the town for souvenirs, eat and drink at local eateries, take in the Miguel Angel Morales Museum, dance with Zorro at the Hotel Posada del Hidalgo and we ended our last evening with a fabulous 3-course meal prepared by excellent chefs at Bonafacio’s in the Hotel Torres. Items to note--we were able to leave our vehicle in a secure enclosed area of the hotel our entire trip, which was a huge benefit to driving there ourselves. After our fulfilling 2-night stay in El Fuerte, we departed by rail on The ChepeExpress with first stop to Bahuichivo/Cerocahui, then by road to Divisadero, van-pooling to Creel, traveling by private car into the depths of the canyon to historical mining town Batopilas (a must experience!), winding back up to Creel, then rail back to El Fuerte. The accommodations along the way were superb (we liked the fact that the hotels were rustic and each unique), all reservations were spot on like a well-oiled machine, and never did we have a bad meal. Torres Travel made the trip smooth, timeless, and of good value!
The ChepeExpress adventure was but one word, incredible! Breath-taking views of the Septentrion Gorge and the loops at Temoris----these spectacular views astounded us. Torres Travel continued to please us over this next week with dependable reservations including our first-class train tickets, exceptional stays in boutique hotels, most meals and some planned tours. Our tours included a winery (followed by wine tasting), visiting many scenic overlooks (all different, all breath-taking), a hike with a Raramuri Indian guide, visiting unique natural areas such as interesting and unusual rock formations, a waterfall/hike, and visiting several beautiful Missions dating back to the 1700’s with rich history. We were also given time to explore on our own—visiting the Adventure Park to zipline and enjoying the panorama views via gondola, shopping for handmade goods from local artisan vendors, walking the streets in Creel, and going back in time by exploring the old mine buildings in Batopilas. Again, we were thankful for Torres Travel finding us an English-speaking guide who was very knowledgeable of the culture and history and shared many personal experiences on our trip from Creel to Batopilas (in a comfortable vehicle). They were aware of our activity levels and arranged for us to be dropped off to walk parts of the road to Batopilas, to take many photos of the spectacular canyons, cliffs, and be ‘one with the goats’. From Batopilas, we slowly crept back up to Creel where we stayed one additional night and had a lovely finale steak dinner at The Lodge. The train ride back to El Fuerte was equally as exhilarating as the first part (aside from the A/C on our car not working!). We were fortunate to dine in the dome car. We spent one last evening in El Fuerte at Hotel Torres where we bid our farewell to Sr. Torres and his wonderful staff. Upon our arrival back to San Carlos, we are STILL talking about this trip 5 weeks later. This was a memorable trip we will cherish for many years to come. Would we book a tour using Torres Travel again? Absolutely! Their attention to detail made every bit of the trip, indeed, the trip of a lifetime!
Lisa Anderson and friends
