What's New For 2012!

The Culture and Cuisine of Mexico Tours are Expanding! In addition to our Signature Journey: The Culture & Cuisine of Mexico: Traditional to Contemporary, we are adding: The Culture & Cuisine of Yucatan & Campeche. Stay Tuned!, In December 2011, we attended the Festival Kooben in Merida to meet more amazing chefs there and to learn about the unique Yucatecan Cuisine. We are very excited to launch our program in 2012 that will introduce travelers to the singular Yucatecan Maya culture & its culinary heritage. We will also explore the fishing & seashore communities of Campeche. These tours are offered as "set departures", but can also be booked as private excursions with 4-6 minimum. These journeys explore the early & regional foods of Mesoamerica. Following a regional and historic trajectory we trace the food and culture of Mexico; in Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City and now Yucatan & Campeche. We begin with a focus on the traditional and end with innovative, world renowned chefs of Mexico.

• The Mexican Rebozo: Heritage and Techniques! This trip takes us to the rebozo making centers of Mexico, including Santa Maria del Rio, where we learn of the silk jaspe (ikat) rebozo raditions, La Piedad, Michoacan, where we see how "artisela" is used in the production of jaspe rebozos, to the Purepecha Plateau of Michoacan where we visit master weavers in the communities of Ahuiran and Aranza. Finally, we travel to one of the finest rebozo production centers of Mexico, Tenancingo, where we meet the master resist dyers and weavers of these fine "jaspeado" cotton rebozos. If you love textile traditions, dye resist techniques and colonial cities, you will love this trip.
• Coming in December: A very special opportunity to join Charllotte Kwon of Maiwa Handprints who will participate in our 4th annual Natural Dye Workshop: The History and Use of Natural Dyes in the Americas. In addition to learning about the historic importance of cochineal, this hands-on workshop will show us how to extract, prepare and use dyes from nature, including indigo, cochineal, pericon wildflowers and more. This is a rich cross cultural experience that promises to enrich all participants!

Hello Art History Enthusiasts! We are excited to announce that we are offering a very special educational travel program called, "Art and Revolution: The Mexican Muralists". On this journey, we will explore the historical and artistic antecedents to this movement, such as the "Porfiriato Era" and the accompanying easel art of European heritage. We will learn about the primary influencers of this movement, such as Jose Guadalupe Posada, Dr. Atl, and the visionary Jose Vasconcelos, then Minister of Education. We will see the very first murals at the Antiguo Colegio San Idelfonso, later murals in the Palace of Fine Arts, The National Palace, Secretary of Public Education (SEP), Chapingo and other important sites. From this travel program we will learn of the differences in artistic expression and content between the "Big Three", Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Join us in August!

• We offer tours to Tabasco and Chiapas to learn of the Olmec and the Classic Maya era. By visiting Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilan, Tonina and Chiapa de Corzo we better understand the social/political organization of the Maya during the Classic era.
• We visit the Pre-Classic to Post-Classic sites of Campeche and Yucatan. Here we see the fascinating differences in era, region and architecture between the Peten, Rio Bec, Chenes, Puuc and Late Post Classic era of Chichen-Itza and Mayapan. We visit the great empire of Calakmul and surrounding sites of Balamku, Hormiguero, Chicanna, Becan, Xpujil, Edzna of Campeche and the Puuc region of Yucatan.
• We are currently developing educational tours to Oaxaca to learn about the Zapotec: Past and Present, and to Michoacan and Western Mexico to learn of the great civilizations that inhabited this region of Mexico, such as the Purepecha. Stay tuned for these trips!

Join us to witness one of the true marvels of nature, the winter home of the migrating monarchs! They travel over 3,000 miles each year to the very same location in the high forests of Michoacan. It was not until 1974 that scientists learned of their destination. The local people knew this for years, but now that the word is out, they are protecting these forests for the butterflies. Members of the local community lead tourists into the mountains to see this spectacle of nature; millions of butterflies clustered in trees or flying about, depending on the temperatures and time of your visit. We are going in early March!