Tlacolula Market; Chocolate, & Breadmaking in Mitla
Join us in beginning preparations for the Dead of the Dead season in the Tlacolula Valley! We visit the Tlacolula día de plaza, or big market day, make our own chocolate, and visit bakers making pan de yema the traditional bread served during the holiday.
Date: Sun, Oct 19 & 26/Schedule: 9am-6pm
Spaces available: 6 /Cost per person: $185 USD/3,475 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (1 hour each way)
Guided visit to the día de plaza in Tlacolula where vendors come from all over the state to sell produce, coffee, bread, chocolate, honey, chilies and other local delicacies
Breakfast of local dishes at the market such as memelas and goat barbacoa
Learn to make chocolate from scratch with a cocinera tradicional, toasting the cacao, taking it to the mill, and forming it into bars to be used in cooking and hot chocolate
Take home some of the chocolate we make
Lunch of local delicacies prepared by a cocinera tradicional at the home of local historian and mezcal antiques collector accompanied by our selection of traditional mezcal
Visit to Mitla ruins (entrance fee included, 30 minutes free time at the ruins)
Visit to a local bakers making pan de muerto, the traditional bread consumed during the season and participate in decorating the bread
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to women's cooperative annual project
Teotitlán Chocolate & Mole Making Workshop
Join us in preparing for the Día de los Muertos celebration by making chocolate from scratch, a drink that is essential for honoring the visiting souls and serving to visitors. We will learn a centuries old family recipe and get to take some home. Using the chocolate we make, we will prepare one of the most important dishes of the season-mole negro.
Date: Tues, Oct 28/Schedule: 9am-6pm
Spaces available: 6 /Cost per person: $155 USD/2,900 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (40 minutes each way)
Visit to regional market
Breakfast at the market of local delicacies like chotolate atole, tamales, memelas, and tepache
Learn to make traditional chocolate from scratch with a cocinera tradicional, toasting the cacao, grinding it by hand, and forming it into bars to be used in cooking and hot chocolate
Take home some of the chocolate we make
Lunch prepared by a cocinera tradicional accompanied by our selection of traditional mezcal
Rug weaving and natural dye demonstration
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to women's cooperative annual project
Miahuatlán Market & Mezcal
The Miahuatlán market during this season is filled with ingredients to make mole, chocolate, and tamales; dishes essential to the Day of the Dead celebration. We will also visit a 125 year old bakery still making the traditional bread for the season.
Date: Monday, Oct 27/Schedule: 9am-7pm
Spaces available: 6 /Cost per person: $185 USD/3,475 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca City (2 hours each way)
Big breakfast of at our favorite roadside comedor, which only uses wood fire for cooking
Tour of weekly regional market, samples of local cuisine such as palo de chile, hoja de leon, plátano perón, and pan serrano
During our market tour we will visit one of the oldest bakeries in town who are in full swing making the traditional bread for Day of the Dead
Visit to a traditional mezcal palenque, learning about the process and history of the mezcal of the region directly from the producing families who have been distilling their mezcal in copper for 4 generations
Learn about and see the biodiversity of different types of agaves used to make mezcal
Tasting of traditional mezcal made on site
A chance to purchase mezcal directly from the producers (price not included), our help packing it for travel
Farm to table lunch of local delicacies prepared by a cocinera tradicional
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to future community youth center
Real Minero & Ocotlán Market
Our Real Minero tour is extra special this time of year when many mezcal producers in the region are making mezcal de pechuga to honor the visiting souls and we will get a chance to try some of this special mezcal. The Ocotlán weekly market will be extra special as people are purchasing all of their materials for altars, mole, and chocolate.
Date: Fri, Oct 31/Schedule: 9am-6pm
Spaces available: 6 /Cost per person: $165 USD/3,100 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable and safe transportation round trip from Oaxaca City (1 hour each way). Pick up and drop off from your hotel or vacation rental (Centro, Jalatlaco, Xochimilico, Reforma, San Felipe)
Breakfast en route of our favorite tamales from a third generation tamal maker and the season´s freshest fruit
Visit to the agave garden and palenque of our community partners at Real Minero mezcal
Tour of Proyecto LAM, an agave garden and nursery where we will learn about the agaves and wood used in mezcal production as well as medicinal herbs used for healing mezcals. The Angeles Carreño family has been making mezcal since 1898 and has a sustainability plan that carries them through the next 100 years of their family´s production. Working with 22 diferent types of agaves, we will learn about their work in conserving agaves that are native to Oaxaca, their commitment to organic practices and agroforestry, as well as the creation of the world´s first community agave seed bank.
