Topolabampo

Feb 21, 2026

Overnight we anchored in the port city of Topolabampo in the state of Sinaloa.

We had our clocks set for a 3:00 AM. wake up call. We all assembled at 4:00 AM in the theater waiting for our bus. The bus was at the port at 4:30 to take us to the city of Los Mochis. This was a 2hr bus ride. We were in a Convoy of 4 buses. For the first hour we had a police car escorting us. In the City of Los Mochis we met up with our train. The train was surprisingly in very good condition, apparently special for tourists, it’s called El Chepe. For the local people they use a different train, not as luxury. When we were all seated in the train, we were served coffee and a boxed breakfast. The train ride was a whole 6 hours through mountain  terrain following a river valley and on occasion passing by remote villages. the scenery was quite beautiful. We did have a bar car on the train, where we could purchase a drink or an additional snack. By 12:30 we arrived at the Copper Canyon. From here we were taken for a short  bus ride to hotel El Mirador. We had 2 hours to have lunch and take in the spectacular views of the canyon. The Copper Canyon is apparently deeper than the Grand Canyon. Even though it was sunny outside, you could feel the cool air. We had risen from sea level to 6000ft at the hotel. After the Mexican lunch we had a chance to walk along the canyon rim for a mile or so  and meet up with our bus again. The bus took us for a short ride back to our train for the 6 hr train ride back. On the ride back we were served a boxed dinner and we had the opportunity to purchase additional drinks in the bar wagon. I managed to have a few naps on the way back. A little after 8:00 we met up with our bus again. The bus took us back to the ship, where we arrived around 10:30. Wow this was a very long day. Outside the ship we were greeted by all the ships officers. HAL had prepared A special late night  dinner completed with mimosas for all 145 gasts from the Canyon trip. After dinner it was time to hit the sack. Carol managed remarkably well after her cold yesterday.

Overall, this was a great opportunity to see this remarkable canyon and train ride in a single day.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

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