SMA PROGRAMS: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:
Hostel "El Cajon" Ecotourism Projects

Biologist Alfredo Ramirez has completed preliminary design and a proposal to build a community lodge in Guapalayna, a small pueblo, ten kilometers downstream from Urique.

Guapalayna is a mixed town of mostly Tarahumara surrounded by Tarahumara rancherias up the canyons. The view is one of the most spectacular in the canyons, and the eight-room hostel will be located near the mouth of a box canyon, El Cajon, filled with tropical waterfalls, pools, and wildlife. If funded, the initial construction will include eight double rooms and a café-bar.

The hostel will be either adobe or rammed earth/mud construction, and it will be built to standards adequate for small, upscale tour groups.  Plans are to eventually construct a dormitory for backpackers traveling from Batopilas to Urique and low-budget travelers.

In addition, SMA partners have developed profiles for five other eco-hostels in the Sierra proposed by the communities; however, the “El Cajon” project has the best prospect for success in the short term as the community is well organized and the area is accessible to tour groups arriving via the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad.

Alfredo Ramirez and Nora Jacques have also completed ecotourism assessments and projects for day use areas along the Bocoyna and Nonoaba rivers.