Tour of the Real Minero palenque, where the family produces small batch mezcal using traditional methods including natural fermentaion. We learn about the unique techniques used in Santa Catarina Minas such as distilling in double clay pot stills
Sit down tasting of Minero mezcal made on site. Each person will get to try 4 unique mezcals, learning how to taste and identify a traditional mezcal
A chance to purchase mezcal directly from Real Minero (price not included), many batches which are only available for purchase in Mexico. Our help packing it for travel
Lunch at Ocotlán market of regional dishes such as mole, empanadas de amarillo, tejate, and enchiladas
Tour of the Ocotlán weekly Friday market. Some historians estimate that this weekly market has been happening in this town for the last 5,000-7,000 years. Today the weekly market continues to be an important economic and cultural hub of the Ocotlan valley. Many vendors come from the surrounding areas only on Fridays to sell organic vegetables, native chilies, aguamiel, smoked fish from the coast, and handmade crafts such as embroidered blouses, clay chilimoleras, and rope made of agave fibers. Sample of local delicacies such as boiled camotes with local honey and jamoncillo, a coconut and brown sugar dessert
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to Biblioteca El Rosario
Day of the Dead Preparations in Miahuatlán
Dates: Thurs Oct 30 & Fri Oct 31; Overnight Outing
Schedule: Pickup in Oaxaca city 9am Oct 30, drop off 6pm Oct 31
Spaces available: 6
Cost per person: $500 USD/9,400 MXN (double occupancy)/$550/10, 350MXN (single occupancy)
Join us on this overnight experience deep in the heart of mezcal country where we participate in the final preparations for día de los muertos with mezcal producing families of the region; visiting a nighttime flower market, a 125 year old bakery making the famous pan de yema, make our own altar, and of course feast on tamales de mole negro.
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (2 hours each way) all transportation during overnight stay
All mentioned activities
5 meals (does not include dinner on Day 2)
Drinking water and light snacks
Overnight accommodations at Rancho Los Nahuales, double occupancy rooms
Donation to future community youth center
Day 1: 9am-12am
Big breakfast of at our favorite roadside comedor, which only uses wood fire for cooking
Visit to a traditional mezcal palenque, learning about the process and history of the mezcal of the region directly from the producing families who have been distilling their mezcal in copper for 4 generations
Learn about and see the biodiversity of different types of agaves used to make mezcal
Tasting of traditional mezcal made on site
A chance to purchase mezcal directly from the producers (price not included), our help packing it for travel
Farm to table lunch of local delicacies prepared by a cocinera tradicional
Settle at Rancho Los Nahuales, afternoon siesta
Visit to nighttime flower market to buy supplies for our altar, including a trip to a 100 year old fireworks store
Day 2: 8am-6pm
Early morning rise to gather chapulines (grasshoppers) and biruxe (wild marigold) for our altar (dependent on whether there has been enough rain this year)
Breakfast at Rancho Los Nahuales
Head into town to spend the day participating in the local Día de los Muertos traditions with a local family, creating our own Day of the Dead altar and tamal making
Lunch of mole negro accompanied by our selection of traditional mezcal and hot chocolate
Head back to Oaxaca by 4pm, arrive in Oaxaca City around 6pm
Día de los Muertos in Teotitlán & Mitla
Saying Goodbye to the Souls in Teotitlán & Mitla
Join us in taking part in the celebrations of Day of the Dead in the Zapotec communities of Teotitlán del Valle and Mitla where we are invited into our community partner´s homes to welcome the souls, learn about their traditions, view altars, visit graveyards, and feast on dishes of the season such as mole and tamales.
