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The local ambience of Los Pueblos Mancomunados is fittingly described by the inhabitants' self given title "the people of the clouds".
Located in the Sierra Norte, at an altitude of 3000 meters (9,870 feet) above the dry and hot central valleys, you will find a range of unique and diverse ecosystems: seven of the nine types of vegetation existing in Mexico are found here.
This region boasts a diversity of fauna, with over four hundred bird and three hundred and fifty butterfly species. The area is home to the six forest cat species found in Mexico, including the jaguar, as well as endangered animals such as the spider monkey and the tapir. The Sierra is also the site of mixed pine-oak forests, classified by the World Wildlife Fund as being the richest and most varied on earth and one of the world's oldest ecosystems, estimated to be over twenty million years old.
The Zapotec people of the Sierra Norte live from their forests and mineral resources. In 1998 an ecotourism project was founded to protect and preserve this nature system in a sustainable way (Expediciones Sierra Norte A.C.). A small tourism infrastructure has been established and the tours offered in the area are organized by the villagers themselves; guides from the villages accompany us during our walks and explain the different kinds of animals and plants and their uses.
Our trips are confined to 4 to 5 hours hiking each day so that we still have time to participate in the life of the villages. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available at the local 'Comedores' (village restaurants). Your luggage will be transported in our van from village to village. The villages are connected by radio and our local guides are in constant communication with them.
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