On the Road to Alamos

Alamos, an old silver mining town,  is a good place to linger if you're traveling by bus or car in the Mexican State of Sonora.  It's located about five hours northeast of Mazatlán off Highway 15 (it's another nine hours by car to the U.S. border at Nogales).

If you need to stop and sleep somewhere, why not choose a town recently declared a Mexican National Monument? This distinction was given to Alamos because of its 188 intact buildings of historical note, all within walking distance of the town's zocolo, the Plaza de Armas. The zocolo, or square, is surrounded by tall palm trees - it's a bit reminiscent of Southern California. 

What you'll find is a historic urban center like Mazatlán's Old Town, except that the buildings here predate the oldest buildings in Mazatlán by 100 years. Alamos sprang up in the late 17th century with the discovery of silver in them thar hills -- the mountains of the Sierra Madre. Most of the wealth was carried back to Spain, but not all of it. Silver mine owners built themselves some pretty lavish mansions.  

Visitors can peek inside some of these homes on Saturdays, when the community sponsors its weekly House and Garden Tours. These tours start at 10 a.m. at the museum, near the Plaza de Armas. The tours are $150 pesos per person, which benefits a local scholarship fund. The population is about 10,000, 300 of  whom are extranjeros from Canada and the U.S. many of them civic-minded.  

I stayed in a B&B owned by an American woman, Teri Arnold-Shannon, who opened La Puerta Roja in 1992. Shannon has a reputation in town for her gourmet cooking and often caters local events. 

The Hacienda de los Santos is actually a union of three 17^th- and 18^th-century Spanish colonial mansions, seamlessly connected with stone walkways, brick passageways, tunnels and footbridges set amidst six lushly-landscaped acres. Stop in and have a drink in one of the bars, or sample some dishes in the cantina and take in the grandeur of the place. 

The area surrounding Alamos is prime bird-watching territory. Two American-owned birding companies operate in town. 

Stephanie Meyer runs weekly natural history and bird-watching tours. She takes small groups to see North American shorebirds in the Hutabampito estuary, about 1-1/2 hours from Alamos. She also offers tours to nearby Mayo Indian villages. 

Jennifer and David Mackay run Solipaso (www.Solipaso.com), which offers river rafting trips down the Mayo River and birding trips to places as far away as San Blas or Oaxaca. The couple recently opened El Pedregal, a 20-acre nature preserve in Alamos, with five cabins for overnight guests. They can accommodate individuals or  groups of up to 12.  

Alamos rebounded from the hard punch of Hurricane Norbert, which struck in October 2008. Many hotels and businesses shut down for weeks to repair damage, and 70 homes were lost. There's a small airport in town that still operates.

 

The town holds several festivals during the course of each year.  The Alamos Silver Festival is Feb. 3-7, 2010.  Silversmiths come from throughout Mexico, and many of the lectures and demonstrations take place at the Hacienda de los Santos. There are special dinners and luncheons, demonstrations of jewelry-making, and of course, lots of silver for sale.

Each January Alamos hosts an annual music bash, The Annual Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Music Festival, in honor of one of the town's favorite sons, Ortiz Tirado, a famous Mexican opera singer/composer. The festival stretches over nine days in venues all over town. According to Shannon, the music ranges from rap to opera, and also includes good jazz. She cautioned that during this event everything is booked full two months in advance, so you may want to plan ahead for January 2011.