For me, this is a delightful travel story which started out in a weird, and unexpected way, but ended up in the memorable trip column! In spring of 2019, the Arizona Daily Star wrote a short article about how Linda Ronstadt, a Tucson native now living in San Francisco, returned here with her band to take a bus trip to Banamichi, Mexico, the home of her grandfather. As a child, she had spent many wonderful trips going down to Banamichi to explore her heritage. A Saddlebrooke friend of mine mentioned this article which sounded interesting to me, a lover of Mexico who has traveled everywhere there (except Banamichi). I mentioned it to my boyfriend and the three of us took off spontaneously one Saturday morning not knowing what would lie ahead. Our friend did stop in a map store in Tucson and find a map of the area, which we later discovered was far from realistic or complete.
We crossed the border at Naco, never seeing a Mexican border patrol, and headed south. The scenery was gorgeous, a bit like traveling in the mountains of Switzerland. We twisted and turned over the roads and finally came into the town of Cananea, home to one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world, which dominated the town. We followed a road, ended up lost, followed another road and were lost again. I jumped out of the car several times to ask directions to Banamichi and never could get a clear idea of where to go.
Finally, at my last stop at a fast-food place, I went up to a man and asked him. He seemed to take pity and told me he would jump in his truck and lead us to the road as it was so complicated. Yeah! And we were off again. Banamichi was much farther than we ever expected, perhaps five to six hours south of border. Once there, we came into the town on the main road and started looking for the B&B we had reserved.
Registering there, we asked where the best bar/restaurant was, as we needed some fun libation that Saturday afternoon in an old Mexican town. They looked at us strangely and suggested our best bet would be to go back to OXXO (the 7/11 concept in Mexico) and purchase some bottles of rum/beer and return to our B&B for our happy hour in a pretty patio, with a few bags of snacks and some wine we brought with us, just in case! It was a fun happy hour, complete with some fresh guacamole the hotel provided. For dinner, the hotel asked us what we wanted, and we all ate in a communal dining room. We were joined by a group of handsome guys and girls who seemed to have returned from somewhere. I found out they were Canadian and Mexican engineers who work in the nearby Banamichi Silver Mine and board in the hotel.
We went to bed early after wondering what we could see and do in Banamichi, besides visiting a little gazebo in a nearby park! Upon waking in the morning, we all collectively decided that one night in Banamichi was sufficient. My boyfriend suggested heading north to Magdalena de Kino. Again, a beautiful drive, and upon arrival, we started asking for the best bar/restaurant in town only to meet with blank stares. Bars in small Mexican towns have disappeared as beer companies sell through OXXO and people can buy their beer so much cheaper that bars canβt really make a profit. But someone pointed us towards a hidden away hole in the wall and at noon we were the only patrons.
Unlike Banamichi, this town has historical context due to Father Kino, the Italian Jesuit priest who came over in 1687 to start working with the Indians there, as well as in Baja and into Arizona (you might be aware of his mission in Tumacacori). After driving around checking out possible places to stay, we chose a little hotel, which also had a restaurant. We spent the afternoon visiting the church and historical places in the middle of town where Father Kino died and where his remains are buried in a crypt. The evening meal in our hotel was good with some delicious pastas. The next morning, we were off to the Nogales border when we received a phone call saying my boyfriend left his ipad in the room. I asked if the hotel might Fedex it up to us. They said they would get back to us and about two days later I got a call saying that someone from the hotel was at Costco in Tucson with the ipad!
Every time we meet up with our friend, we all laugh about this adventure and the fun we had in a new part of Mexico, less touristy and more authentic.
Linda Stack is owner of Travelinda, LLC and can be contacted by email at LLStack9597@gmail.com.