Date: Sat, Nov 1/Schedule: 9am-8pm
Spaces available: 6/Cost per person: $185 USD/3,475 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (1 hour each way)
Participate in the traditional Day of the Dead celebrations in the homes of our community partners in Teotitlán
Learn about natural dyes, weaving, and beeswax candle making directly from the artisans
Visit to the cemetery and participate in the creation of the altar, learn about Day of the Dead traditions in Teotitlán
Travel to Mitla to participate in their Day of the Dead festivities and visit traditional altars in family homes
Lunch and dinner of traditional dishes served during this holiday (moles, tamales, hot chocolate, bread)
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to women's cooperative annual project
Join us in taking part in the celebrations of Day of the Dead in the Zapotec communities of Teotitlán del Valle and Mitla where we are invited into our community partner´s homes to say farewell to the souls, learn about their traditions, view altars, visit graveyards, and feast on dishes of the season such as mole and tamales.
Date: Sun, Nov 2/Schedule: 9am-7pm
Spaces available: 6/Cost per person: $185 USD/3,475MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (1 hour each way)
Travel to Mitla to participate in their Day of the Dead festivities and visit traditional altars in family homes
Participate in the traditional Day of the Dead celebrations in the homes of our community partners in Teotitlán
Visit to the cemetery and learn about Day of the Dead traditions in Teotitlán
Natural dye and weaving rug weaving demonstrating with the first women’s cooperative in the community
Visit to to beeswax candlemakers, learning about their craft and their role in this holiday
Breakfast and lunch of traditional dishes served during this holiday (moles, tamales, hot chocolate, bread)
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to women's cooperative annual project
Mezcal Minero & Flower Carpet
Join us in closing out the celebration of Day of the Dead in Oaxaca in the Ocotlán Valley. Here we visit a traditional mezcal community and a farming community who extend their celebrations one extra day than most other communities in Oaxaca. We visit a graveyard in a community where the majority of flowers (marigolds and coxcomb) are grown for use in altars and graves during todos santos. This community honors their loved ones by decorating the graves of loved ones with elaborate flower carpets.
Date: Monday, Nov 3/Schedule: 11am-8pm
Spaces available: 6/Cost per person: $185 USD/3,330 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable and safe transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (1 hour each way)
Lunch at our favorite roadside comedor of regional dishes like mole, tlayudas, and memelas
Tour of an agave nursery and artisanal palenque, which produces small batch clay pot distilled mezcal where we learn about the mezcal production process from seed to bottle. The palenque is owned and operated by family that has been making mezcal for 4 generations and currently produces mezcal for national and international sale committing to sustainable agriculture and giving back to the community
Tasting of minero mezcal made on site
A chance to purchase mezcal directly from the producers (price not included), our help packing it for travel
Visit to the graveyard in the farming community of San Antonino Velasco to see the traditional flower carpets for día de los muertos
Dinner of empandas de amarillo in San Antonino (the town´s specialty)
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to community library
Increased Traffic Advisory During Day of the Dead
Downtown Oaxaca is a maze of one way streets and gets gridlocked with the increased traffic during this season. While we will do our best to stay true to pick up/drop off times we reserve the right to pick you up and drop off in a 15 minute window before or after the start time of the outing (if the pickup time is 9:00am depending on your location we might need to pick you up at 8:45am or 9:15am)
While we do our best to drop you off at your hotel, traffic often becomes impenetrable in the evenings during this season due to parades that close the streets. We may have to drop you off a few blocks away from your destination. If you are carrying heavy purchases from the outing we will be happy to drop it off later that evening or early the next day
Please do not make dinner reservations close to your estimated drop off time in Oaxaca (ex: your drop off time is 7:00pm, don´t make reservations until 8-8:30pm) as many of the experiences during this time become immersive and we may not be able to strictly adhere to drop off times. We will also be feasting throughout the day and you may not be hungry close to your drop off time. Please let us know if we need to be mindful of any dinner reservations you may have
Groups and Prices
All of the experiences listed during this season are Open Outings for up 2-6 participants
If you would like a Private Outing for your group only, we can accommodate groups of 6 or more at no extra cost. Please write to us here to learn more
All experiences are bilingual (Spanish/English)