Booking in Advance

From August to October, and around Christmas and Easter, it's important to book more than a month in advance. Many people come during Easter and Christmas, specifically to see the local take on church holidays. On these and other religious feast days, many Tarahumara communities dance throughout the night, fortified by tesgüino, a corn beverage fermented in clay pots. Villages challenge one another in races that can last for days. The men run in small groups for 161 km (100 mi) or more, all the while kicking a small wooden ball. It's not just fun and games—each village places a huge communal wager for this winner-take-all event.